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Answers to Common Resume Questions

Dec 08 2019

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.

Resume Question: Is What You Did Important?

Sep 16 2012

When clients first come to me for help with their resumes, they usually come with lists of skills, education, and day-to-day responsibilities. Those lists overlook the most important part of a resume: the results. You may have completed a lot of tasks in your career, but what a hiring manager or recruiter really wants to know is: Did all your work achieve anything?

To illustrate what I mean, let’s say that I decide to dig a ditch. I find a shovel, survey my yard, choose a location, jab the shovel into the ground, and dig a 3×3 hole. I then admire the hole I successfully dug.

Why is this important?

It isn’t. Just because I succeeded in a task, does not mean it has any importance.

Now let’s say that the hole prevented my house from flooding, by digging it myself I saved several thousand dollars, and my strategy won an award from a local conservation group. The hole made a difference. With the addition of critical information about results, an unimportant task has become important.

Most people need help in selecting the achievements that best highlight their careers and figuring out why those achievements are important. At Robin’s Resumes®, we are experts in showing the true value you bring to your future employer.

Avoiding Repetition in a Resume (When All Your Jobs Sound the Same)

Jul 10 2011

One of my clients came to me with a problem: she had held pretty much the same manager-level job during her entire career but with different companies. Her resume felt boring, even to her, because every job sounded exactly alike.

I saw the problem immediately. Like many job hunters, she had focused her resume on her skills. And every job she held required almost exactly the same skill set. Anyone reading her resume would think that she had spent 10 years going nowhere.

The solution? We changed the focus of her resume to accomplishments. In every management position, she faced different challenges and had to come up with solutions. Every position involved different goals she had to meet. Every position required her to communicate with a different group of people, work on a different team or report to a different level of supervisor.

When we wrote about her accomplishments, her resume took on a whole new aspect. From yawn-worthy it went to exciting: here was a potential employee who brought value to one company after another.

You may be struggling with a similar problem and unsure how to focus your resume on accomplishments. I can help. I will interview you to bring out your achievements and then write a resume that makes you proud.