RESUME REFRESH 2020, Part 1: The Basics – name, address, phone, e-mail

Are you tired of trying to navigate the superbly annoying world of online applications and not getting any responses to your resume? If you think this article will be a quick fix for the above, you’d be wrong, neither I nor anyone can promise you that. However, after many, many years of reviewing thousands of resumes every week, I can confidently suggest several easy steps to improve the response and aid in your job search in a measurable way.

This article is part of a 3-part series where I wanted to not only answer some of the most commonly asked questions but explain the reasoning behind those answers. The recruiting process in the recent years has become much more complicated, in part due to technology, in part due to other reasons, but overall, we can all agree that the process is broken and needs to be both, de-mystified and improved, and I’m here to do my small part. In Part 1 of the series, we’ll deal with the seemingly simple one: name, address, phone, e-mail.

What's In A Name?

It seems that it should be a no-brainer, but in my 20-year career, I have seen all sorts of blunders when it comes to something as simple as the name on the resume. Below are a few common questions & additional observations.

o  Should I put my full name, including middle initial? What if I go by my middle name or a nickname? The answer is simple, your resume is your calling card. If your given name is Bruce Daniel Wayne, you go by “Daniel" personally and professionally, then B. Daniel Wayne or Daniel Wayne are the appropriate ways to identify yourself on your resume. If instead of going by a given name or its diminutive, you are known professionally as something else, i.e. given name – Christopher John Evans, but everyone in your professional life calls you CJ, you can indicate it as Christopher John ("CJ") Evans or CJ Evans. Now, it goes without saying that personal nicknames that are not used in a workplace have no place on the resume and are not part of this example. Your resume is not the same as the application for employment, and the name on it should be how someone would introduce you in a professional setting to your future colleagues.

o  Should I include professional certifications or advanced degrees after my name? I subscribe to the following rule of thumb: only doctorate-level degrees and highly specialized professional certifications should be listed, but only if relevant. Bachelor's or master's degrees, even MBA's, have no place after your name, they belong in the "Education" section of your resume. If your degree(s) and professional certifications are required for you to do your job (JD, MD, PhD, CPA, RN, PE, etc.), then it's appropriate to list them after your name. If your certifications, although highly coveted or specialized, are an enhancement of your skills or an indication of in-depth training on a particular subject matter, they are better left for the "Professional Certifications" section.

o  Should I change my name on the resume if I got married? In short, your resume is a reflection of who you are in the workplace. If your legal name has changed since your marriage, if your documents reflect it, or if you now want to identify yourself professionally by your married or hyphenated name, be consistent with all things that contain it, i.e. your resume, job boards, and professional networking sites (LinkedIn), etc.

o  I feel that I get stereotyped or discriminated against based on my name. What should I do? I have seen plenty of resumes without surnames, with names abbreviated to just the first letters, or a “clever” description instead of the name, i.e. “The Best Java Developer you ever need”. In my professional opinion, if a company or a recruiter discriminates against you based on your name, not only are they breaking the law, they don’t deserve you in the first place. But let’s be honest, discrimination based on gender, age, nationality, religious affiliations, place of origin, etc. is still very real. Best way to overcome it – be honest with who you are and what you bring to the table. Your name is just one way to describe you, not something that defines you or your capabilities. If you feel the need to quiet the bigots by providing additional information, whether offering up your citizenship status or a nickname that is more “palatable” to their biased ears (actual comment from one of my candidates), I won’t discourage you as it is your choice to do what you feel. Having said this, I believe in honesty and transparency, so should you, and so should any recruiter or company that wants to hire you. Ultimately, they’re not hiring a piece of paper or a legal document, but you, exactly the way you are. Also keep in mind that many unsolicited third-party resumes sent to recruiters and employers have just first names without last names, so there’s some stigma associated with resumes without a full name. Finally, when applying to jobs, the name from your resume typically gets parsed into a database of some sort, and at times that record will be linked to a job application, so you may as well be consistent and present yourself as, well, yourself.

o  What if my search is HIGHLY confidential? If you are really concerned about your current employer finding out that you are seeking other opportunities, you may need to do more than just take off your name or abbreviate it to the first letters. I would also suggest taking off the name of your current employer as well as the names of the previous employer(s) within the past 5 years. Also consider creating a new e-mail address specifically for your job search, something neutral (yet still professional) that doesn’t give away your name.

