Résumé Makeover
View Before Resume - View After Resume
Client Background
Jennifer had a strong administrative and customer service background and wished to secure a position in the administrative, customer service, or medical billing/coding arena. She had held nine positions since 1985, all of which were listed on her original two-page résumé. Jennifer did not have a degree, although she had pursued a B.A. for three years and one class towards a degree in human resources.
Résumé Strategies
When I first opened Jennifer’s file I knew we would be transitioning her résumé from a functional to a standard reverse chronological résumé. Functional resumes are only effective when you have little chance to get your foot in the door if you present your experience in the “preferred” format. For Jennifer, there was no need to resort to a functional résumé. She felt that she had changed jobs frequently, a reason she chose to use the functional format, but when transitioning focus from her post-1985 to her post-1994 experience, there was no such concern. On average hiring managers like to see about 10 years of experience, and certainly with an administrative background there was no need to present 20+ years of experience when technologies and processes have changed so dramatically. Therefore, by focusing on only the experience that was going to enhance or support her candidacy, it left us with five companies all with at least two years tenure.
Through our phone consultation, I worked with Jennifer to reorganize her résumé and understand what responsibilities and accomplishments belonged where. A key reason that hiring mangers dislike functional resumes is because they cannot answer the question of what you did where, and Jennifer’s résumé fell into this trap. Once we had placed each of the original bullet points with the correct employer, I worked with Jennifer to gather additional details pertaining to day-to-day functions and significant achievements. Jennifer had some great accomplishments to highlight, and even when she felt that she had played more of a supportive role and couldn’t highlight any achievements, we were able to talk about the experience and pull out areas in which she had contributed value to her employers.
For Jennifer’s education section, I separated education from professional development and omitted pursuits that were not in progress, limited in scope, and otherwise unrelated to her current objectives.
As important as transitioning her résumé into a reverse chronological format was adding a strong qualifications summary and core skills list. These areas not only defined who Jennifer was to each hiring manager, but also assisted Jennifer in understanding what her core skills were and how to answer the “tell me about yourself” question in an interview. The opening summary and core skills highlighted her broad qualifications and served to differentiate her from other candidates.
Client Comments / Results
After receiving résumé, client wrote:
“I feel more confident that when sending out my updated resume I will hear back from the employer to set up an interview. The updated resume, which highlights my qualifications and skills by using industry ‘buzzwords’ and by adding Key Contributions, will increase my chances of catching the employer’s eye. The entire format is pleasing to the eye. I know my chances of getting hired sooner will increase using the updated resume. I have enjoyed working with you and plan on using you in the future. Being unemployed, with limited funds, I was apprehensive on using your service, but realized the benefits of using your service outweighed not using you. My only regret is that I didn’t know about you three years ago when I could have used your service.”
On the day client accepted job offer she wrote:
“I am writing to let you know I accepted a job offer today at ABC Company for a Customer Support position. I want to share my experience with you.
I created an excel spreadsheet so I could track when and where I applied. I found a job for a Customer Support position at ABC Company online, so I applied. I had just begun to work on workers’ compensation cases at my previous job, and was disappointed that I was ending my training. I saw this position as chance to continue learning the process…never dreaming they would contact me.
On 2/15/06 I received a call from a recruiter at ABC Company to set up an interview for 2/21/06 for the Customer Service position. I checked my spreadsheet to see when I had applied for the CSR job and it was back on 11/17/06. I went online to see if the position was re-listed and it was.
At the interview the recruiter couldn’t remember when she received my cover letter and resume, so I told her. I explained my spreadsheet process to her and she was impressed at how organized I was (I think that worked towards me getting the job). She explained how she likes to keep resumes for a while because you never know. I would have never believed that someone would call me after a month had passed for a job until now.
During the process of ABC Company moving forward with my application, I received another call from a recruiter from XYZ Company about an Operations Assistant/Customer Support job. I had a wonderful phone interview and was looking forward to getting a call back to set up an interview. I did inform the recruiter I had another company checking my references. The recruiter called and set up an interview date to meet with the hiring manager. I was thrilled to have two parties interested in me at the same time, that has never happened to me before! After I set up the interview I received the call from ABC Company offering me the job. I did call the recruiter back at XYZ Company and inform her I had accepted another job. I was very excited about the position at XYZ Company too and felt bad informing her I would have to cancel the face-to-face interview.
I had several other interviews prior to ABC Company and learned in the process that the position was not going to be a good fit. Everyone who interviewed me all made the same comment, “you have a very impressive resume”…I thanked them. I think my only mistake was that I didn’t include the thank you note with my package.
I did get a salary increase from what I was making, excellent benefits (which my last employer didn’t offer) and a very short commute with flexible hours. I finally landed a job I want with a very good company. I know I would not have gotten my foot in the door with out using your service.”
Success Factors
Jennifer had a strong background but it was hidden in a functional résumé. Transitioning her experience into the standard reverse chronological format was key in providing the information a hiring manager would want to know in order to bring her in for an interview. Using an aesthetically pleasing format with accomplishments highlighted and only relevant experience presented, was also important in generating the interest and focus required in her job search.
View Before Resume - View After Resume
To send your question to Dear Sam for possible publication, please write to dearsam@dispatch.com.
If you would like Samantha’s firm to write your résumé and/or cover letter, please visit http://www.ladybug-design.com for more information.
Samantha is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer with a graduate degree in Marketing and Communication, and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service résumé writing and interview coaching firm.
