1. careers
2. resume writing and advice

Resume Development
WELCOME
Confidential and Proprietary
Learning Objectives
Understand:

The purpose of your resume

The key components of a resume

How to choose the best resume format

How to write clear, concise accomplishment statements

How to edit/proof your resume
Draft:
2

An accomplishment statement

A professional profile/summary statement
What do you know already?
1.
What is a resume?
2.
What is the key purpose of a resume?
3.
What are differences of a resume today vs. a resume in
the past?
4.
Do you need a resume to get a job?
5.
How many times will you rewrite your resume, and how
long will it take?
6.
How many pages should it be?
7.
How much time does an HR person spend reading a
resume?
8.
What key information should be included in a resume?
(20/20, 2.4)
3
Preparation Phase
Beginning
Resume
Define
Abilities
Review
Accomplishments
Strengths!
Career
Objective
Match up
Interests
(20/20, 1.8)
4
Preparation Tips

Gather/organize needed information

Complete assessments
– Career Survey
– Birkman
– Values Sort
5

Write your own resume

1 – 2 pages

Keep the look simple

Avoid using personal pronouns
Preparation Tips
6

Use the past tense

Choose strong action verbs

Annotate and spell out abbreviations

Avoid colored paper, fancy folds, photos
Marketing or Misleading
 96% of HR professionals conduct reference checks
 93% of those said they did not hire the candidate as a
result of misrepresentations on applications/resumes.
7
Common Misleading Information
 Inaccurate dates
 Degree inflation
 Overstating roles and duties
 Misrepresenting technical abilities
 Claiming language fluency
 Providing a fake address
 Inflating grade point averages
8
Marketing
 You CANNOT change your dates of employment
 You CAN, to some degree, change your titles
 You CANNOT change your academic background
 You CAN leave out irrelevant jobs and data
 You CANNOT get away with lying just because your
company no longer exists
9
A Resume Answers Three Questions
1. What do I want to do next?

Self assessment (Career Survey, Birkman, Values Sort)
2. Why can I do that?

Summary: Broad overview of scope of experience
3. What is my evidence that I can do that?
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
Professional experience

Key results/achievements

Education/certifications, etc.
The employer wants to know…
1. Can you fill my need?
2. Will you stay for the long term?
3. Are you professional?
4. Do you fit?
11
What should be included?
 Summary/professional profile
 Professional experience
– Companies
– YEARS of employment
– Job scope statements
– Job titles
– Accomplishments
12
What should be included?
 Education
 Professional development / training
 Technical skills
 Licenses & Certifications
 Military experience
 Professional affiliations / memberships
13
What Not to Include
 Months of employment
 Personal information, physical characteristics
 Hobbies and interests
 “References available upon request”
 Irrelevant Information
14
Art and Science
 Guidelines not rules
 Many forms of a “best” resume
 Work with your coach
15
Resume Heading
 Name
 Contact information
– Address, phone number, web resume site
– Email (professional)
 Abbreviated heading on subsequent pages
 Save as a template
 Use for all correspondence
(20/20, 2.5)
16
Career Profile/Summary
 Follows heading
 Outlines your qualifications and value add for an
employer
 Usually written last
17
Professional Experience
 Makes and supports your case
 Last job first
 Detail last 10-15 years, what
you are, not what you were.
 Company description is
optional.
 Include Job Scope
Statements.
 Strengths, contributions, and
accomplishments are bulleted.
NAME
Street Address
City, State, ZIP Code
Telephone
Email
SUMMARY
Purchasing Agent with extensive experience in
domestic and international manufacturing.
Solid background in logistics, procurement,
material and production control. Broad…
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
ABC COMPANY, NYC, NY 19XX-200X
Major international widget manufacturing
company with sales of $XB worldwide.
Senior Purchasing Agent
Purchased raw materials for the widget
manufacturing operations. Supervised 4
purchasing clerks.
 Accomplishment #1
 Accomplishment #2
Accomplishment #3
(20/20, 2.8)
18
Scope Statements
Answers the questions:
 What were you hired to do?
 At what level?
 For whom?
 With whom?
(20/20 2.9, 2.10)
19
Scope Statements
 Demonstrates specific experience or role
 Qualifies you for a position
 Begins with an action verb
 Includes dimensions, range, staff size, budget and
reporting relationship, if relevant
 Demonstrates general experience and
responsibilities
20
Responsibility or Accomplishment?
Responsibilities:
The tasks and activities you were hired to do
Accomplishments:
The results you produced and how you achieved them
(20/20, 2.8 – 2.10)
21
Accomplishment Statements
Why should we believe you can do what you say you can do?
 Support your career goal
 Highlight actions which showcase your
strengths
 Appear in bullet form for easy readability
 Based on your CAR’s

Challenge, Action, Result (CAR)
(20/20, 2.9)
22
Accomplishments
CAR
 Challenge: What was the situation?
 Action: What did you do and how?
 Result: What was the impact?
Challenge not usually included on your resume.
(20/20, 2.9)
23
Accomplishment Statement Samples

Not
specific
Conducted many training programs in several
states which reduced problems.

