Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
Resume Best Practices & Standards
1. Resume Design: Selecting the right design template to showcase your accomplishments based on your industry is important. If you’re in a conservative industry (banking, accounting), your template should reflect that and not lean heavily on designer fonts or frivolous designs.
2. Page Length: Recruiters and Hiring Managers prefer resumes to be two pages or less. However, the rule of thumb is: a modern resume is as long – or as short – as it needs to be, provided only relevant information for the new job search is included. Nothing extraneous.
3. Qualification (Opening) Summary versus Objective Statement: Recruiters and Hiring Managers prefer a qualifications summary over an objective statement every time. They want to see what candidates can bring to their organization in terms of performance rather than the candidate stating a position they want.
4. Quantify Accomplishments: A resume must have quantified accomplishments not a reiteration of a job description. Example: Increased productivity 58% within three months of hire by retraining staff on latest accounting software. Providing percentages, dollar figures, and timeframes strengthens achievements.
5. Strong Data Prioritization & Organization: The resume needs to be organized in standard sections. Within each section, the data is presented in reverse-chronological order (the last job or school listed first). The information is prioritized based on value to the Recruiter and Hiring Manager. Information pertinent to the targeted position should be showcased first. For example, if Education is the most important qualification; it’s presented before Work History, rather than last on the document.
6. Non-relevant & Repetitive Data: An effective resume focuses on enhancing your candidacy and avoids repetition and inclusion of non-relevant information. For example, hobbies & interests should only be included if relevant to the job. Personal information (birth dates, marital status etc.) is included in some oversea resumes.
7. Language: Use of business language is critical to the professionalism of a resume. Resumes should avoid the use of personal pronouns (“I’ “my” “we”) and slang at all times.
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
by Darlene Zambruski, ResumeEdge.com Managing Editor, CPRW, SME
Creating a succinct and attractive resume that contains well-prioritized data is one of the major challenges facing candidates today. Not only will an applicant’s resume be competing against hundreds of others, it must clearly portray the candidate in the most favorable light and as the most appropriate choice for the opening. In order to do this, several resume pitfalls must be avoided:
1. Poor or Inappropriate Formatting: The first impression a resume makes on an admissions director or hiring manager is generally the most lasting. Large blocks of uninterrupted text, small margins, text that is very small, or an abundance of bolding, italics, and “designer” fonts make documents difficult to read. Only one font (preferably Times New Roman or Arial) should be employed and never in a point size lower than 11. Bolding should be left to the header information (name, address, phone number, email) and subheadings within the document (Profile, Work History, Education). A candidate’s industry or field will determine whether the resume format will be conservative (i.e. Physicians, Teachers, CPAs, Individuals Seeking Admission to Graduate Schools, etc.) or more stylish (i.e. Marketing Professionals, Artists, Performers, etc.).
2. Lack of Focus: An effective resume should indicate to the reader within seven seconds, or less, the candidate’s targeted position and qualifications that match the opening. It’s not enough to list schooling, work history, and activities. Admissions directors and hiring managers will not thoroughly read a resume to cull needed information – candidates must provide this data quickly and effectively. Qualifications Summaries should include information as to what is sought (a position or entrance into a university program) and the candidate’s qualifications that are related to this. Employment History, Accomplishments, and Education should build upon what is provided in the Qualifications Summary.
3. Use of Self-serving Objective Statements: In today’s economy hiring managers are not interested in what a candidate wants (i.e. Seeking a position that will fully utilize my college education and provide for sufficient advancement within the industry). Rather, they seek candidates that clearly state what they can do for the targeted company in terms of cutting costs, increasing profits, and enhancing productivity. Hiring manager’s take note of applicants who place the company’s needs above their own.
4. Poor Data Prioritization: A resume should reveal the candidate’s professional & academic background as it applies to the targeted position or program being sought, and in reverse-chronological order (the last job worked or school attended is listed first within that section). If Education is an important qualification it should be presented before Work History, not dead last on the document. If real-world experience is valued, then it should come before Education. If special skills, such as IT, are at a premium, they should be showcased immediately after the opening summary, not left to the end of a two-page resume.
5. Failure to Showcase and Quantify Accomplishments: Hiring managers and admissions directors will not read every line of a resume to determine what a candidate has to offer, especially if it’s buried within dense blocks of text. Applicants must provide special sections indicating professional or academic achievements and these must be quantified. It’s not enough to write: Increased productivity within the division. Hiring managers and admissions directors will find this self-serving. A better way to present the data is to write: Increased productivity 58% within three-months of hire by retraining staff on latest accounting software. Providing percentages/dollar figures and time frames strengthen achievements.
