Thursday, January 3, 2013

Resume Thoughts



CURRICULUM VITAE  or THE COMPREHENSIVE RESUME

Job Seekers for teaching positions at colleges create a Curriculum Vitae (CV), pages of information displaying as much as possible of their history. This is great for colleges because the reviewers generally love to ponder over information. They most likely have a selection team that will dissect the information in preparation for a comprehensive interview. College professors, especially at the graduate level, need to publish in professional journals. The Curriculum Vitae gives a clue on how a candidate may deal  with future publications. 

I have often asked customers to produce a four or five page resume of everything, a working life history of sorts. I do not ask for a finished document. I am more concerned with capturing as much information as possible. I think the process is therapeutic and the result is a document that can be quite useful. From this comprehensive document we can draw information for smaller documents. Unlike the CV, our task shifts to delivering much simpler, uncomplicated messages.  For example, targeted resumes are for specific positions. We read the job description, learn about the company, use words they use, and draw information from our larger resume to create a smaller marketing document.

MARKETING

Marketing is about delivering a carefully crafted message. Before we put one out into the universe, we would be wise to have someone we trust tell us what “messages” they are getting.  
Resumes used to get interviews, must be pretty and easy to read. Pretty means,  pleasing to the eye, well organized and as of course, no spelling or grammar mistakes. 

* Easy to read means are we getting our primary message across in 10 to 15 seconds.
* Employers or their representative are going through too many resumes as quickly as possible looking first for reasons to throw away as many as possible.
*  We are showing how we deal with paper and hopefully we are providing easy to access information that will get us in the door for an interview.

Bold is a very effective highlight. The eye is drawn quickly and if you bold the reader is likely to read those words.   CAPITALIZED is also an effective highlight and is very suitable for topic headings. Underlining is also use for emphasis. Personally, I do not like to see two or ALL THREE used in the same place!   I think it is overkill and distracts from the message.  If there is a rule of thumb, have a reason to use highlights, do so sparingly and reflect upon what  messages you are sending.

THE SHORT BIO

 I ask customers  to construct a short description, a paragraph that highlights who they are and what they want to do. The short bio is something we might put up on linked-in or a personal web site or something we would use to develop an elevator speech or twenty second commercial. Getting your message into a paragraph is truly a display of craftsmanship. When we then learn to speak the words, flowing clearly with enthusiasm and confidence, we have taken a giant step towards getting to our destiny. 

THE ELECTRONIC RESUME

If you are sending a resume over the internet, there are a whole new set of rules to consider, font and key words to name two. Fortunately there is guidance available: https://www.livecareer.com/resources/resumes/how-to/write/e-resumes

#GCDF #Get Certified #Michael C. Lazarchick