Location, location, location.

o  Should I include my full address? In my experience, there is never a need for your exact street address on your resume, it’s your private information and should be kept private until you get an offer or have to go through a background check. Furthermore, in most cases, it just isn’t necessary and may give you back 1 line of valuable real estate on your resume (we will talk about it in Part 2). Think of it this way, whether you have a live person looking at your CV, or it gets parsed into some sort of a database, the only consideration an employer has relevant to your location is how far you are from theirs, which is typically approximated zip code to zip code. Many people make the mistake of listing just city & state. Unfortunately, in this day of databases, you need to have city, state, AND zip code listed if you want your resume to come up properly should a person reviewing it need to see the top 50 resumes closest to the job location. For example, if you applied to one of my postings with a resume that only had city/state (no zip), and I received 300+ applications for the role and wanted to narrow it down to resumes within a 30-mile radius, your resume wouldn't even come up. Furthermore, if your resume gets parsed into a database without a zip code, it hangs in the "neverland" of sorts, where your resume will not come up for ANY searches that were done with the "zip code radius" criteria. So, stick with city, state, zip.

o  What if I live too far or am willing to relocate closer?

• Proximity to the job location should be “commutable” on a daily basis. In my experience, when recruiters are running a search for candidates, they typically stay within a 30-mile radius for the initial consideration. If you are applying to jobs within a 30-mile radius from your home, stick with city, state, zip. If you are applying to jobs outside of your 30-mile radius, but still within a driving distance you’re willing to endure on a daily basis, stick with city, state, zip and hope that the recruiter (or the database algorithm) is not trying to narrow down the applicants based on their proximity.
• If your drive would be too far, but you’re willing to relocate closer. As a recruiter, I cringe when I see a great resume that would be an amazing fit for the role, but the candidate lives too far or in a different state. In my experience, most times it means they used the “apply all” feature or didn’t pay attention to the location of the job, because when I reach out to this candidate, they’re most likely going to clarify that they’re only looking for jobs on their side of town and applied by mistake or didn’t realize the location. Do yourself (and us all) a favor, if you have the flexibility of moving closer to the job, a simple line “willing to relocate” somewhere underneath your address will be amazing to have. And if you are targeting a specific location / see below.
• What if I’m targeting a specific area? If you are willing to relocate, you’re in less than 2% of current job seekers, and, as such, are incredibly rare. There are a few things to keep in mind. If you are targeting one specific location, adjust your resume’s address to reflect it when applying to jobs in the area. For instance, let’s say you’re looking to relocate to the greater Chicago area, but currently live in South Dakota. If Chicago is the ONLY place you are targeting and not willing to look at any other locations, delete your North Dakota address, pick a central zip code in Chicago and put it on your resume. I would suggest something like this: "Chicago, IL 60612". Alternatively, you can keep your ND address and state that you are "looking for opportunities in the greater Chicago area only", but trust me, in most cases it will be ignored and you will be contacted for ND jobs simply because of the zip code listed on your resume.
• If you are targeting several specific locations, it complicates things a bit. For the resume you have posted on the job boards, you can keep your current address, but add what areas you are willing to relocate to (if the job board has that feature). And if you are applying for a specific role in one of those locations, I urge you to take the time to adjust your resume to match the general area of the job location in the manner I mentioned above. Or, at the very least, put it on your resume as follows: "Willing to relocate to: Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; and New York, NY". It will definitely be ignored by the database's algorithm that will parse you in based on whatever zip code it can identify on your resume, but maybe if a live person reads it, they will make the appropriate note.
• As a recruiter, when I see a resume from FL applying to positions in WA, then see their Dice or CareerBuilder profile saying they’re not willing to relocate, it gives me pause. Make it easier on yourself and anyone reviewing your resume by answering some of those questions upfront. Also make sure that your answers are consistent throughout your online presence related to your job search: any job board as well as LinkedIn.

