Recruiter Resume Roundtable Session

1. Recruiter Resume Roundtable Session Developing Marketable Resumes for the New Economy Facilitated by Office of Human Resources-HR Staffing And Participating Partners April 21, 2010

2. Resume Overview: 21st Century • Traditional Approach: May contain an objective and a detailed list of sequential jobs citing all tasks, job titles, Computer and related skill sets, employment and education dates. In some cases unnecessary demographic information. (Ex. Laundry list of duties, key accomplishments not cited, resume may exceed 1 page, list of random skill sets and interests) • Functional Approach: Detailed list of accomplishments under various categories such as project management, budget, operations, and technology rather than under the “position title.” Typically used when gaps appear in employment history , or you are seeking to transition into a completely new career or department. (Ex. Paragraph style mix of skills, hobbies, interests, certifications, often precedes experience listed on resume) • Chronological Approach: Detailed professional marketing/branding format illustrating a pivotal and concise overview of your career, titles held, progression, accomplishments, education, and professional affiliations . This is the preferred approach for the majority of Staffing professionals and Hiring Managers. (Ex. Similar to traditional format, however more focused with clear accomplishments and achievements that display value add) • Hybrid Approach: Highlights characteristics of functional and chronological formats, places more emphasis on general skills and accomplishments, and decreased emphasis on order of the resume. This is a viable option if your career has been the same with redundant duties with all of your previous employers. (Ex. Same position duties performed in a variety of different companies or departments.)

3. Purpose of the Resume: • Stimulate interest in your professional expertise to market yourself as a brand in order to gain access to career opportunities, and professional or exploratory interviews. • Illustrate proven experience, education and core knowledge, skills, and abilities. Should be tailored to a specific career opportunity. • Highlight your competencies and past accomplishments.

4. Reality…. The best way to demonstrate on your resume that you add value is to demonstrate that you have previously added value for past employers, organizations, or clients. Demonstrate that value numerically when possible. Research the position and department to determine the type of value that is relevant and see how you can tie this into your resume to showcase prior experience. Avoid writing a resume that merely describes how you spend your day. Think about it from an employers POV : • What do you want them to know about your self? • What is unique about your skill set that makes you ideal for the job? • Too often applicants craft resumes that focus on what the applicant is seeking as opposed to what the Recruiter wants. • It is general practice to have more than one version of your resume.

5. Resume do’s: USE: • One to two pages that have been carefully edited, are free of errors and present your experience professionally. • Reverse chronological order is usually a plus • Prioritize order of accomplishments under each career and educational title denoted on your resume. Start with best action first; least impressive action last. • Begin all phrases with specific and result-oriented action verbs (Ex. Supervise vs. Supervised) • Quantify and qualify numbers to illustrate volume and/or percentages for the level of work successfully managed day to day or key projects.

6. Resume do’s (cont’d) • Be forthcoming and precise; do not overstretch your experience. • Ensure resume is easy to follow with progressive experience, titles , transferable experience, key accomplishments achieved, and dates. • Use relevant and credible industry buzz words. • Use consistent format and spacing throughout the document. • Make it visually professional.

7. Resume don’ts: AVOID: • Home Address • Highly optional due to frequent use of email for communication. Use email address instead • Demographic information • Never include height, weight, age, marital status, health status, and children • Personal photo or links to photos • Abbreviations or acronyms-spell out instead • Excessive graphics

8. Essential Use of Sample Action-Oriented Verbs: • Instead of • Responsible for • Performed • Duties included • Assisted with • Helped with • Prepared for • Attended meeting • Filled in for • Aided • Use • Executed • Oversaw • Trained • Produced • Revamped • Designed • Delivered • Led

9. Objectives Vs. Summaries • An objective is a statement of a professional career goal. • Some recruiters and managers find that blanket objectives are antiquated and outdated. • Use of an objective is optional, but if used, it must be relevant. • An example of a good objective is “APPLICATION DEVELOPER with 5+ Years expertise in multi-platform environments, object oriented application development, and multi-tiered web application design and development.” • Or recent grads can use “ MBA Candidate with solid background in the financial services and banking industries with strong knowledge of strategy consulting.” • An example of a poor objective is “ Qualified hardworking and solution oriented candidate seeking a position in a company that will allow me to utilize my current skill set in a growth opportunity.”

10. Objectives Vs. Summaries cont. • Summaries are an overview of a candidates highlights and accomplishments often appearing at the top of a resume instead of an objective. • Often utilized by seasoned professionals with several years in the marketplace. • An example Accomplished, multilingual Professional consistently recognized for achievement and performance in the fuel industry. Innovative and successful in mining new sales territories and establishing business alliances, including the recent partnership with MJM Oil in Korea. Proven leader with special capabilities in building teams, strategizing, and implementing workable marketing plans employing television, Internet, and print media. Fluent in English, Korean, Japanese, and French.

11. Key Elements of the Resume: • Current Contact Info • Targeted Career Objective • Summary of Experience • Related • Additional • Education • Skills • Certifications • Professional Affiliations • Community/Civic Involvement • Leadership • Volunteer • Committees • Activities • Honors • Awards

12. Professional Experience: • Cite most current position first for chronological order: • Employer name, job title, city, state, dates • Separate experience into different sections (if applicable) • Use precise action-oriented statements to highlight accomplishments • Related and Transferable • Professional experience should be applicable to the job • Internships, practicum, volunteering, leadership roles

13. EDUCATION • Associate’s, Bachelor’s, or Advanced degree (s) earned • Projected graduation date, if not earned • Major and Minor • Appropriate training or related course work • Professional honors, industry awards, and academic honors • Unique global and research projects

14. Related Experience is Valuable • Professional Organizations and Affiliations • Task Force and Niche Committees • Volunteer Work and Committee Service Projects • Boards • Participation or membership

15. Resume Checklist: • Update resume(s) to reflect current and past roles. • Proof your resume at least 5 times and edit to eliminate grammatical, punctuation, and formatting oversights and errors. • Have a trusted confidant review your resume(s). • Avoid relying on spell check alone. Spell check can miss errors when they are spelled correctly. (Ex. Manger vs. Manager) • If you choose to enlist a professional service or resume writer to help craft your resume, it must convey your professional voice and be unique to your talents…avoid the cookie cutter approach. • If you have multiple versions of your resume, ensure that you submit the correct versions(s) to the right organization with the correct targeted objective for each career opportunity.

16. Additional Tips: • Establish a professional email account for your career search. • Establish a separate professional voicemail which is “employer ready.” • Develop a separate electronic filing system for all organizations to which you apply to stay organized. • When you return calls to an organization…always know the position to which you applied and ensure you are in a quiet area with reliable phone coverage to avoid unnecessary background noise or dropped calls. • Read the career opportunity again, prior to returning calls to the organization. • Take time to learn and understand the communication process for next steps. Each organization has a different perspective on unsolicited inquires. Generally speaking, frequent unsolicited inquiries can be viewed as overly assertive.