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Executive Resume Myths: Busted

For the 2012 Global Hiring Survey from the global professional association, Career Directors International (CDI) surveyed hiring managers, Human Resource professionals, recruiters and executives to find out what they really look for in executive resumes. Among the respondents, 46% typically dealt with executive and managerial clients.

The CDI survey officially busted the following myths about executive resumes:

Myth 1.  Summary descriptions on executive resumes should be short, not detailed. Nearly half of the respondents preferred a “longer, more comprehensive summary” with only 18% opting for a shorter summary. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of writing a summary that is specific for the position, industry and applicant. In any resume, but particularly executive resumes, content is more important than any arbitrary length.

Myth 2.  You should add charts and graphs to your executive resume. Just under 20% of respondents found charts and graphs helpful; about the same amount found them distracting. Moreover, as one respondent pointed out, charts and graphs may not scan into a company’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Therefore, Career Directors International recommends making sure that the information in the chart and graph is also part of the text of the resume—which means you are taking up valuable resume space to give the same information twice. My take? Think twice about placing a graph or chart in your executive resume, especially if it duplicates information already in the text or is so small that it is practically unreadable.

If you want to make sure that your executive resume works in the real—not the mythical—world, email Robin’s Resumes® today.

Real Resumes, Real Mistakes

In my many years of writing resumes for job seekers in the board room and the mail room, in private industry and in government and the military, I’ve come across some interesting mistakes.

Here are a few mistakes you should not make on your resume.

One recent college graduate wanted to make his resume seem more impressive. He turned a one-page resume into a two-page resume by leaving two-inch margins on every side of the paper. He wasn’t fooling anyone. I write two-page resumes for recent college graduates but I include information that most recent college graduates do not consider putting in their resumes. This information may make the difference in getting you hired or having your resume stall in the Applicant Tracking Systems or on a hiring manager’s desk.

A job applicant assumed she correctly remembered the names of all the companies she worked for. But she didn’t; she misspelled two of them. Mistakes like that make recruiters and hiring managers wonder if the resume is truthful.

A sales executive described his success at landing multi-million dollar contracts for various companies. But each time he listed a dollar amount, he changed the form: $1 million; $2M; $3,000,000. That mistake shows a disregard for detail.

An applicant for a government job saw the requirement for a social security number but ignored it. When you apply for government jobs, you cannot ignore any requirement. (Note that your social security number should never appear on your resume for jobs in the private sector.)

At Robin’s Resumes®, we have seen, caught and corrected countless mistakes you may not see because we have more objectivity and more experience. Let us help you craft a resume that shows you off to perfection.

 

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