Employ these résumé strategies when moving down – not up – the ladder

Dear Sam: I am 43 years old and I am looking to take a lesser position of responsibility so that I can complete my Master's of Education. My eventual goal is to become a teacher or a high school guidance counselor. Given my age, I want to "fast track" my education. This means that I will need a less demanding position than I currently hold. I have toned down my résumé, but I am still having difficulties with potential employers thinking that something must be wrong with a candidate looking for a position with less responsibility. After all, most people are looking to move up, not down, the ladder. Do you have any suggestions to help me explain this to potential employers? Thanks so much for providing this valuable service. I would be grateful for any advice that you may have. – Alesia

Dear Alesia: First, I’d suggest you look for opportunities in the education field, a logical transition and an environment that would best understand your desire to accept lesser responsibilities while you complete your graduate degree. Pursuing opportunities in most other fields would not only beg the question as to why you are looking to accept lesser responsibility, but also whether you were going to leave upon receiving your degree. Even if you can’t find a position in the exact environment in which you eventually want to transition into, think about pursuing opportunities in a trade school, college, or university setting. Review the opportunities you are thinking of pursuing carefully, and make sure your résumé is speaking the same language and not turning off the reader by presenting an overqualified candidate. I’d suggest using the qualifications summary, in addition to your cover letter, to promote your passion, desire to shape young minds, and upcoming M.Ed. Think about opening your résumé with a statement such as, “M.Ed. candidate with sincere desire to shape young minds, provide solid guidance to students, and leverage business background to promote achievement of administrative goals.” Throughout your résumé, be sure you are positioning your responsibilities and achievements so your transferable skills are evident. As you are transitioning fields, it is important for your experience to make sense for the hiring manger, and not make the reader try to figure out how your experience relates to the position they are offering. All the best.

Dear Sam: I’m not exactly sure what I want to do in my career and I’m having a difficult time figuring out what to include on my résumé. I have a background in sales, customer service, and management, but I’m now open to many opportunities. How do I handle this on my résumé? ­– Jo

Dear Jo: A common mistake many job seekers make is trying to create a one-size-fits-all résumé. While in today’s highly competitive market job seekers have to keep their options open, it is imperative to present a targeted résumé to each hiring manager. This doesn’t mean that you have to write a completely different résumé for each job you apply to, but it does mean that you need to tailor your résumé to be sure it presents your most related skills for each type of opportunity you are pursuing. Trying to develop a résumé that suits every opportunity when you have diverse goals is a very ineffective strategy. Doing so will only present diluted content to any given hiring manager, and when competing with other skilled candidates will likely not secure interviews. Instead, assess your goals, identify your related skills, and tailor your résumé to suit the requirements of each type of position. Only then will your résumé produce the results you want.

Dear Sam: I currently have a two-page résumé. I recently applied for a position which had a lot of details listed to provide information regarding the duties and responsibilities. In order to respond to them, I found my cover letter filled an entire page. Many of my friends have told me a cover letter should never be more than three short paragraphs at most, and a résumé should be one page. Their reasoning is that a hiring manager wouldn't have the time to look at a lot of information, and may in fact toss a lengthy résumé and cover letter. Is it best to be short with both a cover letter and résumé, and if so, what is a good option to show all the skills and abilities a company is looking for? Thanks – Dan

Dear Dan: The old school of thought was that a résumé had to be only one page or it wouldn't get the time of day. This is not the case today and at times a two or even three page résumé suits a candidate more appropriately. Your friends are right about part of this however, and that is that a hiring manager is unlikely to scan more than one page of your résumé during their initial review. For that reason, you have to prioritize the information contained within your résumé. Therefore anything that really enhances your candidacy for a position does need to be listed on page one. Hence the reason qualifications summaries are an essential component of effective résumés. Qualifications summaries allow candidates to provide a snapshot of their career in order to convey their most notable skills and experiences on page one of their résumé. Once the hiring manager has established interest in you as a candidate, they will take the time to review the supporting information on your résumé albeit on page two or page three.

As to the cover letter, I find a very effective way to write a cover letter is to incorporate bullet points. This breaks up the "heaviness" of a lengthy letter and highlights the most important pieces of information for the hiring manager. If you have a lot of experiences and skills that you feel are essential to communicate in your cover letter try this strategy. Open your cover letter with the position of interest and your most notable and unique qualifiers for the position. Then transition into presenting a bulleted list (I like to use three) of the experiences that you feel position you for the opportunity. Incorporate a second bulleted list exploring the softer skills you possess such as multi-tasking skills, organizational capabilities, leadership talents, etc. Then use the last paragraph to close the letter and present your action-oriented follow-up statement.

Using this strategy will allow you to communicate a lot of information while maintaining a very readable format. Use of bullet points in a cover letter also pushes the reader to the "heart" of the letter, which is what you actually want the reader to know. All the best!

Reach Dear Sam 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 toll-free 1-888-9-LADYBUG.