Resume Basics

Whether you are entering the world of work, or navigating your way through it, an up-to-date resume is necessary. Crafting a resume can either be viewed as a tedious exercise in which you painstakingly document your experiences, or as a creative endeavor in which you get to share a snapshot of all the amazing things that you have accomplished. I like to think of a resume as a who/what/when/where of your career with a little bit of why flavored in. Sure, there are some innovative means out there to relate your experiences – video resumes and the like, and for certain professions, those may be best, but for the majority of us, a basic word document or PDF resume is often the most effective way to share your career story.

First Impressions

Reviewing resumes, in many regards, reminds me of the years I spent as a literary agent reviewing proposals and manuscripts—you can go through dozens of uninteresting ones which make their way to the “slush pile,” until you come upon that one that makes you pause, take a closer look, and decide to make contact. All you need is that one resume that makes sense – a mix of clarity and the right experience, and then all the other ones fade away.

What makes a resume worthy of the “slush pile?” A multitude of things, including typo’s, dense, wordy paragraphs; itsy bitsy font or mismatched fonts; loud, obnoxious colors (think green or orange font); then there’s the resume in which it is clear that you cut and pasted your information from somewhere else, which is a giveaway due to the different shades and font sizes. And of course, if you apply for a job in which you have no experience with no explanation of why you are doing so, your resume will likely be ignored. A resume serves as a first impression: it’s an opportunity to show your best, focused, and professional self to a potential employer.

The Rules

Are there rules to resume writing? Sure. In fact, there are many different rules, set forth by many different disciplines, such as government, academia, healthcare, and so forth. In terms of general resumes, keep it simple; keep it straightforward. One genre I see more and more often, is the connect-the-dots resume, sometimes referred to as a “functional resume,” in which the first pages lists endless accomplishments and then page two lists the company a person worked at, their job title, and their years of employment. Which means, the reader has to keep going back to page one and guess when and where each of the accomplishments occurred in a person’s career. I vote for clarity. Clarity saves time and energy and follows a logical pattern, so that the resume reader doesn’t have to guess.

Who should write your resume?

While some will insist on having their resume done “professionally,” I believe that the best person to write your resume is you. You are the one who knows your career story best, knows what you accomplished, what you are all about, and what you seek. If you cannot articulate your accomplishments and your career history in a few pages, then maybe it’s not the right time for you to be interviewing. Writing a resume is the first step to gaining career clarity. You are best suited to share your career experiences and accomplishments in writing, not a stranger. Even if you are not the best writer, you are absolutely more invested in your future than someone who is getting paid to document your experience. That said, I am a fan of having friends, trusted advisors, and/or colleagues review and edit your resume and share feedback with you.

The Key Ingredients of a Resume

Name, Address, and Contact Information

This seems like an obvious requirement, but surprisingly, many people only put their name at the top of a resume and list their address or email contact in a footer that is hard to see, or at the end of their resumes. There should be no mystery here: the first thing that a reviewer should see is your name, your address, your email address, and a phone number you may be reached at.

Summary and Overview Statement

I say this is a do. But keep it succinct. Three to five sentences maximum. When I look at a resume and it begins with a 10+ line sentence in itsy bitsy get-it-all- in font, attempting to sum up 20 years of experience, I get a headache. Keep it simple. Keep it specific. 15 years in Business Development. 10 years of Communications Leadership. List your five or six key skills, such as effective communicator, relationship builder, and so forth. If you seek a certain type of position, state it in a concise sentence, such as, Director of Marketing at Fortune 500 Company seeking to transition into Vice President of Marketing or Chief Marketing Officer role.

Experience

In chronological order, starting with your most recent role, include the name of the company you work for and your job title, and include the years that you worked in each role. In terms of the companies you worked for, be sure to include a sentence or two regarding size, revenue, public versus private, national versus global. Sure, you know all there is to know about your company. But trust me – there are people out there who have never heard of the company you work for. Share some details so that the resume reader doesn’t have to do the research. So, if you work at AT&T, it would look as follows:

Do not leave out dates on your resume. It immediately makes the reader wonder – why did he/she leave off dates?

