Chapter3: The Productive Resume

A good resume is not simply a recitation of all the things you have done in your work life. A resume that tries to cram in everything you have done without any real focus is doomed to fail

1. Recruitment and Resume Bank

Programmed to search for a specific set of key words, because recruiters very rarely go beyond the top twenty resumes in a database search, not enough relevant keywords in your resume means that no human will review it.

The new read is a little more careful. The reviewers are looking to see if the resume's claims really hang together and tell the story of the job they are trying to fill. recruiters and HR typically plow through enough resumes to create a "long list" of up to six candidates.

Here it may land in front of the manager who actually has the authority to hire you, but who hates to read resumes, they just want to hire someone and then get back to work. No one likes to read resumes; try reading six in a row, and feel your brain melting into a gelatinous goop. Bear his in mind, because you will use it to great advantage.

2. Get Inside the Employer's Head (See Chap5)

3. Start with Simple Common Sense

Step1: Decide on a Specific Target Job

People get hired based on their credentials, not their potential.

Select a job you can do and that you can justify on paper

Be sensible, create your primary resume with a single "primary target" job in mind, and make that job one you can nail!

Once you have tailored a prime resume to the most logical focus, you can quite easily customize it for any of those other jobs you are interested in.

Step2: Collect Job Postings

When recruiters access resume databases, they always do with a specific Job Description in mind. Job Posting frequently reflect the exact wording of the Job Descriptions they come from, so these postings contain the words and phrases company personnel used throughout the recruitment and selection cycle. Also, because these words and phrases have real meaning to the recruiters and hiring managers, they are what the recruiters

Step3: Look at Your Job from the Other Side of the Desk

Step4: ID What you Bring to the Table for Each Requirement

Step5: Critical Thinking: Problem (and Opportunity) ID and solution

At their most elemental level, all jobs are the same--all jobs focus on problem identification, avoidance, and solution.

a. To identify potential problems and avoid them.

b. To identify and solve the typical problems that arise daily as an integral part of the job.

c. To identify and avoid or solve the major headaches that occur in every business on a regular basis.

d. To identify opportunities for contributing to the bottom line.

Develop examples of problem identification and opportunity initiatives, both small and large, for every job title you have held. To help you bring out the information...

A. Identify a problem

B. Envision your solution, including strategy and tactics

C. Take note of the result of your actions

D. Understand the value of this to the company (usually in earnings or productivity enhancements)

(What does the company do? What were you hired to do? Title you report to, executive teams, project teams, responsibilities, deliverables, quotes, praise and endorsements from management)

Step6,7: ID Behavioral Profile for Success and Failure

4. Resume Building and six rules:

Rule One: Always have a target Job title. It will help your visibility in database searches and will give human eyes an immediate focus. Use the most common job title, also you can add the term "specialist/professional,"(computer specialist, administration specialist) or the term "management" (operation m, financial m)

Rule Two: Always have a performance profile or career summary. I suggest you stay away from "Job/Career Objective" for two reasons:

a. Your needs will not help your ranking in the database searches

b. At this stage no recruiter has the slightest interest in what you want

Rule Three: Always have a core competencies section

Rule Four: Never Put Salary on a Resume

Rule Five: Keep your resume focused

Rule Six: Emphasize your achievements

Tips: Once you are on that new job, keep a low profile for three to six months while you learn the culture of the company, get up to speed with all your job's deliverable, and determine who is in the inner and outer circles of your department and why. Acquire allies by your commitment to doing a good job and by your behavior with the group that will most support your career goals. Quietly identify the next step up the promotional ladder for you at this or any other company, and then start working toward it. Promotions don't come in reward for loyalty and tenure; they come as a result of capabilities.

5. Cover Letter

Your CL introduces Like many great ideas, the executive briefing is beautiful in its simplicity. you, puts your resume in context, and demonstrates your writing skills.

6. You must have a true and truthful brand

It is too easy to over-promise, and while the employer might be initially attracted by the pizzazz of your resume, whether or not you live up o the value proposition decides the length and quality of the relationship. If a box of cereal doesn't live up to the bran's hype you simply don't buy it again. It mus be based on your possession of the technical skills of your profession, plus those transferable skills and learned behaviors that you take with you from job to job and the core values that imprint your approach to professional life.