While this isn’t exactly what we meant by, “we need more work-life balance”; this “extra” time we were abruptly given to enjoy family, is necessary.
Yet, even though it’s nice, it gets boring AND our families still annoy us after awhile! Haha - I mean, literally, my stepson has asked me 86 times if his bell pepper seeds are going to grow (we started a mini-garden yesterday). So I escaped to my office to work on a few resumes and write a new blog article for this week.
If you are geared to master your resume yourself, I suggest focusing on a section a day to build your resume. Divide and conquer, so to speak!
Grab your PC and pull up Microsoft Word or Google Docs. (BTW - Google Docs is a fantastic alternative if you don’t have Microsoft programs.
On Monday, just focus on your headline and the skills section of your resume.
Monday - Headline and Skills (15 min): Recruiters don’t want to hear that you’re a hardworking individual with great multitasking skills. Reduce (or eliminate altogether) the long and drawn out summaries. Instead, begin with a headline of who you are. For example, if you work in Social Services, your headline might be: Social Services Specialist or Foster Care Advocate. It’s clean, simple, and easily understood.
Recruiters are not reading your resume, so your best bet is to give them snapshots of who you are so they can quickly assess whether to call you. Studies show resumes are reviewed in 7 seconds or less! Make it easy for them to quickly see what you do. Then address your skills.
Your skills are what you do for a company - how you help make the company money. List anywhere from 6 - 8 skills neatly under your headline. Your skills need to be strong! Do a Google search of skills needed in your field. Instead of listing “detail-oriented or data-entry experience, use Data Literacy and Analysis. Instead of people-person, use Relationship-Builder.
Focus on those sections for Monday.
Now back to our regular quarantine schedule: eat a snack, scroll IG, complain about working out, watch Netflix, eat more snacks, check on your bell pepper plant, rearrange your furniture…
Now, let's tackle the experience section of your resume.
Tuesday - Work Experience in Traditional Format (30 min): No need to get creative with where things are listed here. Stick to position titles on the left and dates on the right. Recruiters expect certain information to be in a certain place, that way when they scan your resume, they aren’t having to search for those details. Be sure to bold your position titles and keep each job section fairly short.
Go ahead and list out your past companies, starting with your current employer or most recent. Eliminate experience older than 15 years or so. (This varies, so reach out to me if you have a question about your specific work history).
Wednesday - Experience with Impact (30min): Your experience section is NOT a copy/paste from the job description. It IS, however, a reflection of keywords seen within the job description, and it’s a bulleted snapshot of what you have accomplished in your roles. If the job description asks for digital marketing or Java experience, be sure to type those words out a few different times throughout your document. That way, when you apply, those keywords get picked up by the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and have a better chance of reaching a live person. Also, add those metrics! (E.g. Achieved a customer satisfaction rating of > 98% in 2019 in the escalations department of the call center).
Whew! We got over the Wednesday hump. Let’s continue thriving with Thursday’s section.
Thursday - Education (15 min): It’s best to write out the full degree, so "Bachelor’s of Science, Psychology" as opposed to "BS Psychology". Do the same with Certifications and professional training you’ve completed. You’ll want to list where you received the certification and year completed. (Note: dates for high school and college degrees are not required).
“What if I did not finish my degree, do I still list it?”
I get this question all the time and it's a good one! The answer is: it depends.
It’s certainly acceptable to list out the degree as long as you add something like “Anticipated 2022” next to it, showing it's in progress and to be completed soon. However, if it’s been years since you were enrolled and you don’t have intentions on finishing, then you can list something like, “Completed some coursework towards…and then list the degree” Every case is different, so reach out to me and let’s chat about it.
On Friday, give it a review.
Friday - Review (15 min): I recommend stepping away from your resume for a few hours or even a day to review it with a fresh mind. Clean up grammatical errors and make sure there is good spacing between each section. Again, your resume is your first impression! Have someone else read it and get their feedback.
Just a section a day...
Proposed times vary based on the length of your work, but these tips should give you a solid foundation to get a good document going! Let me know how I can help!
