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Series: How to Write a Resume (that gets job interviews)

This article is the introduction to a multiple part series on How to Write a Resume (that gets job interviews).

If you’re anything like my best friends, your resume probably sucks. Yes, I’m sure your skills, experiences, and qualifications don’t suck. But to be honest, very few job searchers know how to write a professional resume that consistently lands them a job interview.

I’ve been on both ends of the resume game. I’ve reviewed hundreds of resumes as part of a hiring team. I’ve also applied to numerous jobs in various fields using countless resume types, formats, samples, templates, presentations, and content. Over the years, I’ve discovered why few resumes stand out and why most end up lining kitty litter trays.

Resume writing is not rocket science. But your resume must impress the reader in seconds to be effective. Otherwise, your skills and experiences will be recycled faster than you can say, “paper shredder”.

About the Resume Writing Series

So how do you write a resume that impresses and gets you that golden job interview? There’s a knack to presenting your skills, education, and qualifications on paper. In this series I’m going to show you how to do it. I’ll also deal with these common resume writing issues:

• How to organize all your resume information!
• What should you include? What should you avoid?
• What resume writing tips and tricks work?
• How many pages? What format?
• How to present problem situations like layoffs, job hopping, parenting, sickness, little experience, being fired.
• Should you hire a resume writing service?
• And much more!

I may just include a few free sample resumes, resume templates, and resume examples to help you along the way.

So now what?

Before you jump in and start revving up your resume, it may be a good idea to look inward first for some introspective thinking. No, I’m not going all Oprah on you. But before you can write some resume stuff, it would help to know what makes you tick! To get ticking, take a peek at this series:

Five Paths to Choosing Your Perfect Career:

1. Five Ways To Find Your Passion (free printable worksheet)
2. How To Find Your Strengths (free printable worksheet)
3. How to Set Your Goals (free printable worksheet)
4. 10 Tips to Nurture Your Network
5. 10 Ways to Enhance Your Education

Find these worksheet on http://www.squawkfox.com/

Another good way to get resume ready, is to find the right job! To get job hunting, try the ideas in this series:

Four Ways to Kick Start Your Job Hunt:

1. How to Choose a New Career
2. How to Find a Job
3. How to Research a Prospective Employer
4. How to Match Your Skills to Employer Requirements (free printable worksheet)

Now sit back and get ready to write a resume that gets you job interviews.

10 Things that Define a Killer Resume

his article is part of a series called How to Write a Resume. To start this series from the beginning, read the introduction.

Most of us, at some point in our careers, have applied to some job with some piece of flimsy paper called a resume. Sure, you may have poured your heart into it. You may have really wanted the job. But how do you know your resume got read? How do you know what kind of impression you made on the hiring team?

The sad truth is all employers skim resumes. If your resume doesn’t grab them by the “seat of their pants” (I wanted to write “balls”) within 15 seconds, you’re heading for the paper shredder.

So how do you skip the shredder and get noticed? How do you progress past the paper pile and land the joyous job interview? Simple. You only write the stuff hiring employers care about.

Here are 10 things that define a killer resume:

1. Your resume isn’t about you. It’s about how you fit the employer’s job requirements. Always organize and select your most relevant accomplishments, skills, and experiences for the position. The most effective resumes are clearly focused on a specific job title and address the employer’s stated needs.
2. Your resume must sell you in seconds. Show how you contribute to the position at a glance. Your resume is a failure if the employer doesn’t instantly see you have what it takes.
3. Your resume is a marketing tool, not a personal document. Sell yourself, not your life story. Leave the personal stuff off your resume and focus on the skills that sizzle.
4. Your resume highlights your accomplishments, not job duties or descriptions. Write your resume to emphasize what you did well, not what your duties entailed.
5. Your resume must focus on your future, not your past. Don’t become a historian by documenting your life in resume format. BORING. No one cares what you did in 1975. Seriously. See #1.
6. Your resume shows the skills you enjoy, not skills you have to use. Why focus on the stuff you don’t want to do? Highlight the skills you love! The Find Your Passion Worksheet (it’s not pervy, I promise) can help you identify your favorite skills.
7. Your resume is not a confessional. You don’t have to tell all. Who cares if you were on sick leave with 8 kids to feed. Stick to what’s relevant, important, and marketable. You need to land the job interview, not a guest appearance on Oprah.
8. Your resume must list the important facts first. Hiring teams will not stick around to find how the story ends.
9. Your resume must be free from grammatical and typographical errors. Errors and typos are a big no-no. Get someone to review and edit your resume before you apply to the job. Pobody’s Nerfect.
10. Your resume must have a clean layout. No one wants to read a garbled mess. If you can’t design your own layout, start with a template.