Client Background
Jennifer had a strong administrative and customer service background and wished to secure a position in the administrative, customer service, or medical billing/coding arena. She had held nine positions since 1985, all of which were listed on her original two-page résumé. Jennifer did not have a degree, although she had pursued a B.A. for three years and one class towards a degree in human resources.
Résumé Strategies
When I first opened Jennifer’s file I knew we would be transitioning her résumé from a functional to a standard reverse chronological résumé. Functional resumes are only effective when you have little chance to get your foot in the door if you present your experience in the “preferred” format. For Jennifer, there was no need to resort to a functional résumé. She felt that she had changed jobs frequently, a reason she chose to use the functional format, but when transitioning focus from her post-1985 to her post-1994 experience, there was no such concern. On average hiring managers like to see about 10 years of experience, and certainly with an administrative background there was no need to present 20+ years of experience when technologies and processes have changed so dramatically. Therefore, by focusing on only the experience that was going to enhance or support her candidacy, it left us with five companies all with at least two years tenure.
Through our phone consultation, I worked with Jennifer to reorganize her résumé and understand what responsibilities and accomplishments belonged where. A key reason that hiring mangers dislike functional resumes is because they cannot answer the question of what you did where, and Jennifer’s résumé fell into this trap. Once we had placed each of the original bullet points with the correct employer, I worked with Jennifer to gather additional details pertaining to day-to-day functions and significant achievements. Jennifer had some great accomplishments to highlight, and even when she felt that she had played more of a supportive role and couldn’t highlight any achievements, we were able to talk about the experience and pull out areas in which she had contributed value to her employers.
For Jennifer’s education section, I separated education from professional development and omitted pursuits that were not in progress, limited in scope, and otherwise unrelated to her current objectives.
As important as transitioning her résumé into a reverse chronological format was adding a strong qualifications summary and core skills list. These areas not only defined who Jennifer was to each hiring manager, but also assisted Jennifer in understanding what her core skills were and how to answer the “tell me about yourself” question in an interview. The opening summary and core skills highlighted her broad qualifications and served to differentiate her from other candidates.
Client Comments / Results
After receiving résumé, client wrote:
“I feel more confident that when sending out my updated resume I will hear back from the employer to set up an interview. The updated resume, which highlights my qualifications and skills by using industry ‘buzzwords’ and by adding Key Contributions, will increase my chances of catching the employer’s eye. The entire format is pleasing to the eye. I know my chances of getting hired sooner will increase using the updated resume. I have enjoyed working with you and plan on using you in the future. Being unemployed, with limited funds, I was apprehensive on using your service, but realized the benefits of using your service outweighed not using you. My only regret is that I didn’t know about you three years ago when I could have used your service.”
On the day client accepted job offer she wrote:
“I am writing to let you know I accepted a job offer today at ABC Company for a Customer Support position. I want to share my experience with you.
I created an excel spreadsheet so I could track when and where I applied. I found a job for a Customer Support position at ABC Company online, so I applied. I had just begun to work on workers’ compensation cases at my previous job, and was disappointed that I was ending my training. I saw this position as chance to continue learning the process…never dreaming they would contact me.
On 2/15/06 I received a call from a recruiter at ABC Company to set up an interview for 2/21/06 for the Customer Service position. I checked my spreadsheet to see when I had applied for the CSR job and it was back on 11/17/06. I went online to see if the position was re-listed and it was.
At the interview the recruiter couldn’t remember when she received my cover letter and resume, so I told her. I explained my spreadsheet process to her and she was impressed at how organized I was (I think that worked towards me getting the job). She explained how she likes to keep resumes for a while because you never know. I would have never believed that someone would call me after a month had passed for a job until now.
During the process of ABC Company moving forward with my application, I received another call from a recruiter from XYZ Company about an Operations Assistant/Customer Support job. I had a wonderful phone interview and was looking forward to getting a call back to set up an interview. I did inform the recruiter I had another company checking my references. The recruiter called and set up an interview date to meet with the hiring manager. I was thrilled to have two parties interested in me at the same time, that has never happened to me before! After I set up the interview I received the call from ABC Company offering me the job. I did call the recruiter back at XYZ Company and inform her I had accepted another job. I was very excited about the position at XYZ Company too and felt bad informing her I would have to cancel the face-to-face interview.
I had several other interviews prior to ABC Company and learned in the process that the position was not going to be a good fit. Everyone who interviewed me all made the same comment, “you have a very impressive resume”…I thanked them. I think my only mistake was that I didn’t include the thank you note with my package.
I did get a salary increase from what I was making, excellent benefits (which my last employer didn’t offer) and a very short commute with flexible hours. I finally landed a job I want with a very good company. I know I would not have gotten my foot in the door with out using your service.”
Success Factors
Jennifer had a strong background but it was hidden in a functional résumé. Transitioning her experience into the standard reverse chronological format was key in providing the information a hiring manager would want to know in order to bring her in for an interview. Using an aesthetically pleasing format with accomplishments highlighted and only relevant experience presented, was also important in generating the interest and focus required in her job search.
View Before Resume - View After Resume
To send your question to Dear Sam for possible publication, please write to dearsam@dispatch.com.
If you would like Samantha’s firm to write your résumé and/or cover letter, please visit http://www.ladybug-design.com for more information.
Samantha is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer with a graduate degree in Marketing and Communication, and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service résumé writing and interview coaching firm.
posted by Dear Sam at Saturday, October 28, 2006
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