But there are other reasons for having a good resume hand that you might not have thought of.
The actual act of writing a resume gives an assessment of your advantages to an employer, as well as giving you a self-analysis of your disadvantages. The resume is thing more than an ad for you, and good ads never real negatives. When appropriate, your shortcomings can discussed at the interview, but it's always inappropriate to expound on them in a resume.
Keeping your resume up-to-date while you are employed gives you clues as to how to present yourself to your current employer when asking for a raise, a promotion, or both. Obviously, you won't show your resume to your employer when requesting these things, but you can see it as a reminder of your accomplishments since last talking with your boss about bettering your situation.
If you're going after a new job and a resume isn't required, the very fact that you've prepared one can function as a blueprint for you when preparing for the interview. In the sometimes tense atmosphere of a job interview, we tend to forget those things that might sell in having a good resume to constantly going over, including just before going in for the interview, can help avoid this.
At the same time, your resume will, if properly and honestly done, point out to you your failings. By being aware of them, you can get yourself ready to answer questions that focus on those aspects of your background and experience. And, of course, it also gives you an opportunity to strengthen areas of weakness after you've identified them to yourself-with the help your resume.
Judging from the thousands of poorly written, I conceived, and in many cases downright silly resume that have ended up in my "Resumania" file, there are lot of people who would be better off not using a resume at all.
On the other hand, those who learn how to prepare proper resume will have taken a solid step forward finding a better job. A good resume won't get anyone job; a poor one surely loses jobs for lots of people.
There are easy ways to come up with a resume. You can buy any one of dozens of books that present sample of "good resumes" to their readers. You can go to a resume preparation service and have it create one for you.
The problem in having someone else-the author of book or a person working for a resume mill-prepare resume for you is that it comes out looking exactly as though someone else has done it. Those carbon-copy resumes flood the desks of people who hire. They have most identical formats, take the same approach, and in too many cases even use the same words. How, I ask, can they find better jobs if they choose to place themselves the heap of cookie-cutter resumes? Better jobs are got by people who set themselves apart from the pack, I who rise above the mountain of resumes because you've caught the eye of a person who will take them to next plateau of consideration.
Most people approach the writing of a resume with very trepidation. It represents writing to them, a task you avoid with the same fervor as when called upon to write a letter to a friend. They have been sold a myth that writing takes a particular God-given talent and that because they don't possess this talent they will always come up with bad resumes.
The fact is that a resume is not a writing exercise in pursuit of a Nobel Prize in literature. In fact, those who approach it that way create resumes that may end up in "Resumania" file.
A resume should be an accurate representation of that you have accomplished in your life as it applies to employment, and should indicate to a prospective employer what you can bring to that company. It is nothing more than that. The problem is that because most people don't maintain that personal personnel file.
A resume should begin with your name and indicate way to reach you should an employer be interested. Sound overly simplistic? It sounds that way to me too, it I've seen many resumes that do not include a telephone number, and in some cases don't even include an address. This "how to get hold of me" beginning portion of a resume should not include silly restrictions on where or how to reach you.
"Please do not call before ten. My mother sleeps at that time."
That's an actual item from a resume one of our officers received.
Keep it simple: name, address, and telephone number.
Most resume mills and advice books suggest beginning a resume with "Job Objective." I generally disagree with them. By stating a job objective, you potentially put yourself out of being considered for other jobs in the same company, jobs that do not match precisely with objective you've stated. Remember, being flexible when seeking a better job opens up far more opportunities you've presented your education and work experience a cohesive and understandable fashion, the sort of job for which you're qualified will be self-evident to the person reading it. Skip "Job Objective" on your resume" unless you pinpoint your purposes. Then you might need three or four resumes, each prepared with basic hones but beefing up those aspects of your background that have direct applicability to each job you might be qualified for. A better place to indicate areas of particular interest is in the letter that accompanies the resume will get to that later.
There is no reason to indicate why you left any job presented on your resume. That can be covered during the course of an interview. Listing reasons for no longer being employed, however sensible they may be, only comes off apologetic or, in many cases, smacks of sour grapes.
At the same time, don't fudge with your employment cord. Don't say that you are still employed at a company if you're not. That brings up the whole question of honesty on resumes, a subject that I've delved into at eat length over my career.
Most people do lie on their resumes to some degree. Some people get away with it, particularly at lower-level jobs. Most people don't get away with it over the long in, and the job offers that go down the drain once references are checked are legion. That doesn't mean you could take pains to point out your inadequacies. What you should do on your resume is paint an accurate picture of your background, highlighting the positive aspects of it and downplaying the negative aspects-without lying.