A killer resume increases the employer’s interest enough to land you a job interview. That’s it. A resume’s purpose is to get your foot in the door and take you to the next step. Hopefully, your next step won’t be to the dreaded paper shredder.

10 Deadly Sins of Resume Writing

his article is part of a series called How to Write a Resume. To start this series from the beginning, read the introduction.

I’m guilty. I’ve done a few big no-nos over the years with my resume. Some of my resume writing sins were stupid, some were silly, but most were made ’cause I didn’t know any better (so back to stupidity). Either way, I’ve learned there are rules when writing a resume. There are the resume do’s, but there are the big sinful resume don’ts as well.

This post is a warning for all job-seeking resume writers. Committing any of these 10 sins could send your resume straight to trash bin hell. I should know, I’ve seen many of these resume mistakes made on applications to join my team(s).

Here are 10 stupid sins of resume writing (The Don’ts):

1. Don’t write a bloody book.

The goal of your resume is to land you a job interview, not to publish your autobiography. Keep your resume to one page, or two maximum. If a hiring manager doesn’t like your first page, s/he is not flipping to read the second. So keep it short and sin free.

2. Don’t screw with instructions.

If the job description says to submit resumes in Portable Document Format (PDF), then follow the directions. Not taking instructions well at this early stage in the hiring process is a sure fire way to get burned. Fan the flames BEFORE submitting your application by reading the employer’s hiring instructions. Do research the prospective employer’s needs, match your resume to the employer requirements, and follow all job notice instructions before you submit.

3. Your email address is: Pervy@P0rnilicious.com

Don’t use your sinful email address on your resume. YUCK. Keep it clean and professional to get past the hell heap. For example, JohnSmith@domain_name.com wears the halo and goes to resume hiring heaven.

4. Don’t write “references available upon request”.

I’m guilty of this sin. But “references available upon request” is implied. If you land the interview and an employer at this stage wants references, of course they will ask. Besides, removing this line saves some space for the good stuff, listing your accomplishments. Every pixel counts.

5. Don’t list references on your resume.

Never list specific references on your resume. Keep your references safe from harm by submitting them only after the interview. Who knows, maybe you won’t be interested in working for an employer after meeting them. So keep reference emails, addresses, and phone numbers private for only those jobs you really want. Just keep them ready on a separate sheet.

6. Don’t be a designer.

Unless you are a designer and know how to create resume templates, then don’t go dizzy on a dramatic looking resume. If you’re using multiple fonts, colors, sizes, and titles – chances are your attempts are going to look messy. Hiring managers have little time for strange layouts and will not take the time to decipher your font codes. Stick to simple, clean layouts to showcase your accomplishments, not your dismal design.

Are you guilty of these resume design sins?

The 7 Deadly Sins of Resume Design

Personally, I hate the Times New Roman font. I never use it.

7. Don’t use a cookie-cutter resume template.

I feel so evil. Don’t be a resume designer but don’t use a resume template either? What gives! Well, resume templates (like those available in Microsoft Word) are sooo common. Most hiring managers can recognize them a mile away. If you’re going to use the most popular resume samples and templates in the whole freggin world, then do reconsider. A little change here and there can make a difference.

8. Don’t do chronological order.

Sometimes your most recent job is not the most critical experience for the position. If you’re currently working at Starbucks waiting to land an accounting job, then list your relevant experiences first. I don’t care if you can make a latte, seriously.

Hint: Organize your resume to consider the reader’s interest. What does the hiring manager care most about? Your skills? Your accomplishments? Your most relevant work experience?