o  What if I’m only targeting remote roles? For many years now, I have been advocating for all the job boards to include “remote” as a location option for both, job seekers, as well as recruiters posting their roles. Unfortunately, it isn’t a reality quite yet, but I’m hopeful it will be soon (do you hear us, Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice, LinkedIn, etc.?) But for now, if you are only open to 100% remote roles, put it on your resume. You may still get some calls or e-mails from recruiters about on-site roles, but those of us that pay attention will respect your wishes, not bother you needlessly, and add you to our “top remote workers” list of some sorts.

You've got (e)mail!

It goes without saying that having an e-mail address is a must in this day and age of job searching. Having said this, there are several things to keep in mind:

o  Should I have a separate job search e-mail? Normally, I would say that you don’t need to unless your go-to e-mail address is not professional. [email protected] might be something that gets you noticed, just not in a good way. Also, if you are a contractor who frequently find him/herself between gigs, I would recommend creating a separate e-mail address, so you don’t miss important messages from potential employers. Just keep everything consistent across all platforms and don’t use the “job search” e-mail address for anything else to eliminate spam.

o  Should I list several e-mails if I use all of them? Simple answer: no. Oftentimes, your e-mail address, due to its uniqueness, becomes your identifier in a company’s database or a job board. As you can imagine, this can be both, a negative and a positive, depending on your history, but ultimately, several addresses muddy the water and confuse things. Ideally, your e-mail address stayed the same throughout your career, but if it hasn’t, I would recommend designating one e-mail address for all your job search needs and sticking with it across all platforms. I also noticed quite a few people listing their past work e-mail addresses, their old/no-longer-supported personal site addresses, etc. There are few things more frustrating to a recruiter than to come across a perfect resume and send them an e-mail, only to receive an “undeliverable” message back.

Call Me, Maybe.

None of us like unsolicited phone calls, but if you are on the market and actively seeking a job, wouldn’t you want to get a phone call from a prospective employer? In the recent years, I have also seen a tremendous increase in communication between employers and candidates via texts, including job alerts, interview reminders, etc., so it baffles me when I get a resume from an active job seeker without a phone number. Now, I understand that if you are just passively searching for jobs with no sense of urgency, you can afford to start a conversation via e-mail or a LinkedIn message to vet the recruiter, the company, or the opportunity. But if you are an active job seeker, a phone number on your resume is a must, because if I come across your resume and you’re a perfect fit, I’m not just e-mailing you or finding you on LinkedIn, I’m picking up my phone and calling you right away. Which is why you should also clear your voicemails, so I can leave you a message if you’re unable to talk to me. ?? An aside re: landline or cell phone. This is not 1995, I will never call the landline first, especially if your resume indicates you're currently employed and I'm calling you during regular business hours (as most recruiters would). As an alternative, I suppose it's OK to have it listed on your resume, but if that's the only phone number you're willing to disclose, it tells me that you're more of a passive job seeker than an active one.

I hope these simple tips help get you started on your resume refresh for 2020. In Part 2, I will talk about the “objective” and the cover letter, whether they’re necessary or outdated, as well as about the length, format, and layout of the resume, i.e. “resume real estate”. In Part 3 we will discuss content, helpful tips to improve visibility, and ideas to make you stand out among the crowd.

#resumerefresh #resumetips #resumewriting #recruiting #jobsearch #resumeadvice

Please feel free to connect with me here on LinkedIn and if you’re currently on the job market, feel free to check out all of our available positions here: https://kelly.secure.force.com/CandidateExperience