Your Resume... It's About Them. Really!

This topic has come up on a few resume editing client calls recently, and I wanted to share some helpful guidance!  

Your RESUME... it's for them: the reader, the recruiter, the interviewer, the hiring manager... your FUTURE employer.

So.... sometimes, that means letting go of the past, minimizing the small stuff, and quite frankly, talking the talk of where you are headed versus where you've been. What do I mean by that?  It means...

Reflect on where you want to go and make sure the skills, experience, and IMPACT you share from the past align with your FUTURE.  

Although you may want to make sure someone remembers the hard work you put in at the ground level 18 years ago, or you may have loved all of the details of the work you did on a specific project, or your want to encompass every task you had to take on when first moving into management...

We have to speak to the VALUE you are going to bring to your FUTURE employer.

• If you are looking for your 2nd role... you know, the one after your first one out of college: Don't sound like a STUDENT. It's time to speak from your professional experience (TIP- move your education to the end of your document at this point. It's the fastest way to spot a newbie!)
• If you are going for your first management position: Don't tell me how you answered the phone at the office each morning. ... Tell me about the opportunities you have had to lead your peers in collaborative work.
• If you are moving from lower level leadership to upper level leadership: Remove the minor "duties". Although all of the tasks you cross off every day right now feel really critical, we have to start thinking BIG PICTURE... summarize your responsibilities in an overarching, concise statement and speak to the RESULTS of your work.

They say, we have less than 10 seconds to get the reader intrigued.

Be Clear, Display Your Impact, Prove to be VALUABLE!