9. Don’t get sinfully personal.

You’re looking to land a job interview, not liaise for a date. Keep highly personal information off your resume. No one cares if you are single, married, or divorced. Also, do not include your age, race, or gender. Listing these personal stats could encourage discrimination.

As a funny note: I once interviewed with a company who was surprised to see I was a woman. They were baffled and totally blew their interview with me. The first question out of the interviewer’s mouth, “You’re not a guy?”

10. Don’t email your resume in Microsoft Word (.doc) format.

For some reason, I’ve seen many resumes emailed and attached in .doc format become garbled. No hiring manager wants a garblely gunky resume. If you’re regularly sending your resume as an email attachment, do send in Portable Document Format (PDF). The PDF format keeps your resume looking as you intended. You may even consider just a plain text (.txt) version of your resume for sending electronically. Whatever the file format, be sure your resume is aligned with the requested format of the employer.

Avoiding any of these 10 deadly resume writing sins can keep you from the trash bin of hell. Avoid the flames by writing a solid resume free from any of these mistakes.

Ever goof on your resume? Send something with errors or mistakes? Did you still get an interview?

Anatomy of a Killer Resume

This article is part of a series called How to Write a Resume. To start this series from the beginning, read the introduction.

Your resume is a body of work. It’s got a head, a body, and perhaps a footer. Hopefully you don’t make an a$$ of yourself when the parts are pieced together. The resume vitals are obvious, you’ve got to list your name and experience. But in what order? Should you include an objective or summary? Where should you list your education?

To help you piece the body of this important document together, let’s dissect the anatomy of a killer resume. So you don’t get slaughtered when applying for work, the parts of a “not so killer resume” are also covered.

To help you land a job interview, here is the anatomy of a killer resume:

1. Your Contact Information

The head of your resume should list your contact information. This resume part is straightforward: name, address, telephone number, and an email address. Your resume dies on the hiring manager’s desk if you miss one of these elements.

Listing your name should be a no-brainer. But don’t lose your head because of a bad email address. Many people face the chopping block on this part alone.

BAD Email Addresses

• pervy@P0rnilicious.com
• beer_drinker@hops.com
• dog_crazy@pets.com

GOOD Email Addresses

• jane_smith@email.com
• j.smith@email.com
• jane_j_smith@email.com

Is your answering machine message deadly? When in the market for a job, be sure your answering machine has a respectable message. I’ve called a few job candidates only to hear off-putting messages on their machines. Keep it clean. Keep it simple.

2. Your Objective or Summary (or screw both)

A resume Objective or Summary can help describe the value you bring to a prospective employer and entice a hiring manager to read your resume. A poorly written Objective or Summary can kill your shot at a job interview. Most resume Objective and Summary statements fail to inspire for these reasons:

• They are poorly written.
• They are not tailored to the position.
• They focus on the job seeker.
• They fail to match job seeker skills to employer requirements.

So how do you decide between writing a Summary or Objective for your own resume? It’s not complicated. Promise.

Use an Objective if:

• You are starting out or entering the workforce.
• You are returning to the workforce after an extended absence.
• You are changing careers or industries.

Use a Summary if:

• You have several years of experience in the sought after position.
• You have established qualifications.
• You have skills matching employer requirements.

Screw both if:

• You don’t want one.
• You don’t need one for your industry or job.
• You have limited resume room to focus on skills and experience.

As a hiring manager I must be honest, I tend to skip reading these statements and flip to the job seeker’s Skills and Experience. I suppose I skim since most statements are written rotten. If you’re not going to write it right, then screw the statements and use your resume room to focus on what skills and experiences benefit the employer.

Writing it Right: Objectives and Summaries

The vast majority of job seekers write Objectives and Summaries focusing on their career wants and job needs. This is a fatal error. News flash: Your resume isn’t about you. It’s about how you fit the employer’s job requirements. What can you do for the employer? What does an employer gain from hiring you?

Write these statements well by focusing on your relevant experience, keeping it brief, and by removing all personal pronouns (Me, Myself, and I). Let’s look at some killer statements and those that kill your job opportunities.

