When Your Professional Experience is Lacking
Recent high school graduates, some stay-at-home moms, and those individuals who are just starting trade school or vocational college are faced with extra challenges in creating a resume that will prove their worth. As with all resume content, it’s imperative to focus on what you do have to offer, rather than what you lack. All it takes is a creative approach in putting your best foot forward.
1. USE A FUNCTIONAL FORMAT THAT STRESSES SKILLS, RATHER THAN EXPERIENCE:
Unlike the popular reverse-chronological format that details employers, titles, dates of employment, and job duties, the functional format showcases what you know.
For a recent high school graduate or those just entering trade school, that may mean clerical skills such as typing (including words per minute), computer proficiency (list software), data entry, 10-key, some bookkeeping, tailoring (sewing), cooking (home economics skills), or whatever was learned in high school that can be applied to a real job.
In the case of a stay-at-home mom, everyday tasks such as managing a household budget, paying bills (bookkeeping in the corporate world), childcare, scheduling pediatrician visits (appointment setting in the corporate world), planning children’s birthday parties or family get-togethers (event planning in the corporate world), can all have value in a professional environment, especially in an administrative assistant role.
2. USE VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE IN LIEU OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Many individuals erroneously believe that if they weren’t paid for work, then it has no value in the corporate world. Nothing could be further from the truth. Skills in fundraising, event planning & coordination, media relations (either speaking with the press or authoring newsletters), activities planning, and community outreach (providing after school activities for at-risk youth, organizing a soup kitchen, etc.) can be stated as skills on a resume so long as the volunteer work is relevant to the current job search. It’s equally important to indicate how these skills transfer to a corporate environment – eg: event/activities planning may be valuable in an administrative assistant position when clerical support is needed to make travel/lodging arrangements for an executive or when a corporate party needs to be organized.
3. SEARCH ONLINE JOBS (HOTJOBS.COM, ETC.) TO DETERMINE HOW YOUR SKILLS MATCH THOSE QUALIFICATIONS MOST WANTED BY EMPLOYERS:
Even a basic entry-level position such as reception requires skill in answering phones and greeting the public. Determine what employers generally want in an employee, through online searches, then dovetail your strengths with their needs.
For example, a recent high school graduate is seeking a job as a receptionist. The information to highlight on this individual’s resume is any school activity that would tell the hiring manager this is a people-person, with a pleasant demeanor, who is always willing to help. Information that might relay this would be functioning as a hostess at a school-sponsored Las Vegas night or a fundraising supper, or perhaps this individual represented the school to prospective students during campus visits and tours.
When a CV (Curriculum Vitae) is Appropriate
Generally speaking, CVs or Curriculum Vitas, are only used in the United States when the candidate is:
1. Seeking an academic position or a fellowship
2. Has been published frequently within their career field
3. The company or institution to which the CV is being submitted requests a longer, more detailed version of the candidate’s history
Overseas, however, the situation is far different. Although some countries will accept resumes, most still want CVs. If you are applying to another country for a position, it’s important that you note how candidate data differs in that country and in this one. Overseas employers may ask for a listing of:
1. Personal information such as date of birth, marital status, nationality, religion, and number of children.
2. Linguistic and computer capabilities (this is nearly standard in other countries)
Additionally, presentation of data may vary from country to country (some prefer Education to be listed first even for seasoned professionals, while others want Professional Experience or Work History).
What Do Employers Most Want to See in a Candidate’s Resume?
With so many individuals competing for jobs these days, the only thing that will differentiate you from the rest of the equally-qualified crowd is what you achieved while on the job. But be warned – an accomplishment must be quantified in order to hold any weight with the hiring manager or recruiter.
Too many times an individual writes: “Reorganized an entire department per management instructions.” That’s not an accomplishment, that is a daily duty. An accomplishment would read like this: “Generated savings in excess of $25,000 annually by reorganizing the marketing department and employing temp workers, rather than full-time staff.”
The above speaks to what a hiring manager and/or recruiter wants to see – how you can make them money and how you can save them money.
To further strengthen your resume, make certain to put at least one, preferably two, quantified and relevant accomplishments in the opening summary. This is especially true if you use the word ‘proven’ to describe yourself. For example, you write:
Accounting professional with comprehensive experience and proven results in negotiations with the IRS.
Proven by whom? You? That’s not enough proof for a hiring manager or recruiter. They want more. It’s better to write:
Accounting professional with comprehensive experience and proven results in negotiations with the IRS as evidenced by the $.5 million in savings, resulting from the 2009 audit.
The above clearly states that you saved your company a half million dollars through your expertise. That speaks volumes to hiring managers and puts you well above the others competing for the same position.
Transitioning Career Resumes
In this economy, many of us will be faced with leaving our first or even second careers to move on to the next.
To successfully convey your old skill set to the hiring manager or recruiter in a new industry, it’s important to follow these key steps:
- Look for online job postings in your field at the various job boards (HotJobs, Dice, Monster, CareerBuilder) and highlight the requirements you meet.
- Dovetail all of your past experience to those requirements for the new position. For example, if you’ve moved from retail management to accounting, then some of your transferable skills may be budgeting, spreadsheets, projections, etc.
- Begin your resume with a strong Qualifications Summary that shows the hiring manager how your past experience can be transitioned to this new career or field. Don’t make them look for it. Don’t make them guess. Most won’t. They’ll simply move on to the next candidate.
- Showcase any past achievements that may be relevant to the new industry. If you were awarded for leadership in retail management that skill is also important in an accounting office.
- Prioritize your data according to what will most impress a hiring manager or recruiter. For example, if you’ve just been awarded a degree in accounting, your education should come first with your professional history in retail management next. The key is to match your background as closely as you can to the requirements of the job.
- Every line of your resume must speak to the new job and how well you can fill it. Therefore, leave any extraneous data that can’t be dovetailed off your resume.
