Blog

So, you begin preparation for writing your resume and look for it to be as strong as possible. You research every aspect of your old job descriptions to ensure you provide detail . Also, you brainstorm highlights and achievements to include on your resume. After all, your reader should know you are someone that leaves an impact, right? After laying it all out, developing a striking summary, include high-level keywords. Finally, you wrap it up in a nice bow by using a very attractive design. There is no way this resume can miss, right? Well, not so fast.

When it comes to resume writing, it is not always about being the best and most qualified. Yes, in the practice of hiring talent, there is such a thing as overqualified. When it comes to the development of resume strategy, you can in fact overshoot the target. If you think about it, this is not an overly hard concept to understand.

Hiring Ain’t Cheap!

Consider the resume from the standpoint of the hiring authority. Onboarding a new employee is a real and significant cost. The cost of advertising vacancies, posting positions on job boards, and the screening and interviewing process can add up. Not to mention the assessment time, and eventual hiring and lengthy training. Employers want to know that their new hire is not only qualified, but likely to stay. The fear of employers is that an overqualified job seeker will eventually experience dissatisfaction and seek to move on. They are trying to avoid spending thousands of dollars in training costs. Who wants to to find themselves back at the beginning 6 months later?

“Square Peg in Round Hole” Much?

While qualifications are definitely key, what employers find just as important is achieving the proper fit. If your resume is significantly overshooting of the role, you may find yourself waiting for a call that never comes. Good resume writing involves not only communicating relevant qualifications, but also knowing how not to overshoot the goal.

Your previous role may have been CFO. But if seeking a position as an accounting manager, don’t mention putting together the entire financial management strategy for a multi-million-dollar company. Wait for the interview to reveal these things. You then have the opportunity to provide context as to why you are seeking a position beneath those you held previously.

Quality resume writing is about communicating to your reader that YOU are the proper fit. You would not wear a $5,000 suit to apply for a position as a dishwasher at a homeless shelter. You are resume is no different than you are, in that it needs to READ THE ROOM.

Let’s face it, when it comes to preparing our resumes for the job search, we would definitely like it to be easy. I mean, if we could prepare one, instead of two resumes that answers every question for every reader, we would be golden! Unfortunately, there are instances where a different tool is needed in your toolbox. Now, I am not talking about the task of Simply tailoring one’s resume to a job description. I am talking about the need for a completely different strategic approach. So, how do you know when there is a need to take a different strategic approach to your resume than you previously have? Below are a few examples of situations warranting this.

Competing Skill Sets

Some of us are very blessed, and that we can rely on a background that gives us numerous options. Why this is in fact a blessing, if approached the wrong way it actually ends up being a curse. When it comes to your resume, you do not want your reader feeling as though they are fishing through wood could be several potential skill set mixes in order to find where they fit into the equation. First, there is the issue of time. The average resume is reviewed for 10 seconds or less. That means there is no time to distract someone with content that does not relate to them. Second, even if the hiring manager where to see where your skill-set matched their requirements, they will wonder whether or not you are truly committed to the direction that the position requires. Neither of these scenarios work in your favor. If your job search is one that will be attacking different position types for Industries, you want to ensure that each one is speaking a specific language the reader. That hiring manager should not feel as though they are competing with other Industries for your services.

Same Job, Different Industry

Let’s say that you have been in pharmaceutical sales for the last 15 years, but you are also seeking a sales position outside of that industry. In a case such as this, the pharmaceutical sales resume will likely have a great deal of industry-specific jargon. There will be in pronounceable drug names, references to various therapeutics, and other things that may make readers from other Industries cringe. So what do you need to do question mark you need to put together a resume that pulls the focus away from the industry and back on your ability to sell. That other resume should strip away all of the industry-specific terminology and jargon so that the reader does not view you as a pigeon-holed pharmaceutical professional.

