Unbeatable Resumes (4 page)

Since your résumé is likely going to be read first online, it needs to be clear and direct. And with research showing that the middle of the screen is the online reader's focal point, position your most compelling information in the center of the “page.”

After you write your résumé, ask friends or relatives to read it online, and then check to make sure that it has communicated to them what you want it to communicate.

I'm not a big fan of the Summary and Objectives sections that appear at the beginning of most résumés. (Obviously, the employers we surveyed feel the same way; see
Chapter 3
.) Though many résumé writers will tell you that they're a wonderful idea, that's because you're paying them and they're stroking your ego and making you look bigger than life. Unfortunately, these sections will backfire more often than they'll help in getting you an interview. Here are the reasons:

1.
Hiring authorities don't care about
your
objectives. They care about
their own
objectives. They care about what you want only if it also gives them what they want. So, in looking to show how you will fill their needs, don't bother telling them what your needs are.

2.
A hiring or interviewing authority is generally looking for specific skills to fill a specific position. The vast majority of Objectives and Summary statements are so broad that they don't mean anything.

While there are some exceptions to this caveat (I will get to those in a moment), it's risky to use an Objectives or Summary statement when you can't be sure that it won't annoy the person reading your résumé.

Consider this: One of the résumés that came across my desk recently featured this Objective and Career Summary statement (yes, both):

[Candidate's name] provides profitable return while working in a highly effective environment of success and reward. He is a proven leader with 24 years of experience providing creative information-based solutions in executive management, global
sales leadership, strategic planning, new business unit development, technical management, and operations management. He has demonstrated the ability and the resolve to develop and implement strategic business initiatives, initiate innovative solutions to complex problems, and manage high-performance teams that have significantly contributed to bottom-line results.

This candidate was seeking a sales job. His statements are not objectives at all, but more like a career summary. Overall, the statement doesn't say anything specific. What does “global sales leadership” mean? What are “strategic business initiatives”? Many hiring authorities don't think of their organizations as having a “highly effective environment of success and reward.” Most are not looking for a “proven leader” but simply a good “follower” who goes out and does the job on a daily basis. See my point? Now, how about this Objectives statement that I recently received:

Seeking a position with an emerging company that possesses best-of-breed product or service that is looking to rapidly expand into new markets.

Surely, 99 percent of companies in the United States do not consider themselves “emerging companies.” Most of them will not consider themselves to have a “best-of-breed product or service.” And most might well be afraid of a candidate who wants to join only a company “looking to rapidly expand.”

I'm sure these Objectives and Summary statements were important to the people who wrote them. But they mean absolutely nothing (or, nothing good) to a hiring or interviewing authority. It's all fluff. In fact, that fluff may well keep the candidate from getting an interview. There are, however, occasions when a Career Summary may work—when it's a
specific description
of what you have accomplished that would be meaningful to the prospective employer. One example of this type is:

Offering successful consumer product marketing and product management. Responsible for a successful, first-year, $15 million healthcare product initiative into the Mideast.

Obviously, this kind of Summary statement would be of value only to an organization looking for this type of experience. So, unless your Career Summary or Objectives statement can be that specific, it's best not to write one.

So what
do
hiring authorities initially scan for in the few seconds they have to peruse your résumé?

The organizations for whom you've worked

What the companies you worked for did

How long you were there

The position(s) you held

Your accomplishments and successes

The initial scan produces the answers to the
who, what, how long, which
, and
how well
questions. These are the five things that every hiring authority looks for. If the initial scan is palatable, the résumé gets read further, maybe even two or three times. Your best bet, then, is not to distract that hiring authority with a Career Summary or Objectives statement that she may well regard as meaningless.

The use of key words is a relatively recent résumé phenomenon. With the advent of talent-management software used by companies to scan résumés and supposedly catalog them, many so-called authorities recommend a Key Word section. However, the vast majority of companies in the United States do not use applicant-tracking software that scans résumés for these key words. In fact, less
than 1 percent of companies actually have this technology, and most of them don't use it. So the importance of including a special section devoted to key words is overrated.

In technical professions such as information technology, healthcare, and engineering, however, using key words may be of value. These key words need to be highly specific, though. I'm sure you're already aware of key words in your profession and in your industry, such as the following:

.net

application development

e-commerce

infrastructure development

Java

Oracle

SAP

SEC

trial balance

UNIX

Windows

Of course, résumés have always included mention of certifications, such as MBA, Ph.D., CNO, and RN.

These new technologies suggest that résumés will be searched for “concepts” instead of key words. For instance, “intelligent search technology” is supposed to overcome the idiosyncratic aspects of résumés and provide more accuracy in locating individuals with applicable talents. Most of the large job boards like Monster and Career Builder are promising this kind of technology for recruiters and subscribers. If it is advantageous to include key words for your profession, such as in information technology or accounting, then do it. I personally don't think you need a section devoted
exclusively to key words. These key words will be recognized in the body of your résumé.

Fuzzy key words and phrases should be avoided, in any case. These include
customer oriented, excellent communication skills, leadership, integrity
, and
character
. These fuzzy words and phrases lack meaning and do absolutely nothing to help you get an interview.

The organizations that do pick up on key words are more likely to look for words that refer to titles. Most likely they will retrieve these words from the body of the résumé, rather than from a Key Words section. So, words like
customer service, account management, controller, accountant, manager
, and
vice president
may help you there. However, know that one company's “customer service manager” is another company's “client services leader.” That variation in terms and titles is the primary challenge in using key words and phrases.

I recently received a résumé that used the words
honesty, sincerity, character, integrity
, and
determined
. Oh, brother! Show me a company that doesn't want these characteristics in its employees. It is senseless to include these words.

A recent book on résumés devotes four pages to a list of key words for inclusion in résumés. The suggested key words include
complex tasks, visionary, servant leadership, creative, professional
, and a whole page of “action verbs.” Cut it out! What hiring authority is going to respond to this kind of stuff? Visionary? What's that? (The book also suggests designer résumés using clip art and colored boxes.) Oh, no! Please don't go there!

Get the photos off of your résumé, if you've put them in there. You are looking for a job, not a date. You may think you look wonderful in the photo, but others may not agree! Remember: You are trying to get an interview, and anything that risks getting you eliminated doesn't help your cause. It's too easy for people to draw conclusions from your photo that might eliminate you. For their purposes, you could be too old, too young, too attractive in their opinion, etc. No reason to run that risk!

Here are specific do's and don'ts for writing your résumé.