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Adding value to your Career Documentation | Career Coaching

Organizing Extra Information in Your Resume

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Your resume is a synopsis of your career, but in some cases, that synopsis needs to expand to include extra information in your resume that does not quite fit under the usual categories of Experience and Education. For example, you may have licenses and certifications; given presentations to business associations; written published articles; or had a major achievement outside of work.

You might want to organize that extra information by inserting a new heading into your resume (generally, after Education) such as:

  • Awards
  • Board Memberships
  • Certifications
  • Community Service
  • International Travel
  • Languages
  • Licenses
  • Presentations
  • Professional Affiliations
  • Publications
  • Training

If you are at a complete loss for a heading, try “Additional Information,” but the more specific you can be, the better. Also, carefully consider whether the extra information in your resume is aligned with your career goals. An Eagle Scout award received by a new graduate in 2019 carries more weight than an Eagle Scout award received decades earlier by someone well into their career. International travel and language skills may have no relevance at all for a career path that is strictly within the United States.

On the other hand, some achievements, such as certifications and licenses, may be so important that they should also be mentioned in your opening profile on page 1. If you are applying for a position on a Board of Directors, then a list of your current Board Memberships may be more important than work experience and should come directly after the profile. The first consideration is the position you are aiming for—that should guide your decision about whether and where to place extra information in your resume.

At Robin’s Resumes®, we help job seekers at every stage of their career make important decisions about the length, content, and organization of their resume to gain maximum traction for their job search. Please contact us today.

R-E-S-U-M-E, Resume!

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One Valentine’s Day tradition is to spell out a partner’s name and use each letter to assign a loving trait to the partner (for example, E-V-E stands for Eager, Virtuous, Excellent).

Okay, it is silly, but today I want to see how that Valentine’s tradition works out for resumes.

R stands for respectful—enough respect for yourself to tell the truth on your resume and enough respect for the job you are applying for to make sure you have the skills, education, and accomplishments that the employer is looking for.

E stands for energized—a commitment to the job search that begins with the brag book you are keeping right now (yes?) to track your accomplishments before you forget them. It is also the energy to continue sending out resumes even if you think a job offer is certain; you never know what will happen between a stellar interview and a written job offer.

S stands for strategic—you need to know the position, industry, and company you are targeting so that your resume is strategically focused and you are prepared to ask intelligent questions (and give intelligent answers) during the interview.

U stands for uniform—the format, message, spelling, and grammar of your resume must be uniform from start to finish. If you change from bold headings to italic, if you waffle between a leadership and staff position, if you spell startup in one place and start-up in another, and if you randomly leave off periods at the ends of sentences, you are showing inconsistencies and a lack of attention that may undermine your resume.

M stands for modern—today’s hiring managers and recruiters often see a resume only after it is chosen by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). You must have a resume that is formatted and written to satisfy the ATS—and consider having a separate resume for networking for jobs. You must also be aware of social media. Hiring managers and recruiters will look online to catch any discrepancies with the professional image your resume presents. In fact, many hiring managers and recruiters will search for candidates online before a resume ever hits their desk. The vast majority will research you online and conduct an extensive background search before they officially hire you.

E stands for engaging—your resume should be written in everyday English, with active verbs and clearly explained accomplishments that keep the interest of hiring managers and recruiters. Avoid too many acronyms and make sure that technical information is described in the context of accomplishments so that even nontechnical readers get a sense of your strengths. Be as specific as possible: “ranked 3 out of 44 salespeople” is more memorable than “top rated salesperson.”

Is your resume respectful, energized, strategic, uniform, modern, and engaging? I help job seekers every day to reach those goals for their resumes. Contact me today—and happy Valentine’s Day!

The Value of a Job Seeking Holiday

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Looking for a job is difficult, whether you are employed or not. You may be pressured by personal finances, family, and friends; you may be frustrated by a company’s slow decision making or the lack of any response to your resumes or interviews.

Time for a break.

