Problems Faced By The Senior Manager And Executive In A Job Hunt
Ask senior managers and executives what they believe to be their biggest problem in their job hunt and they will tell you this: They are afraid companies will discriminate against them because of their age, and they believe companies will hire the less expensive junior manager over the senior manager in many situations. Their fears are often based on reality.
Not Emphasizing Age On The Senior Manager's Resume
Although it is never appropriate to misrepresent anything on a resume, it is often to the advantage of the senior manager to decrease the emphasis on his or her age. Generally it is recommended that a resume show the last 10 or 15 years of experience, and experience prior to that, if shown, can be highlighted in an "Other Experience" section without dates. When you look at the resumes in this section, you will see low-key techniques used to de-emphasize the age of many of these senior managers and executives. Since experience is often more important than education in terms of what the senior manager is offering, the Education section is usually near the bottom of the senior manager's resume, and sometimes the year dates showing when degrees were earned are omitted. The senior manager is not trying to disguise his age; he or she is simply trying to de-emphasize it and avoid being screened out because of seniority.
Seniority And Experience Can Be A Positive Thing!
Experience, as they say, is the best teacher, and experience can be a valuable asset to any organization. Companies are not ignorant of that fact, and they know that experience usually comes with age, so the important facts to show on a resume are one's results, accomplishments, and achievements. Indeed, many companies actually seek the mature and seasoned employee. For example, a number of financial services firms say they look for individuals with "a little grey in their hair," because age and maturity seem to connote wisdom in that industry.
Senior Managers Can Be In Career Change, Too!
Several of the senior managers in this section are in the career-change mode. As we mentioned previously in this book, most of us working people are expected to have at least three different careers in our lifetimes. You will be seeing people in this section who are embarking on their third career!
How long should your resume be?
One page, maybe two. Usually only people in the academic community have a resume (which they usually call a curriculum vitae) longer than one or two pages. Remember that your resume is almost always accompanied by a cover letter, and a potential employer does not want to read more than two or three pages about a total stranger in order to decide if he wants to meet that person! Besides, don't forget that the more you tell someone about yourself, the more opportunity you are providing for the employer to screen you out at the "first-cut" stage. A resume should be concise and exciting and designed to make the reader want to meet you in person!
Should resumes be functional or chronological?
Employers almost always prefer a chronological resume; in other words, an employer will find a resume easier to read if it is immediately apparent what your current or most recent job is, what you did before that, and so forth, in reverse chronological order. A resume that goes back in detail for the last ten years of employment will generally satisfy the employer's curiosity about your background. Employment more than ten years old can be shown even more briefly in an "Other Experience" section at the end of your "Experience" section. Remember that your intention is not to tell everything you've done but to "hit the high points" and especially hit the employer with what you learned, contributed, or accomplished in each job you describe.
