CT Booklet_Preparing Resumes

1. INTRODUCTION

A résumé is an essential presentation tool to market ourselves to prospective employees) to obtain that desired job position. Needless to say, great amounts of effort will have to be expanded in drafting a professional, individualized résumé and keeping it updated with our latest achievements and professional milestones.

Résumés come in all sorts of sizes, formats and designs but the objective remains the same; to grab attention and land us that position. To some, drafting a résumé is a process that happens once but to the majority, a subject of constant revision. With this in mind, we have decided to compile this handout especially for you, to aid you with in your career transition efforts.

This easy-to-read, information-packed handout aims to bring you even one step closer to developing the most effective résumé for you to land that ideal job. The aim is to cover key areas that the busy professional can read and absorb quickly during short breaks. This handout starts off with a draft of the key structures of a résumé, with elaboration on the finer points of strengthening your résumé to capture your prospective employer’s attention. We conclude by touching on the computerised recruiting process and the electronic résumé; the new way to job-hunt in today’s information age.

2. WHAT TO STATE IN YOUR RÉSUMÉ

Qn: What should I tell prospective employers?
This is the ONE question that all job seekers ask themselves. In a nutshell, one should eliminate UNNECESSARY information that puts you in a NEGATIVE position and instead, focus on HIGHLIGHTING your relevant strengths. Remember, the résumé is a TOOL to catch the employer’s attention.

The other useful points to note include:

A) Length of résumé
Usually one page (to narrow and focus STRONGEST skills at one glance)

Exceptions:

  • Salary >$30K
  • A professional with EXTENSIVE experience
  • Heavily involved in associations, publications
  • Special training and SEVERAL areas of responsibility

B) Employment History

  • Past 10 years of experience.
  • Emphasize those that FIT the job description of the desired job opening
  • Use year-year vs. month-month to conceal employment gaps

Variation: Worked for ONE employer

  • Break experience up into job titles / skills / categories for diversity
  • Streamline many positions held to save space

Variation: Worked for temp agencies

  • Label type of work performed
  • State agency you did most work with

Variation: Volunteer work

  • Describe exactly as you do for paid experience

C) Education History

  • List strong educational background right at the top
  • Weak background : OMIT this section altogether
  • Other academic additions include:
    o Special areas of studies
    o Honours/awards received
    o Core Curricular Activities (CCAs) to show active participation & all-rounded education
    o Short-term projects, competitions and attachments
    o Professional membership IF RELEVANT to desired job opening

D) Salary History

  • OMIT if you can
  • However, if must provide, then only in the cover letter
  • State in a range to avoid being screened OUT.

E) Personal Information

  • Not required unless for certain industries e.g. flight attendant.

F) Reason for Leaving

Give standard replies like:

  • Career advancement
  • To continue education
  • To seek full-time employment
  • Workforce reduction

G) Referees

  • Three (3) business
  • Three (3) personal
  • Make sure that the referees are aware and have positive remarks about your performance

3. STRENGTHENING YOUR RÉSUMÉ

Having learnt about the structure of your résumé and gained some tips on projecting that professional image that you have always wanted, we now move on to another important focus in developing effective résumés: strengthening your résumé. Once again, the key points are summarised in bullet points below for your easy reference.

A) Powerful Skill Headings and Job Titles

  • Grab attention!
  • Objective: Directly target employers and answer requirements of job
  • Helps in conveying personal skills and achievements effectively
  • One page résumé: 3-4 headings, a few sub-headings

AIM: Reader sees TOP SKILLS and TITLES within FIRST 5-10 SECOND glance.

B) Customized Headings for Specific Positions

  • Stress particular areas of experience that the employer needs
  • Use KEYWORDS that were stressed in the advertisement OR job description

C) Strong Résumé Statements for Maximum Impact

  • Write out your initial statements.
  • Rewrite statements using past tense and ACTION verbs.
  • TIP: Use verbs that match the level of responsibility and salary you want. E.g.: ‘spearheaded’, ‘launched’, ‘restructured’, ‘instrumental’, ‘strategize’
  • Write out edited statements and prioritise them by importance.
  • Put the most powerful statements FIRST.
  • Add numbers to quantify each element or area of experience
  • Write out your new and more powerful statement!

D) Transferable Skill Statements – When and How to Use Them

  • Make sure they are SPECIFIC, not general.
  • Always SUBSTANTIATE with facts, specific descriptions and/or figures.
  • Place such statements in a prominent position (e.g. on TOP of the résumé) to increase impact Here’s an example of a transferable skill statement (general and specific)

BEFORE: “Work history reflects good organisational and communication skills.”

AFTER: “Working directly with a total of 20 directors and senior management staff in developing, implementing and evaluating key corporate strategies and policies over the past 3 years, together with 600 staff across all levels.”

