Dear Sam celebrates 3rd anniversary helping readers enhance their résumés
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the readers for their ongoing support and readership of Dear Sam over the past three years. It’s been a sincere pleasure providing you with actionable résumé strategies and job search advice. I hope you have found the information to be useful and have been able to implement these strategies in your own searches. Please feel free to contact me anytime with questions or comments at dearsam@dispatch.com. ~ Samantha
Dear Sam: I have been looking for another position since March with no success. I hate my current job. I'm underpaid, overworked, and unappreciated. My main issue in finding another position is that I'm over-educated and under-experienced for most opportunities. You'll see on my résumé I have held mostly customer service positions. You'll also see I have a degree in Physics/Astronomy. I am at my wits end. I have looked at state and government jobs, small companies, and large companies. I have tried scientific fields, HR, finance/accounting, administrative, etc. and no one has given me a chance. I have been fully capable of all the positions I have applied for. The companies that turn me down use "experience" as an excuse to not hire me. If you have any advice I would certainly appreciate it. – Jamie
Dear Jamie: First, let me paint a picture of your résumé for our readers. It begins with a statement as to your availability, followed by technical skills, education, and lastly experience. Let’s go through each section and identify opportunities to enhance the information, as I fear with the current structure, your résumé will very rarely, if ever, yield a call for an interview.
Availability: A résumé should never open with a statement as to your availability. Instead you should engage the reader with a qualifications summary which showcases your related skills and experiences. You may have to develop different résumés for different purposes if you are going to pursue diverse objectives. Take a look at the Case Studies section of my website for ideas of how to structure this summary. In essence, it should answer the question as to why they should interview you, what makes you qualified for the job, and what value you offer over your competitors. With the screening process being as short as 7 seconds, this summary plays the decisive role in whether you get a call for an interview.
Education: You stated you are “over-educated” so opening your résumé with an education section will hurt your chances of getting an interview. You have also listed your diploma which is completely unnecessary being you have a degree. I realize you may have listed your high school studies as your class rank was quite impressive, but this information may be best placed on your cover letter to reinforce your ability to excel in all academic and professional pursuits. You also listed graduate studies that took place in 2004/2005. Unless you are pursuing opportunities related to that field of study (teaching), I’d suggest omitting this as it will position you as unfocused and overeducated.
Experience: There are some severe problems with your experience section. There are 8 positions listed spanning the past 9 years, and only the last 2 positions have any significant explanation as to what duties were involved. When perusing this section I have no idea what you like to do or what you want to do in your career. You have moved throughout roles focused in the areas of customer service, research, foodservice, teaching and office support. You have also included months of employment in this section, which is not necessary as it only creates a “messy” look. By removing the months, you could probably omit unrelated positions that do nothing to enhance your candidacy. Remember, you only graduated from college three years ago, so presenting 9 years of experience really creates a disconnect. It would be wiser to focus on only your related and most recent engagements, so to position yourself as a recent grad with five or so years experience and a consistent record of working throughout your college career. This would present you as a much more competitive, and not overqualified, candidate.
To revamp this section, review each position and figure out which ones add value to your candidacy. Consider omitting or relocating teaching/research positions you held while pursuing your degree if they are unrelated to your current objective(s). This would maintain focus on your positions in the areas of customer service and office support. Fully engage the reader by exploring your responsibilities and achievements for each of these employers. If you do not have many achievements to highlight, think about presenting an overview of your experiences in a “Select Highlights” section appearing before the “Professional Experience” section. Doing so will focus the reader’s attention on your skills and experiences in the customer service/admin field, removing focus from the movement throughout your career, short tenures, and abundance of experience despite being a “recent” grad.
If you describe your positions with only a few bullet points each only 4-6 words long, how much value is the reader going to see in those positions? If you want the reader to get a sense that these positions qualify you for what you now want to do, you have to give them some space on the page, add value through strategic content, and highlight where you went above and beyond your daily assignments. Again, reference some examples on my website or any recently written résumé book for ideas of how to expand the content within this section to work for you.
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Dear Sam: I read your column every Sunday and find myself needing your assistance. I recently left a position involuntarily after a 34-year history with the company. How do I address this on my résumé and in an interview? – Russell
Dear Russell: I'm sorry to hear of your separation from an employer you were clearly loyal to. As you haven't had to look for a job in some time, I am sure this is a difficult situation. Let's first address the résumé. There is no reason to include the reason for leaving a position on a résumé, so really that is not a concern. You can however utilize certain strategies within your résumé to curb some of the negativity a hiring manager may feel when they hear that you were let go involuntarily.
Be sure you focus your résumé on your accomplishments, doing so will diminish the impact of an assumption you were let go for performance reasons. Also, include the promotions you had over your tenure to show that you were recognized for a job well done. Additionally, if you have access to performance reviews, think about pulling out some key excerpts to serve as third-party validation of your core skills.
Next, you will have to formulate a response for the inevitable "Why did you leave your last employer?" question. First, try to put aside your hurt feelings, as hard as that can be at a time like this, as it is crucial that you not portray any sort of anger or assignment of blame to a hiring manager during an interview. Instead, prepare a confident and honest response to the question, ending on a positive note focusing on what the experience taught you. Perhaps this could be related to affording you the opportunity to assess what you wanted to do at this juncture in your career, and seeking a position where you are a match for the organization, their culture, and your shared goals.