Better
Conducted more than 45 service technician training
programs throughout an 8-state region reducing
customer complaints by 22% in a 6-month period.
Best
Reduced customer complaints by 22% in a 6month period by conducting more than 45 service
technician training programs throughout an 8-state
region.

24
Accomplishment Examples
25

Improved support services 50% in 6 months by launching
support program that improved the technical delivery of
service co-provider.

Researched and recovered $25 million in out-of-balance
conditions during bank systems conversion and post
conversions.

Increased revenue $2 million by designing and
implementing an automated customer follow-up program.

Reduced average customer call-waiting time to 30
seconds from 2 minutes by designing and implementing a
call triage system.
Avoid Over Used Phrases
Instead of: Experience working in fast paced environment.
Try: Registered 120+ third shift emergency patients per
7 hour shift. Best?
Instead of: Excellent written communication skills
Try: Wrote jargon free user guide for 11,000 users.
Best?
Instead of: Team player with cross functional awareness
Try: Collaborated with clients, A/R and Sales to increase
speed of receivables and prevent interruption of service to
clients. Best?
26
Accomplishment Draft
Using your Resume Guidelines Worksheet page 3
Draft:
 Job scope statement
 One accomplishment
10 minutes to write
5 minutes to share with partner
27
Education
 Further supports your case
 Start with highest level of
achievement.
 Include College, Training,
Seminars, Certifications,
Professional Development.
 Identify major if related.
NAME
Page 2
ABC COMPANY, NYC, NY 19XX-200X
Major international widget manufacturing
company with sales of $XB worldwide.
Senior Purchasing Agent
Purchased raw materials for the widget
manufacturing operations. Supervised 4
purchasing clerks.
 Accomplishment #1
 Accomplishment #2
Accomplishment #3
 Years are optional
EDUCATION
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
MEMBERSHIPS
AWARDS
(20/20, 2.14)
28
Other Sections
 Affiliations and memberships
 Military experience
 Awards/honors
 Technical skills
 Licenses and certifications
Remember, “Is it RELEVANT?”
(20/20, 2.11 – 2.16)
29
Addendum
 Patents
 Published books/articles
 Presentations
 Projects, consulting engagements, legal cases,
and financial transactions
 Client lists, where not proprietary to former
employer
(20/20, 2.16)
30
Professional Profile/Summary
Considered by many to be MOST important part of
your resume!
 600 managers surveyed: overwhelming majority
agreed.
 Only about 5% of resumes contain this key section.
Robin Ryan
(author of Winning Resumes and Winning Cover Letters)
(20/20 2.7)
31
Summary
 State your case, what are
your qualifications?
 Positioning statement that
highlights qualifications and
areas of expertise, Unique
Selling Points, Strengths
and Deliverables.
 Industries, positions and
functions you’ve held, range
and scope.
 Narrative or Narrative
followed by bullet points.
 Usually written last.
NAME
Street Address
City, State, ZIP Code
Telephone
Email
SUMMARY
Purchasing Agent with extensive experience in
domestic and international manufacturing.
Solid background in logistics, procurement,
material and production control. Broad…
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
ABC COMPANY, NYC, NY 19XX-200X
Major international widget manufacturing
company with sales of $XB worldwide.
Senior Purchasing Agent
Purchased raw materials for the widget
manufacturing operations. Supervised 4
purchasing clerks.
 Accomplishment #1
 Accomplishment #2
Accomplishment #3
(20/20 2.7)
32
Summary Draft
Using your Resume Guidelines Worksheet, page 9
Draft a summary for your resume.
 Brand statement
 Qualifies you for your desired position
 Summarizes:
– Industries
– Key roles/responsibilities
– Key strengths and skills
– Unique value add
15 minutes to draft summary
5 minutes to share with a partner
33
Transferable Skills
 Key skills desired by employers
 Critical when changing career focus
 Includes:
34
– Leadership
- Teamwork
– Interpersonal
- Communication
– Flexibility
- Problem-solving
– Organizational
- Analytical
– Quantitative
- Others?
Key Words

What are “Key” words?

Do you know the key words for your profession?