Career Objective

The BAD Objective below presents several fatal errors. It is generic and mentions nothing of specific employer requirements. It is job seeker focused, using personal pronouns. It offers no skills or experiences and fails to sell the job seeker’s abilities.

BAD Job Seeker Focused

OBJECTIVE: I want a software development position in the high technology industry that can utilize my three years of programming skills and lead to a management role.

Compare the BAD to the GOOD. The GOOD example presents the job seeker’s skills, clarifies educational background, and offers value to the employer’s customers. Always a good mix.

GOOD: Employer Focused

OBJECTIVE: A position in software development requiring programming skills in C++ gained from a degree in Computer Science and three years of experience, helping technology companies deliver customer focused software.

Professional Summary

Here is an example of a killer Summary statement. Notice the skills and experience the job seeker offers to a prospective employer.

GOOD Job Seeker Focused

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY: Software Development professional with three years experience programming in C++ and Java. Highly skilled in specifications gathering, troubleshooting, and quality assurance testing. Fluent in English and German.

Be sure to keep your statements SHORT. No more than 50ish words. Anything longer and you’ll kill your resume.

3. Your Professional Experience

The Experience section is the body of your resume. It is the heart of the matter. If written well, it can make a hiring manager’s heart race with excitement. If phrased correctly, your experience will land you job interviews.

The name of this section can vary, with: Professional Experience, Experience, Work History, or Work Experience. Whatever you call it, be sure this section does more than list your past job duties or requirements. Use the Experience section to highlight your accomplishments and to show how you achieved results in a particular role. Use action verbs and active voice descriptions to highlight your sense of initiative. Describe each of your accomplishments using a simple, powerful, action statement and emphasize how you can benefit an employer.

The BAD Professional Experience description contains many deadly deeds. It lists job duties. It reads like a poorly-written job description. It contains a spelling error. It uses personal pronouns, leaving out the value offered to an employer. It lacks action verbs and excitement. It fails to differentiate the job seeker from other candidates. This dead description hits my paper shredder for sure.

BAD Professional Experience Description

Intermediate Programmer
January 2008 to Present
Widgets Digits Software, Mountain View, CA

• I programmmed software.
• I tested software.
• I debugged software.
• I worked in a team.
• I trained new grad hires to program and test software.

The GOOD Professional Experience Description is a killer. My heart races when I read these action words in action. This description lists skills with accomplishments and shows the value this job seeker brings to an employer.

GOOD Professional Experience Description

Intermediate Programmer
January 2008 to Present
Widgets Digits Software, Mountain View, CA

• Programmed award-winning educational software using the C++ programming language.
• Wrote quality assurance and software testing plans. Product shipped with 15 percent less customer support calls than previous versions.
• Facilitated critical support calls and solved customer issues.
• Managed a team of three junior programmers who exceeded department goals and received promotions.

After reading the BAD and the GOOD, who would you rather hire?

3. Your Education

Pass or fail, make sure the Education section makes the grade on your resume. The Education section can appear at the head or foot of your resume, depending on when you graduated. If you’re a new graduate, you should probably list your Education at the beginning. If you’ve been out of school for decades, de-emphasize your Education by listing it last. Here are some Education writing tips for those who want job honors:

• List your highest level of education first. Take a pass on listing your high school diploma if you have a degree.
• Write out school names (University of British Columbia, not UBC).
• Never embellish your educational credentials. (Doctor of what?).
• If you’re a new graduate, keep transcript copies in case an employer inquires.

The BAD Education section deserves the dunce cap. The job seeker failed to spell out the university name, offered dubious extra curricular activities worthy of visiting the principal’s office, listed high school diploma despite having graduated from college.

BAD Education Section

UBC, 1995
Vancouver, BC
BSc., Computer Science

Alpha Delta Ohmygosha Fraternity, Frosh Drunking Member
Vancouver High School, 1991
Vancouver, BC
Diploma

The GOOD Education section goes to the head of the class. This job seeker offers the right academic mix.

GOOD Education Section

University of British Columbia, 1995
Vancouver, BC
Bachelor of Computer Science, High Honors

4. Deadly Anatomy Don’ts

Some popular resume elements have gone out of style, so keep them from killing your resume by omitting them. For example, stop writing “References available upon request” at the end of your resume. It’s implied. If a prospective employer wants to interview you, they will ask for references.

