The Resume Jungle

I had been thinking about this recently and an article spurred me to write about this in my blog. Many job seekers have undoubtedly been overwhelmed by dealing with their resume, how to prepare it and the resume black hole. Having been searching myself I have read many articles on resumes, and even checked out a few of the free resume critiques I have been offered. I thought I would share my experience on the matter for those out there whom have been overwhelmed.

Most of you have read articles and probably found them to be contradictory at times. While certain things are consistent others conflict, so which is right? There is the old way, the new way, and many variations. Also many articles focus on sales or marketing resumes since someone whom works in the recruiting field is ultimately a salesman. Advice for technical resumes is often limited or written by someone whom does not seem to understand the differences of a technical or scientific field.

The answer is: it depends. The person reading your resume will determine what is right. If it is a recruiter or a large corporation with an HR department, a more modern form with keywords keyed to the job position is probably the way to go. If it is a smaller or mid size company and the resume is going directly to the technical person who is going to be hiring you, a more traditional approach will make sense. That person doesn't care about the newest trends and has probably been in the field for years and is used to a more traditional resume, they also want one that gives them a true description of what you do and might not care about keywords since they will understand what skills are part of specific tasks. Also there will not be any screening or computerized parsing that will eliminate your resume if it doesn't have the right keywords. So in short try to know whom you are sending it to before deciding which format is best, also know your skills and trust yourself in what is relevant.

The free critiques are worthless, they are done by professional resume writers who want you to hire them to write your resume they will give you tips and you try them and rewrite and another critique of your rewritten resume recommends you do the opposite and go back to what you had. So if you decide you want a critique, be prepared to pay someone who writes resumes. You will have to decide if this is worth it for you prices can vary and you get what you pay for, but more money does not guarantee your dream job. Before hiring someone make sure you know what you are getting, do they specialize in your field of expertise? what does it cost and what do you get? will you get multiple versions? will they include a rewrite if it is not working after a certain amount of time? These are all questions you should ask, know one can guarantee a resume will get you a job if they do they are lying. Some offer money back guarantees make sure you get all the details if they do.

Another trend is "action" words and focusing on accomplishments and not a list of job tasks. While this is true it is easy to overdo this. The person reviewing your resume needs to know what task you did at your job when you are in a technical field such as science or engineering, this will tell them if you have the background skills they need for the position. Accomplishments and skills are a trend that does make your resume stand out and should be incorporated into a technical resume. Overdoing it will make your resume seem all flash and no substance to a knowledgeable technical person. So pick a few key accomplishments that also showcase your technical or other skills specifically relevant to the position you are interested in. As for the action words this is contradictory based on some of the articles I read. This trend started several years ago and some say to do it others say that some hiring people are seeing through them for what they are. So use action words but use them with caution. Watch for Cliche words like spearheaded, many articles use this as an example of types of words to use but others warn you that this is a word that potential employers see through as just words. Words like this must be used with care and are more useful for marketing or business executives. A technical resume should be careful about these words as a knowledgeable technical person will see through flimsy action words as trying to hide skills that are lacking.

Good luck with your search, and try different resumes and have your contacts review it and give you feedback. Finally, if you are an experienced person don't be afraid to go over one page, but you should generally try to keep it under 2. If you find it difficult have 2 versions, a summary resume and a full resume which you can indicate you can provide in the summary version if they are interested in a more detailed description of your skills. If nothing else this gives you an opportunity for a follow-up. Also in the email age if you are emailing your resume directly it could be lost in a spam filter as some will automatically block any attachments form an unknown person. Have your resume in several formats Word and PDF are the essential formats. Try to follow up to make sure that they got the resume and it doesn't end up in the black hole. Put your cover letter in the body of the email so they can read it with out having to open any attachments. If you are unsure if they received it or it is lost through the spam filter send it again without an attachment and include a link to an online version of your resume. Many sites such as Box and Google let you store documents online that you can control access to. Once you get it to them and get past the spam filter they can add you to their allowed list if they are interested and can then request the Word or PDF version of your resume.

Here is the article I read that made me decide to write this since it was one of the few useful resume articles I have seen in a while:

http://internsover40.blogspot.com/2010/06/are-you-confused-as-what-type-of-resume_27.html?goback=%2Egde_2026078_member_23470048