Resume Tips That Work
And Get Ahead Of The Game
Published by Travis Dalton at
Smashwords
Copyright 2011 Travis Dalton
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This Ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This Ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Introduction
When asked why they want me to write their resumes, my clients always tell me that they HATE the resume writing process. Those are pretty strong words.
Writing a resume is considered one of the biggest “Man this sucks” projects by most people. You have to sit down, come up with a summary of all of your achievements ,and then submit them to strangers. Those same strangers say no most of the time To top it off, you are in the dark about what they are looking for in a resume. They don’t even have to have a good reason! It could be the font you used. Maybe you went to a highschool that was a rival. Or you could have worked at XYZ Inc. and their mother was laid off from that company.
If you think I’m exaggerating, think again!
In this Ebook, we cut all the extra stuff out. We only give you the advice and tips that you can implement RIGHT NOW. It may not be a long one, but it tells you how eliminate some of the common errors, and provides you with information on what to include.
My secret is simple. I use a no non-sense approach to write resumes. A lot of gimmicky resume programs are out there, because most of today’s pros believe that their clients can’t write a clean, compelling resume.
I believe they can.
I believe anyone can write their own resume, and blow the socks off potential employers. When in doubt, simplify.
In this Ebook I am going to explain exactly how to turn your resume into a full-fledged, top quality representation of you. I will explain how too much information can actually hurt your chances with a prospective employer. If ever in doubt, simplify.
Length:
If you haven't noticed, the length of a resume is always hotly contested. What it boils down to is simple aesthetics.
Ask yourself these questions.
Does your resume look complete?
Does it look like you are missing information at the bottom?
Some schools of thought say absolutely no more than one page, while others say two pages are fine.
They are both right in certain scenarios, but I will say one page is what you should stick with.
Thoughts on One Page
If at all possible you should try to get your resume down to one page. Aggressively edit your resume until one page is achieved.
Most of the information that people put on their resumes is nonsense. You must remember resume is a sales letter
You are the product.
The resume’s job is to convince your prospective employer that you deserve to have an interview.
That’s it!
If you have a lot of irrelevant information, their eyes will start to glaze over. Soon you will be pushed aside for the short, concise, targeted resume that someone else sent in.
You do not want to be pushed aside!
Unless you are a doctor, lawyer, CEO, or similar high ranking individual, STICK TO ONE PAGE! There is absolutely no reason to go beyond a single page.
Cut the fat.
In all my years of doing resumes for people, I have as yet needed to go beyond a single page. If you have a ton of work experience, volunteer experience, etc. only include the ones that are related to the job you are applying for. Do not lie, but omit the experience that isn’t relevant, and be ready to let the person conducting the interview know about your other experience, but only if asked. There are very few people who need more than one page. Even manager level clients only need a single page.
Pro Tip
Only use relevant work experience. If applying for a food service job, consider omitting your dog walking experience.
You can include volunteer or internship experience in the experience section. Only use them if they are relevant to the position applying for. While most people think to impress the hiring manager with info on their contributions, it is usually glossed over.
Thoughts on 2 Pages
Don’t do it!
Seriously, do not use two pages. If you need a multiple page resume, then seek out a resume professional to help you. Curriculum Vitae’s are way beyond the scope of this Ebook and should not be attempted by most people. They are complicated, long, and require an in depth knowledge of the field you are trying to get into.
Resumes are all about presentation, and having a second page only half full, (or half empty, you pessimist!) just looks tacky and unprofessional.
Objective
The objective of any resume has been known to cripple people with fear. It is the first thing that people read when they are looking at your resume. It is the spot most people have writer’s block.
Don’t be afraid of the objective! It is pretty easy when you think about it. The name is “objective”. What is the goal of the resume?
To land a job!
If nothing else, use that as your objective. Simply state You are a hardworking individual that is looking for the specific job title.
Bam!
Insta-objective!
If you are looking to do a little more, then you can add a thought provoking question or statement that is answered by your employment.