Federal vs Private Sector

This scenario may present the most dramatic difference in resume needs. The federal resume and private-sector resume are in fact two different and distinct animals. When it comes to your federal resume, you will want to flesh out the content and be thorough with regard to the communication of all relevant skills with regard to the position in question. Federal resumes can be quite lengthy, based upon the amount of experience one brings to the table. In contrast, your private sector resume has the goal of brevity. You rarely have situations that warrant more than two pages. As such, someone with an extensive background will have to make some tough decisions on what to exclude. Additionally, the very infrastructure of these documents is a bit different. With the federal resume, you are including much more information in the position headers then you would with the private sector resume. For those exiting the military, it is quite common to include all awards and medals on a federal resume, why only including them in the private sector version if it is very relevant to the type of position being sought. So in this case, if actively applying for positions in the public and private sector, two resumes is the bare minimum.

No one said it would be easy. Looking for a job is hard work. Ensuring all the proper tools are in your toolbox is paramount to getting this thing done quickly, and two resumes may be just what the doctor ordered to keep your search humming along. Think of each of your readers as speaking a different language. You would not expect to have a conversation with five individuals, each speaking a different language, by using the same language. Your resume is no different. Ensure that you are speaking the language of the hiring manager, and you give yourself and your resume a great shot.

Hopefully, you have already read through the first two installments LinkedIn profile improvement and optimization recommendations. Now, let’s wrap it up in a nice bow so that you can put it over the top.

LinkedIn Profile: Unique Presentation for Optimal Effect

If there is one overall weakness to the LinkedIn platform, it is the lack of built-in formatting options to help with the visual presentation of your profile to your connections and page visitors. But that should not stop you from creating uniquely designed profile with accents that help to differentiate you from your competition. While the LinkedIn platform does not offer symbol and bullet options native to its system, there are some that you can manually include within your content that will help to make your profile easier on the eyes and easier to navigate.

Make New Connections

Okay, so now you have a well-developed profile that is content-rich and attractive. But what difference does it make if there is no one to see it? Building an impressive LinkedIn profile and not making connections is like getting dressed up in your best power suit to sit on the couch instead of going to a meet-and-greet. Look for and make strategic connections that can be of benefit to you in the future. Did you know that your connection makeup can affect the search strength of your LinkedIn profile?

LinkedIn Profile: Join Groups to Stay Connected

LinkedIn is not only good for building strategic connections with those who can help you to advance your career. It is also a great way to keep your ear to the ground on information that can help with the same. The best way to get access to like-minded professionals in live conversations about specific points of interest that can add to your knowledge base is to join groups aligned with those interest.

I know, I know, who has time to check in on every group to get the latest on subjects being discussed? Well, you can adjust your settings within the group so that you receive updates on the latest chatter. Have an email notification arrive once per day, or make it once per week (my preference).

Additionally, you can use groups to share information of value to the community. After all, if you’re receiving quality input from the community, you should contribute where possible, right? Not to mention you begin begin to establish yourself as a subject matter expert in your field. And that has real value, people.

Its dangerous when one’s technology grows faster than he ability to responsibly manage it responsibly. No, I am not talking about nuclear warheads or automatic weapons. I am talking about the almost instantaneous proliferation of social media into our mainstream existence, and how it affects your job search and can be keeping you unemployed.

Don’t get me wrong. Social media has provided us with some extraordinary capabilities that we did not have in the past. In the 21st century, you can send a kid off to college and communicate as though they in the next room. Small businesses can reach large numbers of potential customers through engagement.

But as I peruse some folks’ social media profiles, I can only hope they are self-employed or work for family. Because with some of the content in these profiles, they are making themselves unhirable and ruining their job search.

(Hey, before anyone lights into me, this isn’t about the “should-or-shouldn’ts”, its about the “is-or-isn’ts”)

Social media communication is like talking in public where the room is bugged. And hiring managers are in another room with a listening device. Before you hit “post”, pretend a potential employer is standing over your shoulder. If you’re good with what they can hear and see, then by all means go for it!

