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accomplishments

Hiring Managers and Recruiters Want to Know: Who Are You?

Your resume is your introduction to hiring managers and recruiters. They are happy to learn about what you have done in the past, but they also want to know who you are right now. They want your resume to tell them about your:

  • Career goals. The first line of your resume, right under your name and contact information, should tell them the position you are seeking. For example:

Senior Executive, Product Development | Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare

  • Proudest accomplishments. The first paragraph of your resume summarizes your proudest achievements and your expertise. For example:

Product development executive who drives multimillion-dollar sales of healthcare products that transform the marketplace, garner industry awards, and improve consumers’ lives worldwide.

Note that this sentence describes what the candidate does (drives sales) and why (improve the lives of consumers), giving hiring managers and recruiters insight into the person they are considering. Here is another version:

Product development executive who drives multimillion-dollar revenue by focusing on customer needs, building insightful relationships with physicians, and encouraging innovation at all levels.

This version emphasizes how the candidate drives revenue. It will resonate with companies that are concerned with customer needs, physician relationships, and innovation.

Both versions are fine. The candidates are each being honest in their own way about their proudest accomplishments.

  • Capacity to make a difference. The bullet points in your resume tell prospective employers what you have accomplished in the past. But they also tell prospective employers what they can expect from you in the future. That is why you start with what you did and then move directly to how you did it as in the following:

Streamlined manufacturing operations by using SAP to analyze customers’ order history and change production planning from demand-driven to level loaded.

This bullet point describes your familiarity with manufacturing operations, SAP, analysis, and production planning and processes. It tells employers that you have transferrable skills that are valuable in their manufacturing operations.

When you reveal yourself to hiring managers and recruiters, you also differentiate yourself from the competition. A resume that is clear about your career goals, proudest accomplishments, and capacity to make a difference reassures prospective employers you bring the required skills, education, and experience; fit their culture; and add your unique prospective to their diverse staff. Robin’s Resumes® will help ensure that your resume will answer the question “who are you?”

Answers to Common Resume Questions

Q. I do not have a college degree, even though I have years of experience in my field. Should I list my high school degree?

A. Experience can trump your degree in this case. Your experience may make up for your missing college degree or college studies. If you have attended college, list it. You can state, “Studies towards… Bachelor of Science (BS) in Major | College Name | City, State.” This is true, and it may get you past some Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). In addition, be sure to mention any continuing education courses, certifications, or on-the-job training you have received. However, if a job requires a high school degree, list it, if you have never been to college.

Q. Everyone says you should customize your resume for the company you are applying to. So how many resumes do I need?

A. You need a basic resume for each career field you are applying for (you should limit to one or two—and if you cannot limit, you may need career coaching to see where you are the best fit). Once you have your basic resume for your career field, you then will need to tweak your resume for each job you apply for, to ensure you have the right keywords in the resume and also to be sure you highlight your experience that matches the requirements listed in the job posting.

Q. I have had a 30-year career and detailing my experience would easily take 3 pages. Is a 3-page resume okay?

A. 3-page resume is fine, but before you settle on that length, make sure that earlier experience is still relevant and interesting. In general, you want to highlight your last 10 years of experience. You want to avoid endless repetition and details on positions you have outgrown. Would you be able to summarize those first jobs under “Early Career” or “Additional Experience,” giving only a line or two to each?

Q. I have worked in a highly specialized field for one company over most of my career. Few people—even my own family—understand what I do. How can I get hiring managers and recruiters to understand my value for their company?

A. In one word: accomplishments. A specialized career is like magic: while no one may understand how you do what you do, everyone understands the results. The “how” is important but not as important as the results, which will sell you to hiring managers and recruiters. As a professional resume writer, I write resumes that target your results first, then the way you achieved them. For example:

Increased sales $25 million annually for widgets by creating a suite of new marketing services for Fortune 500 clients using data analytics and expanded platform capabilities.

Do you have a question about resumes? Please contact me at Robin’s Resumes®, and I will be happy to answer.

Help! I Have No Accomplishments To Write About!

Q. I know you say accomplishments are important in resumes but what if I do not have any? I go to work every day (I am a secretary) to answer phones, type reports, do research, organize files, answer questions for employees, talk to vendors and customers, and make travel arrangements. Every secretary in the world does that. I like my job and would not be looking for a new one except that my boss, the company owner, is retiring and the company is closing. But it is just a job. What do accomplishments have to do with it?

A. Let’s look first at your list of what you do. Despite your certainty, not every secretary handles the range of activities you do; many bosses would not expect or want their secretaries to communicate with vendors and customers, for example. Research is another task that requires skills some secretaries simply do not have or are not interested in acquiring. So right there you have a few accomplishments that stand out and should find a place in your resume.