A good example would be:
“Customer loyalty is often overlooked as a way to increase sales. As a customer service agent I would be able to use my people skills to build a sincere rapport with customers, and keep them coming back.”
Another thing to consider is doing away with an objective. The problem with this is you miss out on a great way of personalizing your resume to get a little of “you” across to the employer. You should always do that with your cover letter, but also, including a little personality into your resume will help you in the long run.
Pro Tip
If you use an objective, make sure you keep it targeted. Don’t ramble or go off topic. There are several options to help you. A single line for your objective, like the one above. You can also use a small paragraph that is targeted to only one subject. A good way to see if this is achieved is to sk yourself if the information you are putting in is going to explain a little more of your main point. If it doesn’t then you should get rid of it. Remember, targeted! You don’t want to ramble!
Whitespace
The amount of blank “whitespace” in, and around the text of your resume. If you look at a book and see the margins, that is whitespace.
Another way to understand it is: the area that does not have any text.
Some whitespace is good. If you have a nice intro for your name, and contact information, then you probably want whitespace around it.
Steps to Using Whitespace
1: Line up the text in your resume. Always make sure that you have aligned text. Don’t use the tab key to do this. Use the space bar if you are using a word processor. Simply count out the number of times you hit space for each level of indention.
If you have a left alignment and the left most word is “Objective” use the same amount of spaces for the next phrase “Experience” or whatever you decide to use. After “Objective” You will probably indent the block inward. Make sure to count the spaces.
Objective (4spaces)
My objective is awesome….(8spaces)
Experience (4spaces)
I have a ton of experience!...(8spaces)
Etc.
2: Clean out the clutter. Try not to use special alignment options, like tables, etc. Most of the time they are more trouble than they are worth. Instead, use returns and the space bar to center the text. It will give you more flexibility and will look cleaner. Plus, if you are posting your resume to an employer website, then they usually have all of the fancy stuff stripped and just a text file uploaded. If you use returns and spaces, then your resume will look much better! Clutter can also be too much information or too many categories. Trim your work down to the last 3 or 4 places and not your entire work history. Having your highschool job as a towel boy/girl doesn’t need to be in your work history.
3: Allow the same amount of space between different blocks of text and sections. You should have the same amount of returns from your objective, experience, schooling, Beanie Baby Collection, etc. This tool can also be used to make your resume fill up the full page rule. If you are a little short, you can always have another return between your sections and fill it out.
Action Words
Action words are the bread and butter of the resume. If you look at a resume what do you see?
Words.
Lots and lots of words make up the resume. You format them to make an attractive document that will move a person (hiring manager), to an action (hiring you).
If you think about it, at its core, a resume is a sales letter. A sales letter that is trying to sell “you”.
Action words and phrases take a boring resume, and spices it up. They take something as plain as
“managed employees” and transforms it into “Responsible for the direction of work flow , and movement of assets to accommodate customer’s needs.
Avoid passive phrases, and use strong wording for your entire resume.
Instead of saying:
“Helped make a marketing plan for XYZ”
Say:
“Was an integral part of developing and implementing a targeted marketing plan, with a team that helped bring in $43,000 gross sales for the year.”
The difference between these should be obvious. If you don’t know exact numbers, then give your best estimate, but never, ever blow it up, or fudge numbers. Even a $400, or even a $40 increase in sales is good based on the size and scope of a business.
For ideas on strong action verbs, Google “action words” or “resume action words” you will get thousands of sites that have lis,t after list of different words you can use. Read through a few, and write down a dozen or two that catch your attention. Then go through and brainstorm sentence ideas that you have for a few.
Another thing you can do is simply write a passive description and then go back to your list of action words and find at least 2 that you can rewrite your sentence with.
Bullet points
Bullet points are one of the best ways to effectively highlight your success stories.
Let’s be honest. Who wants to read large blocks of text?
I know I don’t.
So, why not bullet your entire resume? That would be a bad idea. A nice balance of bullet points helps resumes, but if you go crazy with them, you run the risk of looking like either unprofessional, or amateurish.
