OK, who is the resume expert here. There are some things going on in my workplace that has me thinking that it is time for me to start job searching for real. Looking at my resume gave me a sense of underwhelming mediocrity and I need to do something to make it look better. The main problem is I got out of college in '87 and have held various positions in my current field for my entire working career and IMO that kinda pigeonholes me. Any advice for writing a resume would be appreciated. The last real one I did was around 1990 and I am pretty sure formats have changed since then...
My 21 yr old daughter is still pissed off about getting bumped from a spelling bee in the 4th grade because she used the Canadian / British spelling of a word and was told it was wrong...
Consider writing two resumes - one standard reverse chronological order resume, the other a "functional" resume that highlights your growth in skills and experience.
Don't forget to sell yourself on a cover letter..... Shoot me a E-Mail and I can send you a example....
I don't really have time to DO one for you right now, but if you want to shoot me your email address, I'm happy to send you a couple examples. Been in HR for 15 years and have seen/done a few over the years. And then I'd be happy to review your finished product for some feedback.
I added a section to the beginning of my resume that is "Accomplishments". It is the first section after the header. The next section is the standard experience section. This accomplishments section would be modified for each job you apply for. This is important because you have years of experience like me and you need to show the personnel department which experience you have that actually fits the open position. Many/most are unable to read your experience and figure out that you fit, especially if you are technical. Of course you also do a cover letter that does the same thing but only two or three sentences. There are also some hard truths with job hunting. I'll try not to rant. If the company is small and ran by red necks, minorities need not apply. If the company is large, a good employer and has a lot of applications, old white men need not apply. These are two ends of the same problem.
Technology and creative industry. What I want to see as the guy running the show is very different than HR sometimes. HR (ours, YMMV) combs through the resumes looking for the right keywords, experience, and no red flags and it saves me a lot of headaches. When it gets to me, I want to know YOU from your resume and cover letter. What do you do outside of work that makes you interesting and how can that passion creep into what we do - do you build furniture, restore bikes, write fiction, etc. This helps lead to my most important question - are you a lifelong learner that adapts to change and is self-motivated for growth. Once I see those things I go back to your skill list and what you have done and view those lists (hopefully) knowing you a bit more. Some of my best hires (especially software engineers) have not been rockstars on paper.
1. If you send your resume to a large company, chances are it will go through a recruiter or an applicant tracking system. That recruiter is looking for "buzzwords" which essentially equates to relating your resume to the job description they posted. If they are using an applicant tracking system with a scrubber installed, it has pre-determined search criteria that will search for words or phrases "Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or dipshit thinks recruiters are idiots so his resume goes in file 13." You get the picture. So tailor your resume to the posted criteria. 2. Spend your time on your resume, not a cover letter. 3. Most important.. Sell them on your successes. Not on your day to day responsibilities.
A recent hires resume didn't bowl me over and the phone interview wasn't great, after going thru a couple more interviews we decided to give the guy a try since it was an entry level job. Turns out the guy is fantastic and I wish I had more like him. Some people are humble and don't sell themselves like they could. The narcissists, which you don't want, love to talk about themselves and typically interview pretty well. I'm still trying to figure out how to identify candidates like the first guy. FWIW, we use Talentlink here and I get all the resumes for my postings, nothing gets filtered in advance except if they are not US citizens but I can still see those too in another screen. Edit: I ask about peoples hobbies a lot, it's been a deciding factor on at least one candidate I can recall
Im one of those. Im good at my job, but Im not very good socially, especially when first meeting people so I interview terribly. I wish interviews would focus more on real world scenarios that are relevant to the position. Not these, what kind of animal would you be, what was one time you faced adversity and how did you get through it. Phrase it as a hypothetical in this coming job, that way its not me trying to BS these events and how Im a great person, but this is what I WOULD do and why. And especially tailor it to the job, dont ask what I would do in a sales environment if I'm interviewing for finance. Also, do not downplay retail work. I learned 100x more working in retail (especially managing) than I did in my undergrad, MBA, and corporate level work combined. But since I'm in corporate level, they straight ignore it BECAUSE its retail.
Thanks all. I appreciate the advice. Now to try to write a resume where I sound fun exciting and competent...