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.
Dear Sam: I have been looking for another position since March with no success. I hate my current job. I'm underpaid, overworked, and unappreciated. My main issue in finding another position is that I'm over-educated and under-experienced for most opportunities. You'll see on my résumé I have held mostly customer service positions. You'll also see I have a degree in Physics/Astronomy. I am at my wits end. I have looked at state and government jobs, small companies, and large companies. I have tried scientific fields, HR, finance/accounting, administrative, etc. and no one has given me a chance. I have been fully capable of all the positions I have applied for. The companies that turn me down use "experience" as an excuse to not hire me. If you have any advice I would certainly appreciate it. – Jamie
Dear Jamie: First, let me paint a picture of your résumé for our readers. It begins with a statement as to your availability, followed by technical skills, education, and lastly experience. Let’s go through each section and identify opportunities to enhance the information, as I fear with the current structure, your résumé will very rarely, if ever, yield a call for an interview.
Availability: A résumé should never open with a statement as to your availability. Instead you should engage the reader with a qualifications summary which showcases your related skills and experiences. You may have to develop different résumés for different purposes if you are going to pursue diverse objectives. Take a look at the Case Studies section of my website for ideas of how to structure this summary. In essence, it should answer the question as to why they should interview you, what makes you qualified for the job, and what value you offer over your competitors. With the screening process being as short as 7 seconds, this summary plays the decisive role in whether you get a call for an interview.
Education: You stated you are “over-educated” so opening your résumé with an education section will hurt your chances of getting an interview. You have also listed your diploma which is completely unnecessary being you have a degree. I realize you may have listed your high school studies as your class rank was quite impressive, but this information may be best placed on your cover letter to reinforce your ability to excel in all academic and professional pursuits. You also listed graduate studies that took place in 2004/2005. Unless you are pursuing opportunities related to that field of study (teaching), I’d suggest omitting this as it will position you as unfocused and overeducated.
Experience: There are some severe problems with your experience section. There are 8 positions listed spanning the past 9 years, and only the last 2 positions have any significant explanation as to what duties were involved. When perusing this section I have no idea what you like to do or what you want to do in your career. You have moved throughout roles focused in the areas of customer service, research, foodservice, teaching and office support. You have also included months of employment in this section, which is not necessary as it only creates a “messy” look. By removing the months, you could probably omit unrelated positions that do nothing to enhance your candidacy. Remember, you only graduated from college three years ago, so presenting 9 years of experience really creates a disconnect. It would be wiser to focus on only your related and most recent engagements, so to position yourself as a recent grad with five or so years experience and a consistent record of working throughout your college career. This would present you as a much more competitive, and not overqualified, candidate.
To revamp this section, review each position and figure out which ones add value to your candidacy. Consider omitting or relocating teaching/research positions you held while pursuing your degree if they are unrelated to your current objective(s). This would maintain focus on your positions in the areas of customer service and office support. Fully engage the reader by exploring your responsibilities and achievements for each of these employers. If you do not have many achievements to highlight, think about presenting an overview of your experiences in a “Select Highlights” section appearing before the “Professional Experience” section. Doing so will focus the reader’s attention on your skills and experiences in the customer service/admin field, removing focus from the movement throughout your career, short tenures, and abundance of experience despite being a “recent” grad.
If you describe your positions with only a few bullet points each only 4-6 words long, how much value is the reader going to see in those positions? If you want the reader to get a sense that these positions qualify you for what you now want to do, you have to give them some space on the page, add value through strategic content, and highlight where you went above and beyond your daily assignments. Again, reference some examples on my website or any recently written résumé book for ideas of how to expand the content within this section to work for you.
------------------------
Dear Sam: I read your column every Sunday and find myself needing your assistance. I recently left a position involuntarily after a 34-year history with the company. How do I address this on my résumé and in an interview? – Russell
Dear Russell: I'm sorry to hear of your separation from an employer you were clearly loyal to. As you haven't had to look for a job in some time, I am sure this is a difficult situation. Let's first address the résumé. There is no reason to include the reason for leaving a position on a résumé, so really that is not a concern. You can however utilize certain strategies within your résumé to curb some of the negativity a hiring manager may feel when they hear that you were let go involuntarily.
Be sure you focus your résumé on your accomplishments, doing so will diminish the impact of an assumption you were let go for performance reasons. Also, include the promotions you had over your tenure to show that you were recognized for a job well done. Additionally, if you have access to performance reviews, think about pulling out some key excerpts to serve as third-party validation of your core skills.
Next, you will have to formulate a response for the inevitable "Why did you leave your last employer?" question. First, try to put aside your hurt feelings, as hard as that can be at a time like this, as it is crucial that you not portray any sort of anger or assignment of blame to a hiring manager during an interview. Instead, prepare a confident and honest response to the question, ending on a positive note focusing on what the experience taught you. Perhaps this could be related to affording you the opportunity to assess what you wanted to do at this juncture in your career, and seeking a position where you are a match for the organization, their culture, and your shared goals.
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.
posted by Dear Sam at Sunday, December 02, 2007
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