| How long have you been job hunting - long | | | | The resume should make use fonts, breaks, bullet |
| enough? How many resumes have you sent out? | | | | points to present a clean, beautiful product. Until |
| Enough now - Not enough? How often have you | | | | recently, I thought that was sufficient and for |
| tweaked your resume? Have you had a lot of | | | | most part, I still do. That said I saw a resume |
| contact for interviews? Why not? Your | | | | that had logos, testimonials, recommendations |
| experience, your skills, your knowledge, your | | | | right on the resume. It was in color and visually |
| abilities are all competitive, are they not! Why no | | | | stunning. |
| response? Someone is getting called in, why is it | | | | So, now I think our first resume should have all |
| not you? | | | | what I listed and you should work in quotes from |
| Maybe it is not you. Not you, in the sense that | | | | past employers you are on good terms with |
| you are fine, but your methods are all wrong. If | | | | along the edges of resume using Text Art. And if |
| you see yourself as a competitive individual with | | | | you worked for a company with a distinctive and |
| others in similar circumstances and you have had | | | | recognizable logo, you should cut and paste that |
| no success in the past several months, then it is | | | | too. |
| time for some introspection. It is time to step | | | | Whether you mail a resume to ad posting or drop |
| back and examine everything, preferably with a | | | | one off at a job fair, your resume is up against |
| mentor or trusted friend. | | | | some competition: |
| Because if I am not careful, I could write a | | | | 1. First, the sheer number of resumes dropped |
| 100,000 word tome, I am going to restrict the | | | | off or mailed in will overwhelm the HR person and |
| topic to resumes. In a previous article, I | | | | the chances of getting to a hiring manager drop |
| suggested that every job seeker should maintain | | | | off the cliff. |
| 2 core resumes. The first resume is an eye | | | | 2. At least some will have paid several hundred |
| catcher that one sends to - well - catch | | | | dollars to have their resume written for them. |
| someone's eye. The second resume would be the | | | | 3. Some may, may have fudge a few entries to |
| one that a job seeker leaves behind after - I say | | | | make their resumes stand out. May! |
| again, after - the interview. | | | | But that is not necessary. Make your resume |
| Some have suggested that having two resume is | | | | visually appealing using color, font size, bullet |
| not necessary. At best, the suggestion has been | | | | shapes, and lines. Succinctly list your summary |
| to have two variations of the same resume. The | | | | with either a 3 to 4 sentence paragraph or with |
| first resume would be essentially the same as the | | | | bullet points. Your accomplishments should be |
| second but with the accomplishments, skills, and | | | | listed with bullet points and be brief. Your work |
| such left out. | | | | experience should be just title and dates. |
| I disagree. The first rule is to stop digging if you | | | | Set the margins of your page to.25" all the way |
| are in a hole. And doing the same things over and | | | | around and maximize the usage space on the |
| over again expecting different results is wishful | | | | document. And with the new twist, insert a |
| thinking at best. How many resumes have you | | | | vertical line along the left side of the resume. |
| sent out and what have been the results? What | | | | There should be about a 2" space to the left of |
| would lead you to believe that you will get a | | | | the line and about 6" to right. All of your resume |
| better response by sending out more of the | | | | information goes to the right of the line. |
| same resume? | | | | To the left of the line, insert testimonials and |
| The first resume needs to be concise, on point, | | | | quotes, along with a logo or two. This will make |
| and be visually exciting. It should have: | | | | the resume look great. And that is what this first |
| 1. Summary | | | | resume's sole purpose is - to get their attention. |
| 2. Accomplishments | | | | But let me give credit to where credit is due. This |
| 3. Experience | | | | addition came from two guys, Kevin Donlan and |
| 4. Skills | | | | David E. Perry. So, I give kudos to them. |
| 5. Educational Background | | | | |