Both will get you in the slosh pile fairly quickly.
There is one goal for bullets, and that’s to provide intriguing, question provoking dialogue. You want a recruiter to be interested in talking to you about your past experience.
So, how do you balance bullets to text? It’s fairly easy. Write out your descriptions like you normally would, all blocked out. Then, you want to take the pertinent info, and throw out the unnecessary stuff.
Using the above paragraph:
Balancing bullet points is fairly easy
Write out text normally, then take out the pertinent info
Throw out all unnecessary text
See how I did that? And which do you think is easier on the eyes? Definitely the second one. Now if you continue doing bullet points, your resume will be too widely spaced. Even if it’s jammed packed with information, it will seem short and won’t be taken seriously.
Usually I use bullet points when describing accomplishments, education, how my skills helped the bottom-line at a business, and on occasion I will use a hybrid style on the intro.
Ways to tell you need a bullet point
It’s easy to see if you need to use bullets.
There are two simple rules to use when working with your resume and you need bullet points.
1: Do you have a lot of bulk text?
2: Do you have any bullet points?
Get in the mindset that it’s not, “if” you need bullet points, but where you need them.
So, bullet points are very good in a resume, but just like everything in life, you need to use them in moderation.
Length of bullet points
Bullet points break up large chunks of text into easy to read snippets. The length of a bullet point sentence should be about the width of the page.
Avoid short bullet points like this sentence.
You should definitely add a bit of length to your bullets. It can definitely go beyond one sentence.
The above sentence is an example of a good length. Don’t be afraid to go two lines deep if needed but avoid going beyond two. If you are going too long, look at the information you are trying to present and ask yourself “Can I make two bullets out of this? Or do I have too much information?” If the answer’s yes then either trim it down, or make two bullets.
Remember that bulleted information should be presented to highlight information. It should also get the recruiter curious about the key points. Never, ever, fudge information on a resume.
Eliminating Errors
I am always surprised by the amount of errors that are on a person’s resume. It isn't limited to grammatical either. People seem to think that punctuation doesn't matter in a resume. I can tell you that it does. Punctuation and spelling are two of the most critical areas that need to be worked on.
It is what separates the amateurs, from the pros.
When you are writing your resume, and getting all of your ideas down quickly, punctuation and spelling shouldn’t be high on your list. Once that is done, you need to go back over it with a fine tooth comb.
Things to watch for
Punctuation
Spelling
Errors in Information
This includes your email, phone number, Name (yes I have seen resumes with their own name incorrect)
Also, on this list of errors, is dates. You always want to try and pinpoint exactly when you worked somewhere. You don't have to go so far as to the very day, however, down to the month is your goal.
If you aren't keeping track of dates of employment now, I would highly suggest you start doing so. Honesty in a resume is critical. When an employer runs a background check they are also checking employment history. If you fudge this too much, then the thought that you are not 100% honest will cross their mind, even if it's subconsciously.
Steps to follow for eliminating errors
Don't read sentences.
Go from word to word. Our brain will auto correct something it sees that is slightly off.
So instead of saying instead, I say instaed. If you are reading that fast enough, then you more than likely missed the last mistake I made.
Don't trust the spell checker
This is a biggie. If you are trying to say desk and you type in deck then the spell checker will not catch it. Both are correct. This is why you need to go word for word. Once you have read the sentence, and understand what you were trying to say, you can go back over it and see if all the words are what they should be. Synonyms are your enemy. They will trip you up if you aren't careful.
References:
If you use references, double check all the information you have. Also, make sure to call the person and let them know they are a reference!
I have received phone calls from previous employees that used me as a reference, and when asked about the person, I thought it was a client of the business.
Imagine my embarrassment when I explained to the person that the person they were asking about no longer worked for me. Be aware that some friends and family aren't the most tactful when you use them for references.
I had a client who put down his best friend. When a prospective employer called and asked about my client, the friend went off on tangents about how great they were and “this one time at this bar, Jack had had WAY too much and...”
