Resume Tips and Tricks

You may have read one of my previous blogs on how to build a great resume. I wanted to add a couple things to my previous post. Over the past year I've spoken to a ton of recruiters and hiring managers and there are a few key items that can really make your resume stand out.

Spelling and Grammar
While spelling and grammar mistakes may make your resume stand out, I've spoken to recruiters who will literally stop reading at the first error and throw a resume in the "not hiring" pile. When a hiring manager has 100 resumes to sift thru small mistakes will take you out of the running instantaneously. I highly recommend using the Grammar.ly plug-in on top of whatever native spell-check your word processing application has.

Touches of Color
While infographics and photos are a great addition to most resumes, they aren't necessary for every job. Some positions might even frown on an overly flashy resume. That being said a touch of color has never been frowned upon in my experience. Consider choosing your favorite color and using it in your heading, and subheadings.

Introduction
Depending on what you're applying for you'll want to consider either a quick bio, summation of project experience or objective. Are you a sales person who has a proven track record of increasing profit for your employer? Do you smash sales goals? Are you a creative professional who's worked on a well-known project? Has your artwork been featured anywhere? Unless this is your first ever job application I suggest steering clear of academic accomplishments unless they directly correlate with your career goals. Do you have relevant volunteer experience? Try to come up with something unique to you. We all know you want a job so you can eat. Everybody does. What makes you a great employee/colleague/professional? Sum that up in an introduction.

Here's an example of my resume for general circulation. As I'm not actively seeking a new position it's just a summation of my current experience.

Be sure to create multiple copies of your resume. I have one for Business Development/ PreSales, one for Marketing, one for Telecom, one for Political Positions, a generic one, and a variety of "dream job" drafts. Be prepared to send someone a copy of your resume at a moment's notice, but also don't be afraid to craft a new resume for a specific position. 

How to write a resume

First of all, you are probably going to want to have more than one resume unless you are zeroed in on a very specific career. Personally, I have 3 resumes: sales, management and general. They all display the same basic information but highlight different aspects of my experience.

• As a general rule you probably want so get an idea of what you want to be doing before you start crafting your resume and then create the resume based on what a hiring manager in that location would be looking for. 
• If you are going to upload your resume to the web (which you absolutely should) fill your resume with keywords that recruiters in your industry would be looking for. Mine includes some of these: sales, management, account management, business development, small business, customer service, customer satisfaction, customer experience, word, excel, spreadsheets, salesforce, team building, training, inventory, etc. Here are some more comprehensive directions of how to come up with your list.
• There are a TON of formats out there for resumes. I use a personal website. I bought my domain for 99 cents from GoDaddy. My "business card" when I was job seeking was a QR code that linked anyone who scanned it to my resume. I also carried around paper copies of all 3 of my resumes at all times. The three common resume templates are: Chronological, Functional, and Combination.
• You're going to need a heading. Start with your name, probably in bold. The address, phone number and fax number if you have one. I do recommend getting a fax number through an e-fax service if you don't already have one. You should also include your email address, website if you have one that is relevant to your resume. Make sure if your resume has 2 pages that you put a mini-heading on page 2.
• This is where things might get a bit complicated. You need an objective and "to find a job" is not acceptable.  Your resume objective statement should be as short and quick to read as possible. I set the bar at 10 words or less.
• You need to summarize your qualifications. Try to make this a mix of general skills and specific talents. A lot of employers stop reading here. Do not let this be where you lose the battle. Market yourself. What about you makes you special and necessary to a company. 
• Work History is probably the easiest part of a resume to put together. It's facts about your past experiences. However, if you have holes in your employment you're going to need to explain them without attaching another page to your resume. You can choose to fill the gap by listing years of employment, rather than specifying months. That way a future employer might not know how long you've taken off. I've done that and I've put a line into my job history that says what I was doing during that time. Maternity leave, travel, taking care of a loved one etc. Don't make yourself seem like a high risk employee. Try giving the time off a title like "Full-Time Student" "Full-Time Mom" "Independent Study" "Estate Management" etc
• If you have any noteworthy achievements you'll want to create a section to highlight those. They show that you're a worthwhile employee who will achieve more than mediocrity.
• If you have education beyond high school, especially if it is relevant to your career you'll want to list that next. If you don't have a college degree don't fret. Leave this section out. Make the employer ASK if they want to know about your educational background. If you've rocked the rest of your resume right they shouldn't be worried about it.
• If you have served community service (willingly) definitely put that on your resume as well as any professional affiliations you may have that are relevant to your targeted job. Depending on the type of job you're trying to land this might be a good place to list more skills/interests and awards.

If you're still having trouble and would like to use a template I suggest kukook.

This one would be great for a graphic designer:

A touch of creativity gives a standard resume some pop

I think it's best to always add a unique touch.

Maximizing your social networking potential

Ok, ladies, this one is mostly for you. Although men can be just as guilty of all the things I'm about to confront you about.

Social networking is power, and you're using it all wrong. If you put half the energy into your LinkedIn, or professional website, or even a relevant blog, that you do making sure your facebook profile picture is the best one of all the selfies you took today you'd almost definitely be further in life.

LinkedIn:

1. Sign up. Please. Do me this tiny favor. Even if you're working as a barista or a cashier. Make a profile. It's so easy. 
2. Fill in the information. This is really simple but can be time consuming. Put as much details on your profile as you can, including work experience, education, relevant associations, hobbies etc. HR people and recruiters use LinkedIn for candidate searching and they do it by key words. Make sure you put buzz words and lots of industry jargon on there. The location is very important as well, as recruiters look for potential candidates close to the client’s site first. Even if you are missing info, some is better than none, and don't be afraid of your background. THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE LOOKING FOR YOU.
3. Upload a photo. You obviously have good photos of yourself. I've seen your facebook's you have thousands of them. Pick on that you aren't wearing a birthday crown, or downing a drink in up there. Something that's mostly of your face and looks moderately professional.
4. Connect. Whore yourself out. You do it on instagram, and facebook and a million other sites that don't help you get anywhere with your career. Add your old boss. Your mom. That kid you did that project with that one time. Find people you know and add them. 
5. Get involved in groups and discussions. There has GOT to be something you care enough about to join the group on LinkedIn. Save the Whales, or Gaming, Professional Makeup... something.
6. Ask for recommendations. That business owner your dad knows who you helped with his iPhone last summer... he's probably on LinkedIn. See if he'll recommend you.
7. Stay active. If you login to LinkedIn half as much as you login to Facebook I promise someone will notice you.
8. Share relevant information. For this you have to have some kind of idea as to what you'd like to accomplish on LinkedIn whether it be professional networking or a chance at a new career. Find an article or study relevant to the field you want to move forward in and share it on LinkedIn.

Some other accounts I suggest making:

• Indeed
• Glass door
• Monster
• A blog such as this
• If you are already active in the professional world I highly recommend a 2nd Twitter and Facebook that you wouldn't mind being friends with your boss or clients on.
• A professional website won't kill you and whether it be for now or in the future GoDaddy currently has 99 cent domains so snatch one of those up.