Resume Change Notes

Notes on Shawn's Old Resume

Resume Clinic Intro | Old Resume | New Resume

"SHAWN"

Shawn was smart to put the name he answers to on the top of the resume. That makes it easier for the interviewer to feel they have an emotional bond.

The way Shawn explained it to me, his legal name is very formal and ends in IV. His mother didn't want two to people with the same name in the house.

I am "Richard B. Davies", always called "Dick" and I remember the emotional jolt when I put the name I prefer on my business cards and monarch stationery. I couldn't have done it working for someone else. It has never been a problem.

Another thought - by putting your name in big or bold type on the resume, you lose the opportunity to make an impression using big or bold type further down the resume for your important achievements. Your name isn't important to a stranger until they establish what you can do for them!

Back to Shawn's Starting Resume

Phone & Email

An old (and very useful) trick is to call the telephone number on your resume just before you go to the printer. Your telephone should have an answering machine on it. An answering machine is better than a service because you can control how it is answered, it doesn't need to rest and breaks down less frequently. Everyone knows how to repond to an answering machine. Put away the answering tape with the children singing or the duck talking until after you are through with your resume.

Since Shawn is working in the high-tech world, we can expect many of the people trying to reach him to also use Email. Back to Phone & Email

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

This is a major trouble spot on most resumes. I asked Shawn why he didn't put "Objective", and he said that he had thought of it, and that while he didn't like Transferable Skills, he liked Objective even less. The problem with these terms, and with the thinking that goes into writing this part of the resume is that it is "you, the job-hunter focused", not "employer-your customer" focused. See how we use a "Postioning" in Shawn's new resume.

Back to TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

EDUCATION

When Shawn began writing this resume several years ago, his education was his main selling feature. Now that he has more impressive experience in the world of work, and now that he is absolutely aiming for a vocation in the world of work, we put his education farther down the resume.

Back to EDUCATION

BUSINESS EXPERIENCE

Putting a title of "Business Experience" on business experience is like putting a sign that says "Table" on a table. Actually it's worse because we need to use the first page to get someone's interest on a resume.

"But what if the reader doesn't understand it is business experience?"
Then it should be written differently.

Describing Your Work

The purpose of describing your work in a resume is to make the reader understand what you have done. If they can compare that to what they think they need, and decide to contact you to get more information, then the resume works.

I would try to figure out what I wanted to do in my next job, then isolate examples of that work from my recent past, and describe them in greater detail on my one-page resume.

Chronology Lines

I say three pieces of information that should appear on a Chronlogy Line ... Title, Company, and Dates. Readers are looking for an employment pattern. For that reason, and also because two years and a hyphen are always the same size, I start with dates first, then title, then company.

A distant geographic location is noteworthy, and not always positive. It makes you strange. For some readers "distant" is 15 miles away. I don't include the location of previous employers. For a local campaign, the only location should be your address, unless you are trying to go back to a previous location. Then you should prominently showcase all your experience in that locale, work, education, civic, and social.

Back to BUSINESS EXPERIENCE

For more information, see Sales Lab Resumes Easier, Faster, Better!

IT Consultant

When Shawn uses "IT Consultant" as his job title, he will appeal to people who know what an "IT Consultant" is. I think "IT" stands for "Information Technology." Just what that means is up to each reader's interpretation.

When you feel the need to use an insider term to describe your work, remember I say that the only people who can afford to buy UNIX are the ones who don't know what it means.

Shawn will cut himself off from the customers who would like to purchase their first "IT Consultant" to appeal to the customers who would like to buy their tenth. I would rather describe my work in laymen's terms as I think it would increase my chances to be first as well as tenth.

I asked Shawn why he didn't call himself "President" of InPursuit. He said that in several interviews he had been told that the title "President" made employers wonder how committed he would be to their organization, and whether he would be more interested in running his own business. The customers had spoken, case closed.

See new resume for Shawn's solution.