I'm sure you get the idea. Also, the client didn't get that particular job, and his friend was quickly deleted from his resume.
Pro Tip
Don’t use references on your resume. Don’t include the line that says “references available upon request.” Of COURSE you have references. Everyone does. The recruiter knows you do. Do not waste valuable space on your resume page by including this. It is outdated and looks tacky.
Jist Cards
Jist cards are a relatively new tool to use in your job hunt. Since they are new, they still have the novelty feel, and will make you more memorable than most other applicants. Essentially they are small 3’x5’ cards that are printed out and handed to potential employers. I have found them extremely effective when you are at job fairs. Most of the time I would paperclip one to a resume, or even do away with the resume completely and just use them instead. Immediately you are set apart. They have stacks of resumes but I’d be willing to bet they have few, if any, jist cards.
Make it a point to put as much thought into them as you did your resume. There are several different ways to format them. Google “jist cards” and look for a format that suits you best.
Cover Letter
There are times when it's ok to cut corners in order to get something done.
Do not do that with your cover letter.
One of the most common questions we receive is if a cover letter is even important. This usually comes from clients who are applying for entry level job.s
Cover letters are critical.
Let me repeat that another way.
Cover letters are CRITICAL!
The reason they are so important is simple. While a resume is your “work life”, summed up into pertinent facts with maybe a little bit of your personality thrown in, a cover letter is your time to cut across time and space to tell the recruiter who YOU are.
It's your time to shine.
Another way to look at it is that your resume is a text book.
They are boring!
The cover letter is a novel.
I'm not suggesting that you should make your cover letter a silly piece of writing.
What I'm saying is you have the opportunity to start out with a light tone or thought provoking piece and make your potential employer see you as a person as well as an employee. That is the best way to differentiate yourself from all the other applicants.
There are several ways to do this. My personal favorite is stating a fact from a newspaper or a bit of news that correlates to your profession.
Example for a nurse:
“Regardless of your thoughts on Obamacare, the fact is it is something that is here. As a Registered Nurse I believe that it is our responsibility to be an advocate for our patients”........ etc. etc.
In the above example, I talked about something that is on every healthcare professional's mind. There are several things you can do to entice a would-be employer. The “fact statement” is one of my personal favorites. As a former hiring manager, I often look for people who I believe are interesting on paper. If you have a boring, or humorous cover letter/resume, I will usually toss it into the “later” pile. However, if you are able to grab my attention, you are on your way to being employed.
Networking
Networking is what you should be doing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In it’s simplest form, it’s communicating with others for potential future gains. In other words, talking to people. That time your friend said “so and so is hiring”, and gave you their number? That’s networking!
Make sure you have all of your tools together and with you at all times. This is going to be a big one. We all know that you are never prepared when you should be. By having all of your stuff with you at the onset, you don’t have to worry about that. Have resumes, and jist cards on hand.
When you are networking, try steering the conversation towards potential employment without being overbearing or desperate. People don’t enjoy talking to someone who’s desperate and needy. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to find a job. Many times a position hasn’t opened but will in the near future. If you find that, make sure you get your resume and jist cards in. Don’t specify the position you are seeking, but make sure the rest of it is targeted towards it. The position might not be vacant yet. Also, it will help to get your name in there for when it’s open. Hiring managers are people too, and if they see someone that they like, they will keep coming back to that person, even when others have finally gotten around to applying.
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About the author:
Travis Dalton has been guiding people in the art of the resume for half a decade. He fields questions from friends, family, and clients on different aspects of writing out resumes. Often asked where his ideas for formatting, phrases, and cover letters come from, he advises long walks and many showers. Honestly, he has no idea. Travis lives in Phoenix, Arizona where he went to school. He has owned several companies and has been part of hiring for several Fortune 500 corporations. His direct email is travis.dalton@ymail.com and if you have any questions, comments, suggestion, or just want to say hi, please don’t hesitate to drop him a line. Like this ebook on Facebook! http://tinyurl.com/8ytrfx8