Notes of a Résumé Writer – Critique Three - Graphic Design
Client Background
In my critique of Simone’s résumé, I noted several areas requiring immediate attention. Simone’s objective was to secure a permanent interior or graphic design position, leveraging her freelance engagements and educational pursuits to get her foot in the door. Her current résumé was not doing an effective job of showcasing her skills nor her vast design talents. Not only was the format lacking in appeal, but the content was sparse, inconsistently formatted, and unnecessarily aged her candidacy by going back to 1973.
Résumé Strategy
Through our consultation, I focused on gathering as much information as possible related to Simone’s previous engagements in the design field. We also discussed and refined the types of opportunities she wanted to pursue, so I could better identify the appropriate keywords and marketing messages that would attract the attention of the desired audience. It was also key to determine achievements for each role in order to showcase the value she could bring to an organization. In addition to incorporating a significant amount of content, the design was changed dramatically to present a more aesthetically pleasing image. However, perhaps the most exciting change was the incorporation of a detailed and eye-catching qualifications summary. This summary serves as the main piece of information we wanted a hiring manager to read during the screening process and included: a professional title to brand her candidacy, taglines which market her core competencies, a paragraph summary detailing highlights of her related experience, a core skills list which provided for additional keyword opportunities and further expansion of related competencies, and a snapshot portfolio presenting a preview of her artistic talents. The portfolio was created based on some of her most unique work that helped position her as a talented artist whether working on interiors or graphics. Simone had also presented salary requirements at the end of her original résumé, so I explained the impact this would have had on her search thus far and removed the reference from her new résumé. Lastly, experience was only presented back to 1993 so to avoid aging her candidacy, and focus was given to supporting information such as education, training, certifications, technical skills, and affiliations on page two of her résumé.
Client Comments
“Samantha captured every aspect of my career experiences to form the resume of my dreams. Excellent, impressive work and I would recommend her to anyone looking to change careers or just updating a current resume.”
Success Factors
Simone knew that she wanted to transition into an interior or graphic design role and was able to articulate her experiences in a way that allowed me to expand on her professional experience, achievements, and core skills. She was open to a creative format and knew that her résumé needed a dramatic transformation to get the attention of a hiring manager in a very competitive industry. She had also laid the foundation for a solid career transition by pursuing related education and maintaining current technical skills.
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To send your question to Dear Sam for possible publication, please write to dearsam@dispatch.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 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.
Notes of a Résumé Writer – Critique Two - Legal Secretary
Dear Sam: I would really appreciate your help with revising my resume to obtain job interviews. The majority of my experience is as a legal secretary or administrative assistant; however, much of it is dated. I have also worked as a handicap aid in a high school classroom, and most recently, as a customer service rep. for an international logistics company. How can I arrange my resume to highlight my experience without looking like a job-jumper? Since my last job, from which I was laid off, I have worked for a temporary agency at a law firm downtown, and have been taking care of my elderly father. I need a full-time job, ASAP, but have had little response from prospective employers. Any advice and assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thank you. – Diana in Columbus
Dear Diane: I see on page two of your résumé (not shown here) you included your recent experience with the logistics company. I also notice that you have not included your temporary assignment with a law firm. Both are important to include in the professional experience section, in reverse chronological order, in order to show that you have been employed more recently than 2002.
Just as important, is removing your objective statement and replacing it with a qualifications summary. This is key in positioning you as a legal secretary or administrative assistant, minimizing the impact of having been out of a full-time legal role for some time, and ensuring focus is paid to the skills you possess that relate to your current objective. I’d also suggest that you create two versions of this summary, one targeting the legal market and another general administrative roles. This will ensure you are capturing the interest of the hiring manager in each field.
In the professional experience section, minimize the impact of your dates of employment by placing them to the right of your title, instead of surrounded by white space, which attracts much more attention. Also, engage the reader a little more by presenting your experience in bullet points. I’d also be very careful about how much experience you include. Currently your résumé dates back to 1972, which is never typically a good idea unless you are a senior executive. In your case, if you want to incorporate aspects from earlier experiences, include those within your qualifications summary, a career highlights section, and in your cover letter. On your résumé, if there are certain employers you would like to keep on your résumé, consider presenting these in a “Prior Experience” section and not dating those engagements. By doing this you will avoid unnecessarily aging your candidacy and generating a possibly false assumption of desired compensation levels.
With a strong qualifications summary, your temporary, logistics, and two most recent law firm positions, should fall on page one of your résumé, minimizing the impact of your 1994-1997 handicap aid position which was outside of the field, and your time out of the workforce between 1986 and 1991 (as these items won’t be seen until page two). Through strategic positioning, you can minimize the appearance of the industry hops and employment gaps. You also never need to note the reason for an absence from the workforce or for leaving a position as this only highlights potentially disqualifying factors. The last point I will make is regarding your education. Never include your high school diploma on your résumé unless you have just graduated, and be sure to highlight your legal assistant certificate in the qualifications summary, as your education section will not appear until the end of your résumé.
I have included a sample résumé I wrote for a legal secretary to give you some guidance on creating the qualifications summary. For this client, I created a complete employment search portfolio, including business cards and mailing labels, to brand her as a legal secretary (a second version was created for general administrative roles as this was also her objective), thereby overcoming disqualifying factors such as her return to the workforce situation. I hope this helps you in identifying ways you can increase the effectiveness of your search.
