Bio, Résumé or Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Let’s get some of my definitions of what each of these documents is and how and when they should be used. They convey very different information and are rarely interchangeable.  Bio – This is usually a short (no more than 1-2 pages) narrative about your background featuring mostly what you are doing now.  A bio has more color commentary – editorial comments, even quotes from you and others.  It’s the pithy and catchy; think in terms of what you read about speakers at conferences, banquets, on web sites.  This is the wallet-size photo version of your background.  From a recruiter’s or employer’s perspective this is a start, but hardly enough to make a full assessment, so if you are in a serious job-search mode, get to working on the résumé, because this won’t be enough.  Résumé – This is the full-blown 8×10 close-up that employers and recruiters need to see Learn more...

Dirty Little Secrets

OK, so not many of us have a squeaky-clean past.  That arrest in college for protesting, the litigious neighbor who left suits on your record, a nasty article by a vicious reporter.  There might be things in your past that you’d rather forget, but that people can access in today’s information-rich world. The main thing is to know what’s accessible and to be on the offensive about it.  While some things shouldn’t be detailed on a résumé, you will likely need to address them in your interviews.  ·        First of all, know what is in the public domain about yourself.  Start by Googling yourself for articles.  Be sure no one is mistaking you for someone else with the same name. ·        On your résumé, use your middle and/or maiden name to distinguish yourself from others with the same or similar name. ·        Consider buying a background check on yourself to Learn more...

Chronological versus Functional Résumés

Generally, my preference is a chronological résumé because it allows the reader to track your trajectory – the pace and logic of your path.  As a former recruiter, functional résumés often frustrated me because functions the person performed get lumped into a heading with no attribution to a specific position; something you did 10 years ago is mentioned alongside something you did 2 months ago.  Therefore this functional style of résumé provides little in the way of useful context.  Having said that, I am in favor of a hybrid chronological/functional résumé.  It works especially well when you are trying to transition from one industry or function to another where you might not have directly relevant experience. Using our earlier example for the profile – “Marketing director with consumer packaged goods experience seeking to transition into industrial sales and marketing role in paper or chemicals industries.  Specific expertise in marketing promotions, advertising Learn more...

Résumé Fine Points – 5 Do’s and 5 Don’ts

Do’s 1.    Do keep language simple, concise and professional. 2.    Do use numbers to help tell the story – budget, people, returns, etc. 3.    Do assume the reader is well-read, but not an expert in your field. 4.    Do make typestyle and formatting readable – no less than 10 font, no artsy script, leave reasonable margins and line spacing. 5.    Do maintain visual balance and symmetry to keep the reader’s eye moving smoothly.  Don’ts 1.    Don’t use acronyms or buzzwords that don’t mean anything to an outsider. 2.    Don’t cram everything on to one page.  If you have 15 years of experience, allow yourself 1-1/2 to 2 pages.  Anything over 3 pages is likely tedious unless you are a chronic job-hopper or someone with 30 years of must-know-about experience. 3.    Don’t feel compelled to list every responsibility, award, etc.; we’re going for highlights, not your entire life history. 4.    Don’t Learn more...

Top 10 Résumé Essentials

1.            Give a short description of your employer or business, no more than 1-2 sentences describing industry, revenues, geographic scope (local, regional, and national, global). 2.            List title, division (if relevant), location and job dates. 3.            Describe responsibilities in a short paragraph, no more than 3-5 brief sentences. 4.            Include reporting relationships (to whom do/did you report and how many people report to you?), budget, scope and scale. 5.            Detail accomplishments – the greatest, most relevant and most recent.  Go ahead and list them all for the draft, then we’ll pick and choose – at least 2, no more than 5 for each résumé (based on your thesis statement). 6.            Specify what your role was in accomplishing the tasks.  Did you lead the team? Were  you part of it?  What was the time period over which it was achieved? 7.            Rank your accomplishments in order of importance to you and Learn more...

Chronology and Trajectory

Some people have been able to have successful 10, 20 – even 30 – year careers, without ever having written a résumé.  They might consider themselves lucky, but if they now need one, they are at a huge disadvantage!  Unless they’ve kept every old  job description and performance review, they won’t likely be able to recall or recapture useful information about past roles that would help tell their story to an outside observer.  The point is, the résumé is not just your compass, its a work diary – the one you are choosing to share – that chronicles where you’ve been.  So get that pad of paper out and let’s start at the beginning: ·         List all jobs since graduating from college.  Do it in reverse chronological order – that is, work your way forward to your most recent roles.  We’ll go back and edit later, just get it all Learn more...

The Thesis Statement

The résumé is about what you have done, can do and want to do.  Now the challenge is to communicate that effectively.  Let’s start with all the work you did in mapping your strategy.  Remember how you picked the industries, companies, roles and titles?  Synthesize one of your key focus areas into a 2-4 sentence long statement of what you seek and why.  Here’s an example:  “Marketing and sales director with consumer packaged goods experience seeking to transition into industrial sales and marketing role in paper and chemicals industries.  Specific expertise in marketing promotions, advertising and sales management.  Led teams up to 30 people; have had extensive leadership development coursework; received company sales leadership award 2005, 2007 and 2008.” You can call this your “Objective” or “Professional Profile” and position it at the very top of your résumé.  You are letting the reader know what to expect in greater detail Learn more...

Magnetic Elements

A good résumé can go a long way toward getting you a meeting or an interview once you have mapped your unique strategy.  A potential employer or an executive recruiter uses your résumé to see where you’ve been, what you did there, and whether there might be an initial match for an opportunity. The résumé may be only 10 percent to 20 percent of getting a job. The other 80 percent to 90 percent depends on who you are, what you say in an interview, and what others might say about you. But make no mistake; the résumé remains an important tool. In today’s hyper-competitive environment, a poorly thought out résumé or the slightest error on your résumé can shut doors before you ever get a chance at an interview. Most people think of a résumé as words, an outline of experiences. But employers see it as data that orients Learn more...

Stake a Claim

Now – and only now – that you have identified industries, sectors, companies and roles (with titles and a clear determination that the function suits your background) can you prepare your résumés.  I am heartily in favor of having more than one résumé.  If you are looking for a sales job in the telecom industry, you will emphasize experiences and reference knowledge and exposure in that industry.  Similarly, if you also want to pursue sales management positions in a consumer packaged goods company, you will emphasize different aspects of your background.  You should integrate words and phrases used in the position specifications you researched to describe some of the responsibilities you have had and activities you have performed. Note that no one is asking you to try to be all things to all people. And certainly there is no fabrication or fudging on what you’ve actually done. Again, it might Learn more...

Zero in on the Bulls-Eye

Are you beginning to see the bull’s-eye?  Identifying the industries is the outer ring of the target, identifying the companies is an inner ring and the bull’s-eye is the job title or function itself.  Now you must start naming the roles that you seek.  Research titles that you would be suitable for at the companies on your lists.  Ideally, review position specifications for similar (if not exact roles) on-line and be honest when assessing your skills and experiences against what your target companies are seeking.   I realize this might feel constraining, but you have to give people something concrete to hold on to.  It doesn’t mean you are necessarily locked in; you can be considered for other related roles.  Meanwhile, you will have done the self-analysis to know what you are qualified for and are therefore much more compelling when explaining your skills and experiences to an interviewer.  This Learn more...

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