Fear and Loathing in Your Personal Resume Your Experience - Part Two

???????Last time, I described what you needed to do to explicitly tell someone where you worked and how to exhibit the time you spent there cleanly.?This next post describes a brief, yet powerful section if it is written well. ?And, it is only one sentence! ?This is the most important “summary” statement you can write, short of the overall summary at the top of your resume.

?????????????Here is what the potential employer needs to see on this line:?What the company you worked for does, what you did there and most importantly, a one word “special” introduction.?Yet, here is what most people do: they tell the reader exactly what the company did, in detail that will put him to sleep.?Second, they will describe what they did there in even more detail. ?Last, no “special” word. ?No one cares if the Company makes widgets, fabricates umbrellas, designs post hole diggers and makes garden spades.?They are a consumer goods manufacturer. ?Will anyone care if you were the key designer of the Butt-Master 5000, easy pull, safe-sliding, multi-chromatic, super plush easy chair? ?No. ?So, stop this.

?????????????This section must have 3 parts to it and if you possibly can, construct it in one sentence.?The parts are as follows: what the company does, what you did there and . . . wait for it . . . a mention of “HOW” you did your work there.?This last segment is key and must be the FIRST item in that sentence. ?A sample is: “Transformed the customer service department of this large health care organization from paper transactions to a complete imaging system process.”?You can imagine what some of the more technical folks write in this section. ?It is hard for them to condense all the information they have in their heads that they would love to share. ?You do not have room to do that here! ?Save that extra information for your accomplishment bullets.

?????????????If you just look at the first word in this example, “transformed;” it is a powerful one. ?The only way you can develop this type of word is to have strong, bulleted items beneath which I will describe in the next 3 posts.?If those bullets are constructed properly, that one word (just like an executive summary) will describe those bullets in total. ?It is derived from those bullets.?The word leads the reader to believe you can deliver specific things at their company and they will reinforce this thought as they read on. ?No selling required!

?????????????The other 2 parts of the sentence, what the company does and what you did there, just give that word the proper context.?If the reader believes you can “transform” stuff, you can. ?It is critical that you do not lie, deceive, or spin any of this. ?It must be believable when it comes out of your mouth at interview time.?Remember the skill set section of the resume where the reader peeked at those the first time and you captured his/her interest? ?This prospective employer wants those skills since he/she is looking at your resume the second time.?That second read is to validate that you indeed possess these skills. See how this document is beginning to come together???

?????????????Use this section, this one sentence, to introduce the reader to the specifics of what you accomplished in your position.?You left footprints. ?These must be “certifiable” by anyone who may be asked. Be sure you do not use words that conflict or contradict what you did.?Too often people want to use a “key word” instead. If you do not speak that way, don’t use it! ?The real key word is the one YOU use. ?The worst thing that can happen in the first minute of any interview is this:?You sound different from the voice of the resume! ?Any interviewer, no matter the skill, will sense this disconnect. ?He/she is still looking for faults at this point. Besides, how do you know what key word they seek??Make them seek you and your unique set of skills.

?????????????If you construct this sentence correctly, the reader begins to realize how you might fit into his/her organization.?Now, that is a good thing to have them thinking about.

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?