Job Description Summary

Under each of your job titles, include two to five sentences that provide an overview of what your daily job consists of. For example:

Key Accomplishments

Below your job description you should include your key accomplishments for each role. When possible, use numbers here, as in percentages and dollar signs. Prospective employers want to see what you have accomplished in terms of growth or savings. For example:

Highlighted Accomplishments:

How far back in your career history should you go?

Probably 15-20 years should be the maximum. That said, if you are still leaving off a good portion of your career or even a few jobs in your career history, then summarize that under Prior Experience. It’s helpful if you portray the depth and scope of your career as it gives one insight regarding your career path.

Education

If you did not receive a degree from a college or from a graduate program, do not include it on your resume. If you are in the midst of completing a degree, that is fine to include, along with your projected completion date. Aside from that, only include completed degrees from accredited colleges and universities under education. You may also include any recognized certifications, such as Six Sigma Black Belt or PHR, etc. For completed degrees, be sure to include the degree you achieved (BA, BS, MBA, MPH, etc.) your area of study, the name of the college or university, and because it is not a secret, I always opt to include the year of completion.

Awards, Honors and/or Professional or Community Leadership

If you have achieved awards or specific honors in your career, note them! But as with all other sections of your resume, try to keep them specific, succinct, and current, as in the past 5-7 years. If you have or currently do sit on Boards or an Executive Committee, list those details as well. If you have been a coach or such and believe that it’s relevant, it’s fine to note those details. Use your best judgment; if you were a college valedictorian, sure, that is good information to include; but if you were valedictorian of your junior high school and 20+ years have passed, it’s best to leave it off.

Hobbies and Special Interests

I vote to leave this off your resume. If you get an interview or even a job, the people you work with will learn all about you. A client of mine once reviewed a list of hobbies on a candidate’s resume to include wine tasting, novel reading, and opera, and his first comment was, “I’m surprised that she didn’t talk about walking off into the sunset.” I know your sports endeavors – marathons, ironmen, and the like–seem like the most fascinating thing about you, but they may make a potential employer wonder how dedicated you will be to a new job if you are spending so much time training.

Resume Myths Exposed

A resume does not need to be one page, nor does it max out at two pages. Again, the length often depends on the discipline – academics may have a 30 page curricula vitae to include extensive publication and presentation lists. A resume needs to be as long as necessary to share a snapshot of you and your accomplishments, in a non-tedious way. If you are just out of college, a one-page resume is probably best. If you are in the work force for 10 years, you will likely have a two-page resume. If you are in the workforce for 20 years, your resume may be three pages. Beyond that, ask yourself what you can summarize--if you need to include every last detail. Remember, a resume is an overview of your experience, not a report on everything that you have ever done or accomplished. You do not need 15 bullets under each role to share your job description. Sum it up in a few sentences. Save the bulleted lists to highlight your accomplishments.

Avoid catch phrases bordering on cliché – driven leader; revenue champion. Think of your resume as a chance to share a bit of your authentic self with people who may potentially be your colleagues. Try to keep it real, and if possible, avoid creating a resume that sounds like the other million resumes out there. Figure out who you are and what you specifically have to offer or relate about your career, and then say that.

If you took off two years to travel the world, to write a book, to care for an ailing parent, to raise children, I vote that you include it. While it may seem strange to do so, it often looks stranger when there are gaps in your resume. In fact, it is often one of the first questions potential employers will ask – what did he or she do for those 3 years not accounted for?

Keep your resume consistent. If you are going to include periods after each bullet, then do that throughout. If you are not going to include periods, again, make sure you follow the same format throughout. In terms of formatting, verify that dates are all lined up at the same tabs and that your fonts are uniform. And once you get it all right, then PDF it, so that whoever opens up the document will see that perfect version that you have created.

Think of your resume as a three to five minute commercial slot to share all of the amazing things about yourself in a concise, consecutive, clear manner. It is your chance to make a hiring manager want to meet you. Think organized, consistent, informative, and honest – and hopefully, it will get you that interview!