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To send your question to Dear Sam for possible publication, please write to dearsam@dispatch.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 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.
Notes of a Résumé Writer – Critique One - Client Services Account Manager
Dear Sam: Thank you for your weekly advice in Columbus Dispatch and thank you so very much for this opportunity. I am a loyal reader who is very stuck! I am in the process of updating my resume; it's been 5 years since I last used this version. I have a B.A. in Marketing Communications and I've worked for years, my last job being the most successful in terms of income and level of responsibility – yet I can't seem to write about it!
I need to go back to work after taking two years off to be home with my children (almost 2 and 4). Having been both a working mother and a stay-at-home mom, I've found "returning to work" even after only two years to be very different. This is the first time in my life where I'm looking for a job and the choice I make directly impacts everyone in the house. Although I'm really looking forward to going back to work, I've gone from feeling totally unafraid of applying for jobs, to being stuck even writing my résumé. I truly believe I can't be the only 32-year-old woman in this position.
As you can see from my résumé, my last job was as an Account Manager for a company that manages approximately 50% of the market share in Gift Card Programs. It was a great opportunity for me to work there and manage programs for some of the world’s largest retailers. Because we were just recently relocated here I don't have many contacts locally, but I was looking to work for a retailer or in a similar position. I feel it's where I have the most experience and can make the most impact, as well as get back to my previous salary level.
This last note about us moving is certainly a challenge, my husband's work requires it and since he has been with his company 16 years we need to keep moving (on average every 2 years). The moving, coupled with my need for income and my last position, makes me feel like this career move is extremely important in moving up. I need to build on each position so that I am not starting from square one with each job and city.
Thank you again for this opportunity! I've never been good at asking for help but I need to get back to work and I really feel it's important that I take the right job/career move. I also believe that although many people may not be faced with each of these challenges, I'm sure that many people can relate to at least some part of my situation and therefore could benefit from my story. Sincerely – Reader in Columbus
Dear Reader: Thank you for your readership, please find my critique and suggestions for improvement below.
Aesthetics & Formatting
Being that your career has spanned marketing, sales, customer service, and retail management, you can afford to be a little creative in your formatting. As your résumé stands, the formatting does not engage the reader and the brevity of content does not support the level of employment in which you are interested. Instead, how about using a two-column résumé with keywords noted down the left side of the page, leaving less space for the content of your experiences if you are struggling with writing about each role. Creating a much fuller look to your résumé.
Heading
Be sure to include an email address on any résumé that you send to a prospective employer. Email is often the preferred method of contact in a job search so it is imperative that you include that information.
Qualifications Summary
This is the major pitfall of your résumé – or lack thereof. You must open your résumé with a qualifications summary which showcases what you can offer an employer based on your past experiences, achievements, and areas of expertise. You cannot expect the hiring manager to make a best guess as to what you want to do. With only 7-10 seconds to engage the reader during the screening process, it is imperative that you open your résumé with a summary that answers the question of “why I should hire you.” Develop this section after you have written the professional experience section of your résumé, treating it like the opening to an essay or an executive summary of your experience. The summary should contain all details you can’t afford for the hiring manager not to know while evaluating your candidacy. First, define your objective or the direction you want your career to take, so that you can refine your content related to that type of opportunity.
Professional Experience
Include only years of employment in order to minimize the appearance of gaps and frequent job hops. Quantify experiences to add interest to your résumé, being sure to focus more on accomplishments versus daily responsibilities. Typically résumés will include about 10 years of experience unless prior experiences enhance your candidacy. I therefore question the section at the end of your résumé, which if listed in chronological order, would actually appear in different places in the professional experience section. If they do not deserve explanation, then why even have them on your résumé? As these are all internships that I am assuming you completed as a part of your degree program, then instead list them within the education section so not to appear like you have held 9 positions in the past 10 years. The next major pitfall of your résumé is that you are severely lacking in content, with no focus on achievements. Instead, present your daily responsibilities in a succinct manner, realizing that this is not the information that gets you the interview, while presenting where you have gone above and beyond in your career – in other words, what differentiates you from your competitors. You have had some fantastic employers, but that is buried in this paragraph style format that isn’t engaging to the reader. You can use these points, quantified achievements, and a strong experience summary, to really sell your career despite potential disqualifiers such as frequent job-hops.
Education
You are no longer considered a recent graduate so this section should be relocated to the end of your résumé. You can mention your degree in the qualifications summary if you choose to do so, but placing it first on your résumé places focus on the wrong information. Instead, let your career sell your candidacy along with where you have contributed value to an organization.
I have taken some liberties in creating a modified version of your résumé to give you a visual for some of the suggestions I have made. Of course, based on which direction you choose to take, retail or inside account management / service, the keywords and content would change. I have presented this as an example of what your résumé could include, but you should modify it based on your precise career interests. This example displays the formatting, qualifications summary, keyword list, part of your most recent experience, and your education section. I certainly hope this critique helps get you started in making the appropriate additions and improvements to your résumé. All the best.
View Original Resume / View New Resume with Notes
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To send your question to Dear Sam for possible publication, please write to dearsam@dispatch.com.
If you would like Dear Sam’s résumé writing firm to write your résumé and/or cover letter, please visit www.ladybug-design.com or call 614-570-3442 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.