4. DESIGNING & PRINTING YOUR FINAL RÉSUMÉ

Having polished the draft of your résumé, critique and tested the effectiveness of its design, the last important step is your résumé design. Use appropriate typefaces, paper and printing methods to project a PROFESSIONAL image. The following touches on key points:

A) Direct the Reader’s Eye to Your Strengths

  • Aim to direct attention to top skills and job titles in 5-10 SECONDS.
  • Use horizontal lines in the MIDDLE of the résumé to direct the reader > This area grabs almost IMMEDIATE attention!
  • CENTRE headings to make them stand out.
  • Use BULLETED statements.
  • Make use of SKILL HEADINGS or JOB TITLES that match the desired job.

B) Use Design to Maximize or De-emphasize

  • Use placement and spacing to de-emphasize sections that are WEAK or less relevant than the body of the résumé

C) Test Effectiveness of Design: Pilot Testing

  • Show it to others. Ask them where their eyes go first!
  • Redesign your résumé if attention is not immediately drawn to the TOP AND MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION that you want the employer to notice.

D) Formatting & Printing Tips

  • REMEMBER: the Printing and PAPER used projects a certain image!
  • Print with laser or ink-jet printers for a sharp, crisp and professional look.
  • Use narrow margins of half an inch for the top, bottom, left and right margins.
    o Looks less crowded.
  • Best to use fonts like Arial or Calibri which are easy to read.
    o Set résumé test’s font size at 12 point
    o Titles and primary skill headings at 14 point
    o Subheadings at 12-13 point
  • Use short, bulleted statements versus block paragraphs. It’s EASIER to READ.
  • Print or photocopy résumés in 24-pound bond paper, with high cotton content, for EXECUTIVE RÉSUMÉS.
  • Light cream or off-white paper with a laid or textured finish will STAND OUT from white photocopied résumés. Avoid anything too flashy.
  • Print résumés and cover letters on MATCHING paper.
  • Always send in a matching envelope! Type the address UNLESS you have excellent handwriting.
  • Include your mailing address, area code, various phone numbers and e-mail address. Link your résumé to your homepage or URL if you have a web site.

5. ELECTRONIC RÉSUMÉS AND INTERNET JOB SEARCH STRATEGIES

A) Automated Résumé Tracking Systems

In today’s information age, an area that has exploited the advances in information technology is the recruiting process: recruiters have applied information technology to computerise part of the recruiting process and the result: production of automated résumé tracking systems.

Such systems are now getting popular and are being used by several local MNCs. This new process brings job-seekers’ attention to yet another important aspect in the job hunting process: how to prepare an effective résumé that attracts the attention of the computer eye!
In essence, a job seeker now needs to have two versions of their résumés:
a. One nicely formatted version for human eyes
b. One specifically designed for computers.

B) What are Key Words?

In the conventional manual short listing process, the aim of the recruiter is to determine whether a job seeker’s résumé contains evidence of certain work experience, education level, skills or other background to qualify him/her for the position applied for during the human eye scanning process.

In the electronic version, this short listing process is similar except that the computer eye (also known as search engine) is used. So, how does the computer eye perform the short listing process?

As mentioned in the first paragraph, the recruiter was looking out for the education, work experience, type of skills and so on. These terms are defined as “key words” in computer terminology. Upon inputting these key words into the résumé tracking system, it is able to sieve through all the résumés that are captured in the database and compile a list of all job seekers whose résumé contains the set of key words that were inputted earlier!

Hence, KEY WORDS are the means by which employer FIND you electronically!

From the job seeker’s point of view, this translates into the need for your résumés to have not only keywords, but also the correct ones in it in order for your résumé to be caught by the search engine and get short listed!

C) Key Words-Styled Résumés

How to obtain the list of correct key words for that desired job opening:

  • Scanning the job application advertisement for type of key words used
  • Using a minimum of FIFTY percent (50%) of the key words for the type of job required.
  • Analyzing and Compiling Key Words from Ads :
    o Step 1 : Collect a sampling of ads for the position interested in
    o Step 2 : Underline all key words and keyword phrases in each ad
    o Step 3 : Group keywords and keyword phrases into skills categories
    o Step 4 : Create skill headings using keywords or keyword phrases for each group of skill categories.
    o Step 5 : Prioritise and number each of the skills categories
    o Step 6 : Select top 35-45 keywords to create a keyword section for the TOP of the résumé.
    o Step 7 : Write statements using as many keywords as possible for use in the rest of the résumé.

D) Tips for Developing Effective Electronic Résumés

Last but not least, here are two tips for strengthening your Electronic (Keyword-based) Résumé:

  • Always remember that soft skills are often required in ADDITION to hard skills (examples include meticulous, hardworking, pleasant, team player etc)
  • Justify key words used by substantiating it with facts and/or figures. Remember that while you may have passed the initial short listing step, the most critical stage is the interview where you would be required to verify information stated in your résumé!