Group Critiques of Your Resume

In job search clubs and organizations, one of the really helpful activities is what is known as a "Job Jury." Essentially, this is a small-group critique of your nearly finished resume by people with similar backgrounds and experience. The purpose of this critique is to improve your resume, to polish the wording, and to help you be sure you've included the most important aspects of your work life in your resume-that you've "put your best foot forward." If you don't belong to a job search group, you can still get the benefits of group thinking by setting up your own job jury-Ask four to six friends, former associates or people you know who have jobs that are similar to yours if they'd be willing to meet with you and help critique your resume. Invite them to your home, or to a semi-public place where you can have some privacy. You may want to include a meal or some other social event as part of your invitation. Send each person who agrees to help a photocopy of the draft of your resume. You may also want to photocopy the brief checklist below and include it with the resume.

After your friends or associates arrive, begin by summarizing your experience and accomplishments verbally. Tell them what kind of position you would like to obtain. Then, ask them to evaluate the resume on the basis of whether the individual statements further your job search objective. Tell them to make notes on their copies of the resume and to give them to you when you're finished so you can have the full benefit of their thinking. Take full and complete notes on your copy as you talk.

Regardless of the kind of resume you're having critiqued, hold the thumbnail sketch for last. Begin with the accomplishments or the experience section, depending upon the resume format. As the group works, you may want to bring out some of the points you learned for self-critique, as well as the questions in the following checklist.

• Have I presented each one of my accomplishments effectively?
  
• Have I put the statements in the right order?
  
• Have I included the key functions of the jobs I had? Have I included some which are of minor importance and should be omitted? Have I given them the proper priority? What should I have included that I didn't?
  
• Have my principle liabilities or weaknesses been played down?
  
• Is it clear what land of job I'm pursuing?
  

Go over each accomplishment or experience by itself. Read the first achievement or job description. Ask if it is all right as it stands. Is the statement reasonable and believable? What could be better, what should be deleted or omitted? How could the statement be presented more strongly? If it should be reworded, how do they say it should read? Work toward consensus. If they agree, be sure you get the reworded statement written down. If they don't reach a consensus, note the most important things that were said, and rework the statement later. Don't be touchy. Remember that they are here at your invitation to help you put together the best resume you can. Accept their collective wisdom, even if some of the things they suggest hurt.

Did you leave out an important achievement, or omit some important aspect of your duties and responsibilities? It's especially easy to omit very important functions on Chronological Resumes.

When you're looking at the achievements, either on the Achievement Resume, or on the Combination Resume, ask about the order of the statements. Do they present the strongest statement in the existing order, or would they be better ordered in another way? If reordered, what should that order be?

Next, ask them to look at the education section. This should take just moments, since the education section should be a simple listing of colleges and degrees. Follow this with each of the other sections. Ask them what you have inadvertently left out, what you should add, what you should take away. If you've considered adding another heading with additional information, explain your thinking and ask for their advice on whether to include it or not.

Finally, ask them to go back and look at the thumbnail sketch. Explain why you used a thumbnail instead of a job objective. (If you can't remember, go back and read why in the next article.) Do they think the thumbnail is descriptive of the person you've described in the achievements or experience? What's missing, and what should be left out? How could you change the thumbnail to make it stronger? Also ask about the job title. Is it the right one to fit the resume and thumbnail? Take notes on their comments. If they want to help you rewrite the thumbnail, do so. Otherwise, work on it later, using your notes and the ones they give you to polish your text.

Discuss appearance. Does the resume seem cluttered? Is there enough "white space?" Can you easily scan it?