rebeccalpage@yahoo.com

Rebecca Page

Stand Out

from the Pack

1st Impression to Employer

� Sub Goal — To Have It Read

� Main Goal — To Land an INTERVIEW!

Tip: Vagueness and modesty

aren’t effective approaches

Make It Lasting

Before We Start

LIES

misspellings

punctuation

syntax errors

TYPOS

Reality Check on Hiring Managers

� Review resumes in

5-10 seconds each

� Receive 50-500

others

Tip: Distinguish your value

proposition effectively,

concisely, dynamically

Types of Resumes

Tip: Skip to slide 28 for different

strategies.

Chronology

HybridFunction

Reverse Career

History

(Boring)

Skill Sets

(Loathed)

Combination

(Preferred!)

Resume Sections

� Heading

� Job Title / Profile

� Core Competencies

� Career Highlights

� Work History

� Education

� Distinctions

Focus on Your Future

� Job are you targeting?

� Corporate culture and size fits

you best?

� Skills do you offer—soft and hard?

� Experience relates specifically to

this job?

� Professional language is spoken—

buzzwords & acronyms?

What …

Grab ‘Em Above the Fold

Role Play Before Writing

� Can (your name) achieve job’s deliverables?

� Will (your name) solve our problems?

� Why is (your name) better than the others?

Pretend You’re Hiring Manager

Discover Your Value

� Start with blank sheet or Word document

� Develop success stories for each job

� Brainstorm about your accomplishments

� Open up your creativity !

Tip: Read past performance evaluations

How Did You Help Employer …

� Make / Save money

� Save time

� Create efficient

process

� Solve specific problem

� Reduce / Grow staff

� Beat a deadline

� Expand business

� Attract new

customers

� Increase market

penetration

� Develop, market

or sell new product

or service

Avoid Generalizations

� High impact

ACHIEVEMENTS

NOT responsibilities

� Specifics—figures,

percentages,

dollar amounts

Which is More Impressive ?

Responsible for increasing recoveries.

Grew recoveries from 2% to 14%,

resulting in $15M increase by creating

3rd party recognition templates.

Action Verbs Show Impact

Achieve

Analyze

Assist

Author

Bridge

Build

Code

Conceptualize

Configure

Consolidate

Create

Design

Develop

Edit

Eliminate

Finalize

Guide

Head

Hire

Evaluate

Implement

Increase

Initiate

Instruct

Lead

Lecture

Litigate

Manage

Maximize

Mediate

Mentor

Model

Modernize

Motivate

Negotiate

Operate

Optimize

Organize

Oversee

Perform

Partner

Plan

Prepare

Procure

Promote

Quantify

Raise

Re-engineer

Regulate

Research

Secure

Serve

Solve

Spearhead

Streamline

Supervise

Train

Translate

Update

Write

Now Throw Some Out

What to …

It’s your future job –

not everything you did is relevant

� Feature

� Downplay

� Toss out

Format is Everything

� Ample white space

� Modern fonts

Arial, Helvetica, Calibri

� Traditional fonts

Times, CenturyCenturyCenturyCentury, Palatino

� Font size 11 or 12 points

� Usual techniques

Bold, italics,

ALL CAPITALS

� Simple lines

� But minimize use

No Denseness / Clutter

Let’s Get Started !

SUZANNE “SUE” WILLIAMS, J.D.

Heading

555.234.5721

suewilliams@gmail.com

linkedin.com/in/suewilliams

555 Hire Me Lane

Wilmet, AZ 55123

Tips: Include everyday name

Use professional e-mail

Title & Profile

Operations Director

12 years’ success in enterprise software industry:

re-engineer international business operations,

increase workers’ efficiencies, develop technology

standards, and reduce capital / payroll expenses.

Awarded “Most Valuable Employee” out of 300.

Skills & Expertise

� Marketing Management

� Social Media / SMO

� New Product Launch

� Competitor Analysis

� Strategic Planning

� Branding

� Product Pricing

� SEO

Tip: Read job listings & LinkedIn

profiles for ideas

Vouch for a Skill

� Include a testimonial from a superior

� Refer to performance evaluation or

recommendation letter

“ We almost lost our 2nd largest customer. Dan

was onsite until 11 that night to bring their

server back up. That’s dedication! “

Mark Brennan, CIO

Hitachi Corp.

Career Achievements

� Showcase what could otherwise be

at bottom of page 2

� Illustrate successes

� List 3-4 career highlights related to

position sought

Leadership Achievements

� Membership Growth: 5-32% increase annually for multiple

associations, even in times of contracting business climates.