The problem with most resumes, even if they are carefully prepared, is that they end up listing employment, positions, and responsibilities without ever in eating the potential value of the resume' writer to an employer. There is no inherent appeal in simply lays out the companies for whom you've worked and the job titles you held at those companies. Did you make any significant contributions to that company, the sort of contributions that you can bring with you to your new employer? There's that personal personnel file age coming to the surface. If you were the manager of quality control for seven years at the XYZ Company, be sure indicate in that section of your resume that by eliminating two screws and one nut in the manufacturing process you not only created a better product, you saved the company $600,000. That's the kind of information an employer sits up and takes notice of. The same principle can be applied to any job. Again, I'm not suggesting that you embellish your accomplishments. That will backfire you when your previous employer is asked about it. Many of us go through our working lives without making positive contribution to the company or department which we work. Keep a record of those contributions, document them, and highlight them on your resume.
There's always debate about how long a resume should be. Most counselors like to say, "Keep it to one page." That's bad advice. A resume is like a novel, should be as long as it needs to be to make its point effectively.
Too many people fill their resumes with so much trivia that it goes on for pages and obviously is too Iong. Others, who buy the notion that a resume should be kept to one page, frequently fail to fully explain their contributions and accomplishments, and shortchange themselves in the process.
If you've been employed for a long time, there is no need to lengthen your resume with descriptions of the jobs you held while in high school and college. On her hand, if you're someone starting out in the working arid, those jobs will at least indicate to a prospective employer your industriousness, and that even though you are young, you have had experience in the workplace.
Most resumes contain a section on education. Those people who did not complete higher education often are exempted to try to cloud that fact by the use of vague language. People who read a lot of resumes have become aware where this is concerned, and pick it up immediately. Be honest; don't claim to have graduated from an institution if you haven't. Don't hesitate to indicate courses you've taken that bear upon the job you're going after, but don't overplay it. If you've been working for a long time, your education becomes less important. Again, for people just starting out, education plays a much more vital role in judging job candidates. Put everything in perspective on your resume. If your educational back-round is impressive, by all means give it in detail. If it isn't, deal with what you have in a succinct manner and not on with the rest of it.
People who have been active in a number of professional and civic organizations usually list them on their resumes, as they should. This kind of involvement outside of working hours is always impressive, and if you haven't been active in that regard, I suggest you correct that deficiency, not only because it will give you something positive to put on your resume, but also because it furthers our professional knowledge and results in the sort of expanding network that's important throughout a career.
If you've been published in professional journals, by all means list those publications. If you've received wards, those belong on your resume, too. But be realistic a evaluating those items. If they're marginal and have little or no bearing on your professional credentials, leave them off. A padded resume is immediately obvious to most people reading it. Keep everything solid; you c always embellish in a cover letter, and during the interview.
A good percentage of the resume items that end up my "Resumania" files come from under the heading "Personal." There is really no reason to include personal life on any resume, unless they have direct bearing upon your occupation. Here are some examples of personal life that I've collected from resumes around the country:
"My wife and I really like each other."
"Present home is a modern four-bedroom on 1/3 ac conveniently located to good schools, shopping, a churches."
"We have a pregnant dachshund named Abercromb and no children."
"Can't roller skate."
"Have weakness in the toes."
"Thirty-three years old, one daughter, age nine, currently entering bankruptcy proceedings."
"Married with no children, no house, and no future."
Get the point? Discuss personal things-maybe during the interview. They don't belong on your resume
We've come a long way in the area of anti-discrimination in employment. Still, many people include material on their resumes that would not only be illegal for employer to ask, but that creates a preconditioned negative response to their quest for employment. There is no need to include on your resume your age, your religion, your national origin, your marital status, or your health. The old adage "We are our own worst enemies" is provide true time and time again on resumes. What's even worse is that people will include that sort of material on the resumes and then explain it. "I am sixty-three years old but my friends all tell me how energetic I am." Or "I’m a woman but I am not hung up on fem-lib. I am able to make coffee."
I suppose the reason for so many ridiculous items on Himes is that we tend to be insecure, and this crazy world has done nothing to alleviate that. The most rational of men and women become irrational creatures when zed with writing a resume. Don't let that happen to you. It's tough enough finding a better job without favoring your chances on the piece of paper that represents your initial presentation of yourself to new employers.