Take 24 hours to forget about your job search completely, and when the 24 hours are over, consider whether the following shifts in your methodology and outlook might help:

  • Change your networking method. If you have been mainly connecting with people online, try face-to-face; if face-to-face, try online. Sometimes simply breaking a pattern refreshes a job search.
  • Broaden your search. Look at the jobs you are applying for and consider whether you have limited yourself to a certain job title, industry, or even geographic area. If your limits are too tight, you may be shutting yourself out of jobs you are qualified for and would enjoy.
  • Thank someone. Thank a hiring manager or recruiter in your cover email for considering your application; thank interviewers for their time; thank the people you network with for their interest and conversation; thank your family/friends/associates for their patience and suggestions. A “thank you” creates stronger bonds.
  • Take a fresh look at your resume. Is it targeted for the job you want? Is it specific about what you have accomplished in the past? Did you proofread it? (Do not rely solely on online spelling and grammar checkers; they miss and often randomly change important words.) Is it simply but professionally formatted?
  • Ask for professional help. You may need a consult with a certified career transition coach; you may need the insight of a professional resume writer. Asking for help could save you from weeks of unemployment or unhappiness in your current job.

At Robin’s Resumes®, we are prepared to help you find a new outlook and renewed momentum during your job search. Contact us today.

Resume Q&A: What Can You Do for Me?

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Q. I’m seriously considering hiring a professional resume writer. I know you have excellent credentials and experience in the field. But why should I let any professional write my resume?

A. Usually, a job seeker is so frustrated by lack of response to an old resume that credentialed and experienced professional resume writers do not have to sell themselves at all. The chief problem I usually find with a resume is a lack of focus—it is not clear what job the applicant is applying for or why they are the best candidate. Sometimes a format is simply not compatible with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) which are very picky about what they will and will not accept in a resume; the resume is discarded by the ATS before the hiring manager or recruiter gets a chance to see it.

In addition, I offer these four advantages as a professional resume writer:

  • I will organize and write your resume to make the best of your qualifications. The great philosophers tell us to know ourselves. Knowing yourself is hard enough, but job seekers also need to know hiring managers and recruiters. What are hiring managers and recruiters expecting in a resume? What experiences in your career are most important to emphasize, which ones are you overlooking, and which ones can safely be left to the interview or ignored?
  • As a certified job and career transition coach (JCTC) and a master career director (MCD), I have the objectivity to bring your career goals, marketplace realities, and your resume into alignment. I can offer you suggestions that may boost your career and your resume to the next level.
  • I pay attention to the details that may have slipped your notice, like the proper use of apostrophes (its or it’s), the correct abbreviations for states and regions (CA, not Cal.), and the right choice of words that confuse many people (effected,affected). I make sure your contact information is easy to understand and that you have left off archaic information (references on request) or information that you legally should not supply (marital status).
  • Most importantly, I give you confidence. A well-written, tightly focused, interesting resume not only attracts the attention of hiring managers and recruiters, it also prepares you to handle interviews with assurance.

Are you still on the fence about hiring a professional resume writer? Contact me today and let’s talk.

Highlight Innovation on Your Resume

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Among the skills that companies cherish these days is the ability to innovate. Most of us are innovators on some level, but we may not recognize our own abilities. We downplay the contribution we make with suggestions or actions that improve our own or others’ work. Yet, any fresh idea that creates a more efficient, cost-effective, easier, or collaborative workplace is an innovation.Here are a few keywords and key phrases that will help you write about your contribution as the innovation that it truly is:

  • Initiated [a program, process, collaboration, or event]
  • Re-organized [a team, documents, business unit]
  • Wrote [a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the first user manual, a new brochure]
  • Opened up [a new market, a new facility]
  • Created [a technique, a campaign, a way to…]
  • Recognized [an opportunity to…]
  • Introduced [Lean manufacturing, for example]
  • Predicted [a consumer trend]
  • Developed [a product, a relationship, a new source for…]

Innovation takes many forms. Lean manufacturing, for example, has been around for years. But if you are the first to introduce it to your company, then you are an innovator. Your company may have been selling the same product for decades; but if you are the one who opened up a new revenue stream, you are an innovator.

Maybe all your innovations have been directed toward making your own work more efficient. Someone once said that if necessity is the mother of invention, laziness is the father. Many creations have their start in someone wanting an easier life; never downplay an innovation because of its roots.

Finally, many innovations build on the work of others. When you modify an existing product, re-organize an existing team, or develop an existing relationship to make it more profitable, you are innovating. No one else saw or grabbed that opportunity. You did.

At Robin’s Resumes®, we appreciate innovation and know howto write about it. Contact us today.

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