Now we can delve deeper. What types of software do you use on a daily basis and how proficient are you with each? Expertise with Excel, Acrobat, PowerPoint, and Publisher is always in demand, especially if you know more than the basics (for example, how to create macros). If you know additional software, you should also list that in your resume.

You work for the owner of the company—that is also an accomplishment, especially given the level of trust he has demonstrated in your abilities. And what type of company is it? Is it large or small, domestic or global; what industry is it in; how many employees does it have? How many employees, vendors, and customers do you interact with? The answers to those questions speak to the scale of your accomplishments and set you apart from other job applicants.

You mention answering questions for employees, as well as talking to vendors and customers. Clearly, you are a reliable source of information. What types of information do they want? How often are you called upon to share your knowledge? The fact that these people all look to you for answers is a very important accomplishment.

How do your skills and knowledge benefit the company in terms of efficiency, productivity, cost savings, or improved communications? If you were suddenly to disappear from the company, what would they need to do to replace you—and why would they need to replace you? That need your company has for your (or any employee’s) presence is an accomplishment.

If you have trouble writing a resume that shows you to be an accomplished and valuable employee, please contact Robin’s Resumes®.

Resume Q&A: What Are Employers Looking For?

Q. Everyone tells me that my resume has to stress accomplishments—but what about skills? What about education and years of experience? Doesn’t anyone value those anymore?

A. Skills, education, and experience are still highly valued. For example, no one would hire a CPA, lawyer, or software engineer without the proper skills, education, licenses, and certificates. But your resume will be competing against dozens of applicants with the same credentials and often with the same length of experience. The only way you can make yourself stand out is to show how you used your skills, education, and experience. You need to put them into the context of solving a company problem, adding to the company bottom line, or improving your job performance. Those are examples of accomplishments, and that’s why accomplishments are so important: they help to separate you from the pack.

Q. You give great advice, Robin, but the more I read about resumes, the more confused I get about what employers want. What is the most important thing my resume should tell them?

A. On a basic level, the most important thing your resume should tell employers is how to reach you! Surprisingly, over 25% of the resumes people send me for professional review and re-writing have critical contact information wrong, missing, or hard to read. On a deeper level, your resume should show employers that you are the person they are looking for. Your resume must align with the job requirements listed in the job posting or advertisement—it has to show that you have the right skills, experience, and education and that your past accomplishments have brought value to former employers. Finally, the resume has to do all this concisely and neatly: no rambling paragraphs, no grammatical or spelling mistakes. If you feel overwhelmed, please contact me. My job is to take the “overwhelm” out of resume writing!

Q. I want to move from a small company to a large one with more opportunities for career advancement. How do I present my small company experience as a plus?

A. Experience in a small company is broad-based experience. You are more likely to interact with individuals across levels, functions, and even borders. You are more likely to take on (and succeed in) projects that would not be part of your mandate in a larger company. That breadth of experience, ability to communicate, and flexibility are all traits that employers are looking for when they hire. So your resume should stress, not the size of your current company, but what you accomplished while you were there. You should also let go of your expectations for a title. A vice-president in a small company might be a division manager in a larger company, and yet have far more potential for growth.

Contact Robin’s Resumes® today for a resume that gives employers—and job seekers—what they are looking for.

Is Everything on Your Resume Worth Mentioning?

Job seekers often worry that they are including information on their resume that is not worth mentioning. For example:

  • Everyone in Beth’s retail store gets to be “Employee of the Month” at some point—should she mention that honor on her resume?
  • Ralph is fluent in French but has never used that skill on the job—should he mention it on his resume?
  • Frank took time off to help a very ill sibling but volunteered at a local community center during that time. Should he mention his volunteer work?
  • After Margaret was laid off from her last job, she took a position outside her field and now wants to return to it—should she mention that outlier position?

In every case, the answer is yes, although with qualifications.

Rewards and other acknowledgments by your company help you stand out from the crowd. Recruiters like to know that you were appreciated at a previous job. However, make sure you do not inflate “Employee of the Month” into “subject matter expert.”

Experience in foreign languages and foreign travel are important in this age of global commerce. You can mention your skill in the summary at the top of the resume or keep it to the end. Even “conversational” skill is valued so do not underestimate yourself.

If you contributed your time or expertise as a volunteer, mention your service. Many companies want employees who are ready to give back to the community. They will also be happy to see that you kept your skills sharp. However, do not paper over a gap in employment or try to claim you were an employee instead; be upfront about the gap and the reasons for it.

Returning to a previous field can be difficult, but these days most employers recognize that career paths are not straightforward. In fact, they may appreciate the perspective you gained from work in another field. It may make sense to mention old positions briefly under a final “previous employment” heading.

At Robin’s Resumes®, we help you understand the value of your honors, skills, volunteer work, and previous jobs. Your resume should communicate that value to potential employers. Contact us today.