6. Including Non-relevant Data: Hobbies and interests unless directly related to the current job search should never be included – such activities do not enhance candidacy. Additionally, birth dates, religious affiliations, race, social security numbers, and marital data should never be included.
7. Inappropriate Length: There is no one correct page length for a resume. The document is as long as it has to be in order to provide a clear and effective picture of the candidate. Professionals with many years of experience will most likely have two pages. To cram this data into one page or exclude important information in order to reach an arbitrary length will only dilute candidacy. The key is to provide only that data which is relevant to the current career goal. When this rule if followed, appropriate page length is always reached.
8. Personalizing the Document and using Casual Language: Modern resumes are business documents and should never be personalized with use of “I’ “my” “we” or other personal pronouns. Additionally, the tone of the resume should always remain professional and businesslike – slang is always excluded.
9. Redundancy of Data: Once information has been provided in a resume, whether it’s in the Qualifications Summary, Career Accomplishments section, or Professional Experience section, it is not repeated elsewhere. Hiring managers and admissions directors soon tire of redundancy and feel the candidate is padding the resume to reach a certain page length.
10. Spelling or Grammatical Errors and Incorrect Verb Tense: Once a spelling or grammatical error is detected by an admissions director or hiring manager, they will stop reading the resume. Their trust in that person’s abilities is forever lost. This is also true when dates of employment or education are obviously incorrect (i.e. a recent college graduate listing the date of graduation as 1979 instead of 1999), or when verb tense does not match dates of employment (i.e. current jobs have duties listed in present tense; previous jobs have duties listed in past tense).
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
by Darlene Zambruski, ResumeEdge.com Managing Editor, CPRW, SME
Publications are generally included in a Curriculum Vitae (CV) for scientific and academic professionals. The standards of presentation have evolved so that consistency is maintained throughout. This includes:
1. Placing your and co-author names as they appear in the publication.
2. Bolding your name.
3. Maintaining consistency in presentation of names (eg: first initials only or full names for all)
4. Providing the date of publication or expected publication date last.
5. Italicizing the name of the publication in which the data appeared.
6. Providing publication volume and page numbers so that the data can be accessed by
interested parties.
7. Indenting the second line of type so that the data is attractively presented and easy to read.
8. Presenting data in reverse chronological order.
An example:
Kale, M, Ph.D.; Withers, T; Roberts, A; Trent, Z; and Forsyth, L. “Vitamin D deficiency in mature rats.” Neurobiol. Advisor. 51:770-774. 2002.
Brennan, DK; Rose, C; Kale, M, Ph.D.; Zhang, F; Sares, H; Reese, M; Haenal, D; and Nolan, R. “Inner retina retinoid metabolism.” Exp. Res. 14:564-570. 2001.
Wolfe, B; Norville, D; Jennings, M; Dosenbach, JT; Freeland, T; Guillianno, A; Kale, M, Ph.D.; and Withers, T. “Retinol dehydrogenase.” Modern Biochemistry. 11:1430-1440. 2000.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
· I’m going to be placing my publications on my website – are there privacy issues in listing my co-authors’ names?
Only if the publication has not been accepted as yet. In that case, you might ask for your co-authors’ permission to post their names on your website. In the event they refuse, you might want to list your full name followed by “…with co-authors”. Make certain that at the end of the listing you write “publication pending,” in lieu of a date and that you list this publication under the subheading of “Submitted Manuscripts.”
· How are Abstracts listed?
The same as Publications and Presentations. The idea is to maintain consistency throughout your resume or CV so that your document has a professional appearance with data that is easily accessible.
· Colleagues have indicated that there is one way to present publications for scientific CVs and another for academic CVs. Since I am involved in both fields, which should I use?
If you’re submitting your CV to a particular school or institution, you may want to call first and ask if they have a preferred format. If so, adhere to it. If not, make certain that all of your data follows one consistent format.
SAMPLES
Whether your CV or resume contains publications, presentations, abstracts, submitted manuscripts, conferences – or all of these – the important thing is to maintain consistency of presentation for a professional and winning appearance.
For example:
PUBLICATIONS
Refereed Paper
“Industry Analysis and Corporate Strategy of Telecommunication Resales,” Policy Issue, Vol. 22, No. 7, #13, DIKI: New Mexico, 2000.
“Trends of Mobile Telecommunications,” Policy Issue, Vol. 20, No. 26, #15, DIKI: New York, 1999.