Take a stab at these 10 Deadly Sins of Resume Writing to help keep you on the interview list.

6 Words That Make Your Resume Suck

This article is part of a series called How to Write a Resume. To start this series from the beginning, read the seriees found on http://www.seoclient.com/6-words-that-make-your-resume-suck.html

I’ve used a few bad words in my life. S$it, you probably have too. But when the wrong words appear on your resume, it sucks.

These sucky words are not of the four-letter variety. These words are common. They are accepted. They litter the average resume with buzzword badness. Hiring managers can identify sucky words in seconds, leaving your resume work worthless.

So how do you write a wicked resume without the suck? How do you turn the wrong words into right? To help you land the job interview, here’s how to spin the 6 sucky resume words into skills that sizzle.

1. Responsible For

My lips pucker and make sour sucking noises when I read “Responsible For” on a resume. Of course you’re responsible for something. But how many? How long? Who? What? When? Rather than waste the hiring manager’s time reading a vague list of responsibilities, be specific and use quantitative figures to back up your cited skills and accomplishments.

Employers want the numerical facts. Write percentages, dollar amounts, and numbers to best explain your accomplishments. Be specific to get the point across quickly. Prove you have the goods to get hired.

BAD

• Responsible for writing user guides on deadline.

GOOD

• Wrote six user guides for 15,000 users two weeks before deadline.

BAD

• Responsible for production costs.

GOOD

• Reduced production costs by 15 percent over three months.

The resume that avoids vague “responsibilities” and sticks to facts detailing figures, growth, reduced costs, number of people managed, budget size, sales, and revenue earned gets the job interview.

2. Experienced

Are you experienced? Sexy. Rather than cite Jimi Hendrix on your resume, pleeease just say what your experience entails. Saying you’re experienced at something and giving the facts on that experience are two very different approaches.

BAD

• Experience programming in PHP.

GOOD

• Programmed an online shopping cart for a fortune 500 company in PHP.

Hiring managers want to know what experience, skills, and qualifications you offer. Do tell them without saying, “I am experienced.”

3. Excellent written communication skills

Yes, I realize this isn’t a single word but rather a phrase. This phrase must die. It’s on most resumes. Is it on yours?

BAD

• I have excellent written communication skills.

GOOD

• Wrote jargon-free online help documentation and reduced customer support calls by 50 percent.

If you’ve got writing skills, do say what you write and how you communicate. Are you writing email campaigns, marketing materials, or user documentation? Are you word smithing legal contracts, business plans, or proposing proposals? However you wrap your words, be sure to give the details.

4. Team Player

Are we playing baseball here? Unless you want to be benched with the other unemployed “team players” then get some hard facts behind your job pitch.

BAD

• Team player working well in large and small groups.

GOOD

• Worked with clients, software developers, technical writers, and interface designers to deliver financial reporting software three months before deadline.

If you want to hit a home run then do explicitly say what teams you play on and qualify the teams’ achievements.

5. Detail Oriented

What does detail oriented mean? Give the specifics to the details with which you are oriented. Please, orient your reader to the details.

BAD

• Detail oriented public relations professional.

GOOD

• Wrote custom press releases targeting 25 news agencies across Europe.

If you have the details, do share them with the hiring manager. Give the facts, the numbers, the time lines, the dollar figure, the quantitative data that sells your skills and disorients the competition.

6. Successful

Hopefully you only list the successes on your resume. So if everything is a success, then why write the s-word? Stick to showing your success by giving concrete examples of what you’ve done to be successful! Let your skills, qualifications, and achievements speak for you.

BAD

• Successfully sold the product.

GOOD

• Increased sales of organic chocolate by 32 percent.

When it comes to your successes, please don’t be shy. Boast your best, sing your praises, and sell your skills.

Final Words

There you have it. Six of the suckiest words (or phrases) commonly found on resumes today. By focusing on the facts, detailing the details, and qualifying your qualifications you may just land yourself the job interview.

There are soooo many sucky words found on resumes today.

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