Now, before you all go patting yourself on the back about your privacy settings protecting you during your job search, perhaps you should read this:

https://storify.com/sarahhazell829/are-my-privacy-settings-really-private

Let me be clear, I am personally all for people being able to say and post anything they want to on their social media accounts. Your account, your business. But when one does, one should just be able to accept the fallout, whatever it may be. And that includes hurting their job search by creating a negative perception with employers.

There is a lot of debate (and some litigation) going on as to whether it is right or wrong for an employer to use social media in their hiring decisions. But if you are looking for employment TODAY and your rent is due TOMORROW, one needs to consider the impact of their posts as the hiring environment currently exists, whether or not one agrees with the merits of it. As they say:

“Freedom of speech is not freedom of the consequences OF that speech”

Now, let me get back to this cat video.

As professional resume writers, we can always tell which of our clients is most serious about their career trajectory. The answer usually lies in the first question that they ask when calling. Usually, if the first question that come out in an initial inquiry involves the price, this is a sign that they may not be fully versed on just how important the document is. This is not to say that one should pay any price for the product. This is still America, and everyone loves a great deal. But if you are making a decision on whether or not to seek professional resume services based upon the cost, then you may not truly understand its impact on not only your frequency of securing interviews, but also the opening offer from the employer.

Now, when a caller is first question is about finding out if you have what it takes to get them into the interview door, this is usually someone who understands the purpose of the exercise. These individuals see professional resume writing as an investment in their career, advance, and net worth building. When one is only concerned with the cost, your decision is made from a position of short-term viewpoint. Have you ever considered what the actual cost is to you up and ineffective resume? I once had a client who try for 18 months to get on with an employer who was in the door within 3 weeks after the completion of her resume. Now, how much money did she lose over the course of those 18 months?

First, let’s make no mistake. When it comes to a resume, you are always better off with professional help than without it. Just think of the numbers. The average corporation receives 250 resumes per opening and you likely need to be in that top 3 to 5 % just to get into that interview door. So do your due diligence and find someone who understands how to market someone on paper. Next, when looking for someone to prepare your resume, the most important factor is that they have the skills to properly frame your experience, training, education, and skill set for hiring managers. Regardless of how expensive cheap the resume, if you are not convinced that the professional resume writer possesses the skills, then any feedback they are asking is too much. I don’t know about you, but even if you find someone willing to take a crack at it for $65, if it does not achieve the objective, didn’t you just throw away $65?

It is time to change how you view and categorize your resume in your mind. You should not see it as some expense to get a hold of a piece of paper. If your head is on straight, and you are taking your career seriously, you will see it as valuable investment that optimizes your interview frequency, resulting in finding employment sooner and getting the best offer that you can get.

And isn’t that what it is all about, ladies and gentlemen?

Having a good battle for your resume plan is important. Yes, a good resume definitely requires some thought as to its overall strategy. What are the requirements of the position? Who is the audience? How many competitors are you likely looking at? What are your strengths and weaknesses, and how do you best highlight them (or blur them) in a good resume? These are all valuable considerations in determining the approach you need to take to build a resume that will bring consistent success. But as is the case with any project, there is only so much planning that you can do before it gets down to whether or not you take action.

Once you have given the strategy some thought, push it to the side for a second. Why? Because as you progress through the project, some aspects of that writing strategy may need to be amended based upon factors such as spacing, or simply how the content is blending. What you want to do is just start. That’s right, JUST START! Instead of beginning with the summary and core competencies (slightly more abstract in nature from a development standpoint), go with the more concrete information – your professional experience. After all, when it comes to your experience, there really isn’t much that is abstract about it. What you did and achieved is, well, what you did and achieved. Now, you will want to give consideration to the most important aspects to your future reader. But this is usually the bulk of the grunt work and going through this process will help when it is time to tackle the profile section, where you will “frame the argument” for calling you in.

The truth is that you can easily end up in a vicious cycle of doubt and changing strategies – constantly reassessing the approach because there is no anchor in place to keep you with one train of thought. But when you commit to at least laying out the basics of a good resume, you begin to get into a flow that helps pull you right through the rest of the project.