Spring Makeover Series: Shift focus to related career experiences when current position is not in your field
View Before Resume
View After Resume
Client Background
John’s goal was to return to the field of communications, media, and public relations. After admitting he was “burned out” after his last position in that field, he pursued other areas and had served as a delivery driver for the past three years. Now, after regaining his passion for what he felt he did best, he was ready to enter the job search and regain his professional status prior to 2003.
Résumé Strategies
First and foremost, John’s most recent experience had to be minimized and focus placed on his 15+ years of related experience. To do this, I opened his résumé with a strong qualifications summary which immediately positioned him as a Communications and PR Manager. I used this section to present key highlights from his career, noting names of employers as they would likely play a role in the success of his networking efforts.
In the professional experience section, very little space was given to his most recent role as a delivery driver. While we had to note this engagement to avoid a large employment gap, it did not need to be explained in its entirety. Almost immediately, focus was shifted to his related career experience, exploring his roles much more fully than on his original résumé. I took some time during our consultation to review the challenges of his engagements, where he had driven particular value, and the results he had generated for his employers. I also conducted extensive research on each organization, finding additional details that prompted discussions of other key points John hadn’t thought were important. His two main engagements were presented with an overview of his role, the challenges he faced and overcame, and the key contributions and results he drove. This presented a much stronger image of each of his positions, and provided the hiring manager with a clear image of the value he could offer his next employer.
Strategically, page one breaks immediately after his most recent communications position, leaving his director of athletic communications position to fall to page two. I did this as I wanted to focus on his broad-based communications role, avoiding positioning him as more experienced in working in college athletic departments (12 of his 15 years of experience). While he was interested in pursuing opportunities in this environment, he noted during our consultation that these environments were very unique, and he would be able to utilize his network to source opportunities similar to those previous to his most recent communications experience. It was therefore very important to focus on marketing his most recent related experience and ability to produce results regardless of the industry or setting.
Earlier experiences were presented in a byline so not to divert focus from his current career goal and related skills. It was important for the client to present these employers on his résumé, again, to facilitate networking opportunities.
John’s new résumé was also dramatically different in design. His original résumé was not engaging, appearing as paragraph after paragraph of information with no prioritization of information, highlighting of achievements, or focus on what he had done that positioned him for his current career goal. With a newfound focus, his new résumé positions him for exactly what he wants to do, engages the reader through a unique and aesthetically sound design, and through selective formatting, pulls the reader’s eye to the most important information supportive of his professional candidacy.
Client Comments
After reviewing his new résumé and embarking on his job search, John took the time to write to let us know he was, “…very, very satisfied with the new resume. My resume needed updating in many ways and your service exceeded all my expectations. Thanks for all your hard work.”
To send your question to Dear Sam for possible publication, please email her at dearsam@ladybug-design.com.
If you would like Dear Sam's résumé writing firm to write your résumé, please visit www.ladybug-design.com or call 614-570-3442 or 1-888-9-LADYBUG.
View After Resume
Client Background
John’s goal was to return to the field of communications, media, and public relations. After admitting he was “burned out” after his last position in that field, he pursued other areas and had served as a delivery driver for the past three years. Now, after regaining his passion for what he felt he did best, he was ready to enter the job search and regain his professional status prior to 2003.
Résumé Strategies
First and foremost, John’s most recent experience had to be minimized and focus placed on his 15+ years of related experience. To do this, I opened his résumé with a strong qualifications summary which immediately positioned him as a Communications and PR Manager. I used this section to present key highlights from his career, noting names of employers as they would likely play a role in the success of his networking efforts.
In the professional experience section, very little space was given to his most recent role as a delivery driver. While we had to note this engagement to avoid a large employment gap, it did not need to be explained in its entirety. Almost immediately, focus was shifted to his related career experience, exploring his roles much more fully than on his original résumé. I took some time during our consultation to review the challenges of his engagements, where he had driven particular value, and the results he had generated for his employers. I also conducted extensive research on each organization, finding additional details that prompted discussions of other key points John hadn’t thought were important. His two main engagements were presented with an overview of his role, the challenges he faced and overcame, and the key contributions and results he drove. This presented a much stronger image of each of his positions, and provided the hiring manager with a clear image of the value he could offer his next employer.
Strategically, page one breaks immediately after his most recent communications position, leaving his director of athletic communications position to fall to page two. I did this as I wanted to focus on his broad-based communications role, avoiding positioning him as more experienced in working in college athletic departments (12 of his 15 years of experience). While he was interested in pursuing opportunities in this environment, he noted during our consultation that these environments were very unique, and he would be able to utilize his network to source opportunities similar to those previous to his most recent communications experience. It was therefore very important to focus on marketing his most recent related experience and ability to produce results regardless of the industry or setting.
Earlier experiences were presented in a byline so not to divert focus from his current career goal and related skills. It was important for the client to present these employers on his résumé, again, to facilitate networking opportunities.
John’s new résumé was also dramatically different in design. His original résumé was not engaging, appearing as paragraph after paragraph of information with no prioritization of information, highlighting of achievements, or focus on what he had done that positioned him for his current career goal. With a newfound focus, his new résumé positions him for exactly what he wants to do, engages the reader through a unique and aesthetically sound design, and through selective formatting, pulls the reader’s eye to the most important information supportive of his professional candidacy.
Client Comments
After reviewing his new résumé and embarking on his job search, John took the time to write to let us know he was, “…very, very satisfied with the new resume. My resume needed updating in many ways and your service exceeded all my expectations. Thanks for all your hard work.”
To send your question to Dear Sam for possible publication, please email her at dearsam@ladybug-design.com.
If you would like Dear Sam's résumé writing firm to write your résumé, please visit www.ladybug-design.com or call 614-570-3442 or 1-888-9-LADYBUG.
posted by Dear Sam at Sunday, April 15, 2007
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