Fear and Loathing in Your Personal Resume Epilog

??????? I’ve written 14 short essays on each of the relevant sections of your resume, in order of their appearance.?You’re welcome!?Seriously, given what has happened here in 2020+, this was something I wanted to do.?For many of you, what I have shared will help you construct a solid resume.??

?????????????For those of you who aspire to greater heights, you will still be fearful and loathing about this document given what I spoke about in the “Summary,” “Skills,” and “How Did I Do That?” sections.?What I did share was a method for ferreting out who should help you and why.?For many who seek outside assistance for their resumes, this is critical.?Too many resume writers construct the document in their own personal view be that HR, an educational setting, etc. or with the trophy-case-syndrome, which is pure marketing.?Rarely will someone be able to construct it from your own personal viewpoint and, in a position of value toward the employer.

?????????????With this said, let me share some final thoughts and tips.?Mundane as some may be, these are also important to keep you out of the paper shredder and on to the discussion table:

1.??????????Never hide from any years you did not work-- fired, family reason or otherwise.?Honesty is the best policy.?Besides, your future boss may have been a flunky, gotten fired, or as I’ve said in prior posts,?bad things do happen to good people.??

2.??????????Never add underlined or bolded words to sections where regular font types are required. Emphasis only leads to excess marketing and a tendency for you to boast.?Clean and simple is best.

3.??????????Avoid as many acronyms, abbreviations and other jargon that needs explanation, as possible.?All you tech people make sure you have someone else read your document.?If it takes more than 30 seconds to read it, get the dictionary out and find some English words to use!?Remember, any good resume can be read in 10 seconds the first time to get you into the “short pile” for detailed review.

4.??????????If you did a good job writing your resume, take the time to write a LinkedIn profile: three rather conversational paragraphs of what value you bring to the table.?See my LI profile anytime for a sample.?DO NOT take your resume or resume summary and post it out there.?That is advertising.?Plus, when you write a good LinkedIn profile, HR people and recruiters may find you more attractive given you now have a personality.?Writing it this way will naturally include all the applicable key words too.

5.??????????Search for jobs via your skill sets; not by job title.?Remember that the titles Senior VP, VP, Assistant VP, Junior Assistant VP, etc. all came from Banking where there are more officers than $20 bills (kidding!).?Titles mean nothing in many jobs.?I’ve seen Program Managers be paid $65k through $275k.??

6.??????????Last, but not least, make sure you step back and read your resume.?Do you see yourself positioned as a person of value??I’ve driven this home relentlessly because most people do not do this.?

?????????????Albert Einstein once said:?“Strive not to be a success but rather, to be of value”.?All companies, even those with just an owner, want this.

Thomas Fleury is a small business advisor, a resume re-positioner and a facilitator of peer to peer groups for Small Business USA.?He can be reached at [email protected].?Details on LinkedIn at ThomasRFleury?