Key words relate to your qualifications:
– Technical expertise
– Industry jargon
– Product knowledge
– Personality traits
– Academic credentials

How to determine your key words
– Review ads and job postings for your targeted jobs
– Review company websites and how they describe their culture and
employees.
35
Key Word Samples
Administrative
Web Designer
Sales
 Document preparation
 Windows
 Exceed quota
 Word processing
 Internet servers
 Travel
 Special projects
 Page Mill
 Lead generation
 Administrative support
 HTML
 Customer support
 Team player
 PDF
 Inside sales
 MS Word 2007
 Photoshop
 Presentation skills
 Multi-line phones
 Project coordination
 Account management
 Scheduling/
organizational skills
 80 wpm
 Excel
36
Key Word Qualification Summary
Sales professional
Achievement oriented sales professional with 15 years of
success in international trade and global marketing.
Skilled in developing marketing programs, coordinating
new product introductions and providing customer
support. Experience includes cold calling, new business
development and key account management.
Rather than…
Achievement oriented with 15 years of successful experience
and proven ability to meet objectives, communicate with
clients, and quickly excel in new industries
37
Using Key Words
 94% of the top 500 U.S. companies use computer
programs to evaluate resumes
 Do not creatively try to “hide” your key words in
your resume
 Not just for on-line applications. People visually
scan for these as well
38
Choosing a Resume Format
CHRONOLOGICAL
FUNCTIONAL
Name/Address/Phone/Email
Name/Address/Phone/Email
Objective (optional)
Objective (optional)
Summary
Summary
Professional Experience
(including selected
accomplishments)
Selected Accomplishments
(under specific functional areas
of expertise)
Education
Professional Experiences
• Company name, city, state, dates
•Job titles
No job scope or accomplishment
statements
Optional Sections
Education
Optional Sections
(20/20, 2.17)
39
Choosing a Resume Format
CHRONOLOGICAL
40
FUNCTIONAL
A Chronological format calls the
reader’s attention to your recent
experience.
A Functional format directs the reader
to your functional strengths and
qualifications.
 Continuing in the same occupation or
industry
 Making a significant career change
(production to sales; financial
planner to teacher)
 Career shows steady growth with
progressive responsibilities
 Job objective is different from your
experience
 Job objective is similar to recent
experience
 Experience is gained in different,
relatively unconnected jobs
Hybrid
 Purpose similar to functional
 Combines both the key features of the functional
and the chronological resume.
– Key accomplishments listed right after summary
– Professional experience written the same as chronological,
including job scope and accomplishment statements.
 Most recruiters prefer chronological with job scope
statements or hybrid over functional resume.
41
Hybrid Resume
Summary
Key Accomplishments
Work Experience
 Job scope statement
 Remaining accomplishment statements
Other Sections
42
Print and On-line Resumes
WORD VERSION
INTERNET VERSION
Smith-Mary.doc
Smith-Mary.txt
Used for:
Used for:
 Printing
 Posting on-line
 Face-to-face
 Copying and pasting
 Attaching to email
Includes appropriate
formatting for
attractiveness
into email messages
Unformatted for use in
electronic or digital
applications
Caution when working with newer Windows versions: .docx files
43
The “Internet” Resume
Tips

Create and save plain text version
- No italics, lines, graphs, columns or underlining
- Limit to 60 characters or 6 inches wide
- Include Keywords
44

Proof, edit, proof

Cut and paste into on-line posting sites

Print out selected areas to proof before posting

When emailing a “Word” resume, consider saving it as a
PDF and then mail
Professional Bios
To Introduce Yourself to a Broader Audience
 Marketing tool for consulting assignments
 For speaking engagements
 To confirm credentials
 To add to a business proposal
 In lieu of a resume
 No more than three-quarters of a page
 Conversational tone – third person voice
45
Possible Concerns
46

Gaps in work history

Little or no experience in the field you are targeting

Almost all experience is with one employer

Lack of consistency in job history

Job hopper appearance

Lack formal degree

Jobs held many years ago

Age

Work history and education from another country

Others?
References
A great networking opportunity!
Contact:
 Now/soon
 After the interview
 After the expected call
 Thank you
(20/20, 2.27)
47
Help your references help you!
 Consider the key skills, knowledge and abilities
(KSA’s) and experience for which you need
references.
 Share with your references what you would like
them to emphasize.
 Consider developing a master list of references
sorted by your KSA’s
48
References
Reference for Mary Smith:
Jocelyn Hartman
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
ABC Manufacturing
Contact Information:
120 South Main Street
Anytown, ST 74209
(777) 489-1539
[email protected]
Relationship: Former Supervisor at company
name.
49
Final Thoughts
50

Is all the information relevant?

Is it true?

Is it positive?

Is there “white” space?

Is it clear, correct, and concise?

Have you considered search engine marketing?

Did you use the editing checklist on page 2.21?

Greatest emphasis on most recent work?
FINELY

Have you mad doubly sure there sure no typos?

Have you used the right sintax?

Have you used proper puncturation?

REMEMBRE

Its got to be letter purrfect
Have your resume “proof read” by at least two people!
51
Tools and Next Steps
Tools:
8eResume Basics including on-line Resources:
Resume Examples, Resume Checklist,
Resume Development Tips, Action Verbs by Skill Area
Next Steps:
Develop Keywords, Resume Editing, Coaching,
Post to Right’s Resume Bank on RfH
52