Back to IT Consultant

InPursuit

This is the main story. How Shawn got into Internet consulting ... and what he has been able to achieve are the things that will interest an appropriate customer. However, the way it is written and the way it is placed on the resume make it hard for the casual reader to isolate the importance and learn what the story is about. See the new resume for an alternate solution.

Is he looking for for a consulting position or full-time employment? Whatever Shawn wants, it is what his customer wants that takes precendence. The more desirable position will be the one that is closer to what Shawn wants. A customer's expectation can get closer to Shawn's expectation as a result of working together.

Back to InPursuit

Total Network Interface

This was a shorter-than-planned stay at a company that wanted to cash in on the Internet boom. Whatever happened, Shawn, in the middle of the situation, was having a difficult time figuring out the best way to tell the story. He wanted me to understand the many complexities of how he saw the situation. I asked him, "Why don't you just say Total Network Interface was one of your consulting clients?"

He thought about it for minute and then said, "Well, they were! I've had consulting clients who put me on the payroll before!"

I have worked with over 5,000 job changers, and find that people often need an outside perspective ... just to make their story less detailed and less intense for listeners who don't care as much as they do.

Back to Total Network Interface

Graduate Research Assistant

Shawn did some mighty things in school. He was part of the group that worked on the Potomac Knowledgeway Project, a personal favorite of mine. The problem was that for the limited space we had available, Shawn's role in these projects was not as important as his other work. Alas, we decided to allocate the space to other data.

Back to Graduate Research Assistant

C. R. Daniels

When I read this part, I thought Shawn was getting tired of writing the resume. He was ready to finish.

When I questioned him about the position, he had done some solid industrial engineering ... building systems ... reorganizing physical work flow ... and launching a new product. Systems, workflow, and product! We couldn't take a lot of space for it, but it was experience a potential employer should know about.

Back to C. R. Daniels

COMPUTER SKILLS

I dislike these laundry lists of names and skills because they often backfire (Two people from the same organization will construct mutually exclusive screening criteria. The result is that someone who doesn't understand the need decides you are unqualified.)

However, if you have some technical skills and you think technical skills will be an important requirement for your next job, put them in. It will certainly help when your resume is screened by computer via scanning, Internet searching, etc...

Back to COMPUTER SKILLS

Now, see Shawn's New Resume

Notes on Shawn's New Resume

"Shawn" Spengler

We dropped the name back to normal size type. I figure you should be showing most of your resumes to your friends and acquaintances, They already know who you are.

People who don't know you won't care who you are until after they know what you can do for them.

Back to New Resume

Intranet/Internet Solutions

These two lines are an example of a position for the resume. Notice it tells the reader what you can do for them, as opposed to an objective which is more about what the resume writer wants.

Back to Resume Intranet/Internet Solutions

For more on positioning, see Sales Lab Resumes - Positioning.

InPursuit

This is an example of a chronology line, date first, then title, finally company name. When you have had more than one position, select the best one. If someone wants more detail, they will talk to you ... which is the whole reason for putting the resume out there!

When you build a chronology line in a word processor, use flush left, then a hand-adjusted center tab, and a flush right tab. Trying to balance a chronology line with spaces is maddening and has to be changed when you change printers.

Back to Resume InPursuit

In 1995...

This is the first example of what makes people remember you ... a story! Stories give a context, they show how you solved problems ... and they allow the reader to place themselves in the story, to consider if what you did could help them. In the same space that you could put some superficial bullets, you can go deep to define your "greatest hit", the type of work you want to do. See the other stories on the new resume. How interesting are they compared to descriptions of the same positions on the first resume?

Back to Resume First Story

Education

Notice that we moved Shawn's education from the top of the resume to the bottom. His job accomplishments have taken precedence. We have created a grouping by placing his education in the same area as computer skills.

I call the achievements at the bottom of the resume, "Tickets." Tickets include certifications, awards and anything else that shows your competence. I find that resume writers demean the value of their tickets. Even if the tickets have no direct bearing on your next position, they show a level of excellence, and often provide a familar link for the reader. It doesn't have to work with every reader, but when it does you have a stronger bond.

Back to Resume Education

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