Resumes - What's Hot and What's NOT

A resume is your 1 minute (or less) commercial - did you ever think about it that way? I always tell my candidates that resumes are meant to generate interest not spark questions about a background.

Top advertisers know the key to captivating their audience and keeping their attention is tailoring their ads to their audience and keeping them in a 30-60 second window. I generally advise candidates to keep their resumes short, sweet and to the point. The more clutter there is on a resume, especially within the first page (ie: headers, objectives, summaries, bullet points, graphs, lists, etc), the more likely the onlooker is to quickly start scrolling through to the bottom. If I open a resume and do not see a job and title listed by the end of the first page, I almost never finish reading the resume.

If you have only been in your career for a few years, it is best to list your education and your jobs only. If you have 10 years plus of experience, it is more than acceptable to put a brief summary of your talents and/or skills - just remember to constantly edit yourself.


If you have stayed at most of your positions for more than 3 years - you should highlight your tenure. Make sure to put the length of time at your current and previous comanies in bold type.

In going with the "less is more" theme, try not to go in to great detail on your role or reason for leaving. For a sales position - you should list the functionality, quota, attainment, accolades and extra activities that were necessary for driving revenue. You shouldn't list the reason for leaving each company on your resume. You should also stay away from listing references on the resume. That way, when it comes time to close in on an opportunity, you can gauge a prospective employer's interest level when they request a list of references.

You should always tailor your resume to your potential employer. If your experience has been as an Office Manager and you are applying for a direct sales role - make sure to add examples or bullet points that highlight soft sales skills. Phone experience, driving revenue, finding opportunities to change a client's opinion or turn around a potentially lost-sale.


Things to Include on Your Resume:

• Contact Information
• Objective
• Education - GPA if recent graduate
• Company Name and length of tenure
• Brief description of the company in italics
• Brief description of the job you performed
• Extra Curricular activities relevant to your potential job
• Accolades

Things That Are Best Left Unsaid:

• Reason for Leaving
• Compensation
• Personal Activities you enjoy - for example - hiking, fishing, hunting, reading, jogging, etc
• Personal Information - number of kids, length of marriage, homeowners' association membership, etc
• Age
• Lengthy descriptions of yourself, your company, your role or your objective
• It is appropriate to put your highest level of education (ie -Bachelor's or Master's), however, you do not need to list your middle school name, or even your high school name.

Sample Resume Format:

Name

Address

Phone number

Email Address

Objective:

Education:

Educational Institution Year Graduated

Degree Earned

Experience:

Current Company, location Date Employed - Present (or Date Completed)Job Title Job Description

Previous Company, location Dates Employed
Job Title
Job Description

Accolades, Certifications and/or Professional Training

References Provided Upon Request

Next time you are revising your resume - keep in mind that you can explain any gaps of information in-person or over the phone. The goal is to first get your foot in the door. So view your resume as your 60 second advertisement during the Super Bowl :)