Expanded member reach to Europe and Middle East for

the US Chamber of Commerce.

� Foundation Director: Created Business Information

Analysis Center for the Chamber and secured federal

grants for core operations funding. Grew to $650,000

budget in 2 years.

From the Exercise

Reverse Work HistoryAchievements from Exercise

Software Engineer 2007-present

General Dynamics, Fairfax, VA

CAREER EXPERIENCE

� Create code for 1st ever SMS feature and support product,

network and release testing.

� Design / code phases for wiretap and virtual circuits feature

development.

� Exceed goals 20% for customer site testing and FAO (First Office

Application) support for EMX releases.

� 92% survey rating as instructor at technical workshops for

internal / customer knowledge sharing and functional areas.

Not Entire Career

� 10-15 years only is expected

� Previous positions only if relevant

20-year Government Affairs Director who

began career as a …

� Legislative Assistant on Capitol Hill.

Data Entry Assistant for a medical office.

EducationDegrees in Reverse Order

EDUCATION

MA, Elementary Education • University of South Carolina, 2004

BA, Education • College of Charleston, SC, 2002

Tip: Move to the top if …

- A recent grad

- Graduate degree is preferred in job listing

- In medicine, science, higher education, politics

You’re Not “Average Joe”

LICENSURE & CERTIFICATIONS

Registered Nurse, Virginia State License, 2006

CPR, American Heart Association

Certified Nursing Assistant, Virginia Registry, 2003

AWARDS

Most Outstanding Employee, General Electric – 2010

Safe Worker, Hybrid Warehouses – 2005-2008

Volunteer / Memberships

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Chairperson, Institute of Internal Auditors

Committee Member, National Compliance Professionals Association

Tip: Move to the top if …

License, certification, award, military / government

service, Fortune 500 companies are preferred for job

Strategies for Career Obstacles

� TELL employers situation to avoid their

making wrong assumptions

� Many won’t contact you for answers

Need 1st Paid Gig ?

� Internships—paid & non

� Clinical & lab projects

� Specific upper level courses

� Volunteer activities

� Memberships

List Relevant Experience

Returning to a Profession ?

� Use leadership / career achievements

section

� Success stories specific to desired

profession

� Minimize / delete unrelated bullets

on latest jobs

Hopped Around after Steady Jobs ?

� List companies with longevity and

years at top of resume

� Remember—reviewer won’t read

page 2 to see this

10 years Executive Assistant at SAIC &

5 years Office Manager at British Aerospace

Changing Profession ?

� All relevant work, certifications,

internships, volunteering above the fold

� In work history, focus on only applicable

achievements and skills

� Minimize bullets that don’t apply

Tip: Classes, certifications or internships

assure employer you’re serious about

a career change

Went Back to School ?

� In chronological experience, list your

degree, school and years

� Fill in gap to avoid employer’s

assumption

� Or put near top

Let Go from Job Not Performance Related ?

� Congressman replaced by opposing party

� Company downsized due to client reduction

� New CEO brought in his executive team

� Contract not renewed by DOE

State the Reason

Left Workforce Altogether ?

� Sabbatical to volunteer at Sahabi

Orphanage in Kenya

� Walked across America, then published

book on experience with host families

� Assisted terminally ill parent

Be Honest

Tip: Include work if you can to minimize gap

Seeking Lower Position ?

� Dumb down responsibilities

� Focus profile & skills on those needed

� Remove advanced degrees—Master, JD, PhD

If seeking straight sales position, don’t

state you were Director over staff of 20

Over 50?

� List about 15 years of employment—

even if with 1 employer for longer

� After create “Prior Experience”

list only positions & employers—

no responsibilities, NO DATES

� Education—NO DATES

Survive Electronic Black Hole

� MUST use title & key words in job posting

� Use .txt file extension, unformatted ASCII

� Choose sans serif font

� Left justify all text

� Strip formatting — no bullets, tabs, tables,

text boxes, page breaks, page numbers

� No bold, italics, underlines

Used by Larger Companies

Tip: Use symbols to replace bullets•••• ���� ∼∼∼∼

or create lines — — — — —

E-mailing Resume

� Follow ad’s instructions

� Word preferred over pdf (if not .txt)

� Name resume “FullName_Resume.doc”

Helps employer file & find it

� In subject line, your name & job title

� In body, paste resume

� Attach resume & cover letter

Wanna Impress ‘Em ?

� Make different resumes specific to postions

or industries seeking

� Take a few minutes to customize each sent

� Focus cover letter on position

� Include matrix of job requirements matched

to your successes

Rebecca Page

rebeccalpage@yahoo.com