Project Report
“Radio Promotion Tactics,” Song, T; Wright, J; Manville, KK; Winters, F, Thompson, C; Larkspur, L; and Franklin, M. Research Reports, #07-30, 2001.
“Number Portability Demand Survey,” Franklin, M; Wright, J; Thompson, C; and Franklin, M. Project Reports, #15-22, 2000.
PAPERS
Industry Analysis Papers
“Mobile Number Portability Analysis,” Information Policy, DIKI: Las Vegas, Nevada, Vol. 3, No. 7, #482, pp. 150-170, 2003.
“EU Member Countries Number Portability Policies,” Telecommunications Policy, DIKI: Salt Lake City, Utah, Vol. 53, No. 2, #55, pp. 1-21, 2002.
“European Telecommunications Market Restructuring,” Information Policy, DIKI: Seattle, Washington, Vol. 21, No. 51, #116, pp. 1-7, 2000.
CONFERENCES
International Refereed Conferences
“Planning Toward IMT-2000: Telephony Service,” 17th International Conference: Analysis, Lawrenceville, New Jersey, 2003.
“Telephony Resale Market in Europe,” SPROP’ 2002, Singapore, 2002.
Domestic Refereed Conference
“Local Number Portability,” 2002 Conference, State College, Phoenix, Arizona, 2002.
“Policy for the Broadband Wireless Local Loop,” 2001Conference, State University, Dayton, Ohio, 2001.
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
by Darlene Zambruski, ResumeEdge.com Managing Editor, CPRW, SME
At first glance, your resume should answer two important questions for a hiring manager:
1. Who You Are
2. How You Can Be Contacted
Who You Are
This includes your name and any professional designations you have obtained, such as an MBA, Ph.D., RN, MD, or any of a number of professional distinctions. By including these designations with your name in the header you are providing the hiring manager with immediate and valuable data regarding your candidacy and career level.
The manner in which you present your name is also important. Including familial designations such Joe Jones, III may very well be seen as pretentious by a hiring manager. Using a “Jr.” after your name may be applauded by your family, but it could give a hiring manager the wrong first impression – that you are young and inexperienced. Caution is always advised in these instances.
A word about nicknames:
Nicknames can work for you or against you given the circumstances.
If you were named “Kendrick,” but go by “Ken,” use of your nickname would be appropriate as Ken is more modern and sounds more youthful than Kendrick.
However, if you were christened “Barbara,” but are known as “Babs” – even at work – it would be best to err on the conservative side during your job search, especially if the targeted industry is a traditional one such as banking, accounting, or education. Once hired, you can then decide whether using your nickname is appropriate.
How You Can Be Contacted
This data should be instantly obvious to a hiring manager.
Your phone number and email address are your most important contact data. For easy access by hiring managers, phone numbers and emails should be bolded and in a larger type than the physical address, as hiring managers rarely, if ever, contact a successful candidate by “snail” mail.
A word about phone numbers:
Although you may be tempted to list numerous phone numbers, including fax numbers, don’t.
Work Numbers: Never include a work number even if your boss knows you’re searching for another position as this sends the wrong message to a potential employer. He or she will wonder about your loyalty and whether you’ll be using company time at your new job to speak to prospective employers.
Cell Phones: Never include these because you may just be contacted while you’re in traffic with its intrusive background noise, or where the phone signal is weak which could irritate a busy hiring manager when neither of you can hear each other speak above the static.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
· I have numerous professional designations – should I include all of them after my name at the beginning of the resume? What is too much?
The key here is to target your approach and to include only what’s germane to your current job search. If you have a Ph.D. in Biology and an MBA, you would only list your Ph.D. in the heading when applying for an academic position.
· I’m planning to relocate to Georgia from California and am currently seeking employment in the Atlanta area. Should I list my California address on my resume?
As previously stated, physical addresses aren’t as important to hiring managers as phone numbers and emails. In your case, your physical address should be removed from the resume and replaced with “Relocating to the Atlanta, Georgia area.” It would be well advised for you to provide a time frame for this move so that a hiring manager knows you’re serious.
· My name is foreign-sounding and it’s not immediately apparent to a U.S. hiring manager whether I’m a “Mr.” or a “Ms.” Should I just use an initial for my first name?
Use of an initial would do little to clarify the matter for a hiring manager. Many overseas clients use their given names. then add – in parentheses – the U.S. or European equivalent – i.e. Étienne (Stephen) Dore.
· Is there a negative connotation to using a P.O. Box rather than a street address in the heading of a resume?
Absolutely not, especially in these days of heightened security, and when responding to “blind” postings on Internet job sites.
