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Recession Proof Your Career with These “Job-Landing” Resume Tips
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by Yuwanda Black
TheSyndicatedNews columnist
Yuwanda Black has published 10 e-books, a freelance writing e-course and hundreds of articles on small business, real estate, freelance writing and marketing. Ms. Black wrote and self-syndicated a small business column to eight on- and offline outlets in 2002-2003, including Greater Diversity News; The Mississippi Link; The New York Christian Times; Houston Style; Caribbean Life; and UrbanVoicesOnline.com.
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Does your resume really reflect your skills and abilities? Are you underselling yourself professionally? Could you demand more if your resume was done right?
Following is some resume advice that gets across to recruiters and employers what you really do, which allows you to demand what you're really worth – in spite of a recession.
Your Worth: I once interviewed a candidate who had assisted three top-producing commercial real estate agents in New York City. One of them had sold the building that houses Sean Jean (P. Diddy's clothing line).
Did his resume say that? No, under title it said "Customer Service." And, it listed such staid skills as managed switchboard, maintained filing system and ordered office supplies.
Upon interviewing him, I discovered that he pulled title reports, ordered appraisals and insurance records, dealt with surveyors and government records clerks, and responded to underwriting requests to get deals done.
In short, he was responsible for seeing a complex commercial loan through from inception to close. I never would have picked this up had I not asked him detailed questions. Most recruiters won't take the time to do this. It is imperative that you, the applicant, give the recruiter/interviewer the information they need to correctly assess your skills.
How do you do that?
How to Word Your Resume to Actively Reflect Your Skills
A. Start with your title: Your title is static; usually there's not much you can do about that. BUT, you can add parenthesis to highlight what you really do/did. Eg, instead of just listing your title and nothing more, list it this way:
ABC Company, New York, NY
Customer Service Rep (Exec. Asst. to 3 Top-Producing Commercial RE Agents)
What's in parenthesis tells me what you really do.
B. Listing your duties: Get very specific and give your most important skills first, eg:
i) Managerial skills: Eg, did you supervise anyone? If so, how many? What where their titles? For how long?
ii) Project management experience: How large were the projects (attach a dollar value)? How many people did you interact with? Was it for a noted company?
iii) Dollars saved: Employers love employees who save the company money. Have you decreased overhead, increased productivity, streamlined a process that led to company savings, etc.?
C. Special skills/background: Are you a veteran; do you speak more than one language, do you have special training in a discipline (eg, an HR Assistant may have special training as a benefits specialist).
List all of these. You never know what an employer is going to be looking for, and those who have special skills/training stand out. Eg, if you are a military veteran, I can surmise that you are probably highly focused, extremely organized and know how to give and take direction well.
D. Using the job boards: If you post your resume on one of the major job boards like Monster or CareerBuilder, make sure it is keyword rich. Why?
Recruiters search for candidates using key words. So even if you have a skill, your resume might not pop up. Therefore, instead of listing "MS Office Suite" on your resume, put down the specific software programs encompassed in this suite, ie: MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
Listed this way, your resume will show up in a search for these skills no matter how narrow a recruiter's search is. These are the types of things that make a candidate stand out.
There is an old idiomatic expression that goes, "The only thing worse than having a job is looking for one." Don't complicate this further by underselling yourself. Take the time -- and, where necessary, spend the money -- to get a professional resume that really reflects your abilities - and proves your worth.
Published: Aug 29,2008 12:46
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Andy Cowan
Andy Cowan, an award-winning writer, whose credits include Cheers and Seinfeld, regularly contributes humor pieces to the Los Angeles Times and the CBS Jack FM Radio Network.
Paul M. J. Suchecki
Paul M. J. Suchecki has more than 30 years of experience as an award winning writer, producer, and cameraman. He's written numerous newspaper and magazine articles. Currently he writes, produces and shoots for LA CityView Channel 35 and his more than 250 articles for Ehow.com are approaching half a million readers.
Coby Kindles
Coby Kindles is a freelance journalist, screenplay writer and essayist. She has been a staff writer at Knight Ridder and a regular contributor to The Associated Press.
Debbie Milam
Debbie Milam is a syndicated columnist for United Press International, an occupational therapist, family success consultant, and motivational speaker with more than 20 years experience. Her work on stress management, spirituality, parenting, and special-needs children has been featured in over 300 media outlets including First for Women, The Miami Herald, Elle, Ladies Home Journal, The Hallmark Channel, PBS and WebMD.
Dan Rafter
Dan Rafter has covered the residential real estate industry for more than 15 years. He has contributed real estate stories to the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Business 2.0 Magazine, Home Magazine, Smart HomeOwner Magazine and many others.
Jack Nargundkar
Jack Nargundkar has been repeatedly published in Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. He is also an author of "The Bush Diaries" published in July 2005.
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