Client Background

Robert came to me with a very simple existing résumé that neither showcased his broad skill set nor his career achievements. Despite having held significant responsibilities during each of his professional engagements, his résumé did not capture the full scope of what he had performed or achieved. Additionally, his résumé was not aesthetically pleasing and dated his candidacy by including work history back to 1968.

Résumé Strategies

In addition to making Robert's résumé pleasing to the eye, information needed to be prioritized, and accomplishments had to be reviewed thoroughly in order to differentiate his candidacy from his competitors. Robert's career overview, which appeared on his original résumé, was a good attempt to provide a brief summary of his most notable skills, but needed some crucial prioritization, focus, and reformatting. His new qualifications summary is much more appealing and engaging, and through strategic formatting and presentation, communicates his key qualifications to a hiring manager easily within the 4-7 second screening process. Additionally, to further support the screening process, a core skills list was included to explore Robert's diverse competencies.

In the professional experience section, accomplishments were explored during the consultation and displayed in an engaging and eye-catching manner. Quantifiers were added whenever possible to distinguish his experiences and achievements from others with similar roles. Key challenges were also explored and presented in order to provide a clear picture of the significance of each achievement. Additionally, only Robert's last two positions were dated in order to avoid unnecessarily aging his candidacy. Earlier engagements were presented without dates to showcase additional skills and experiences that still supported his candidacy.

Lastly, Robert's professional development was presented to minimize the impact of not having a college degree, something that was missing from his original résumé.

Results

Shortly after receiving his résumé, Robert called and stated, Samantha, I need to discuss a problem with you. As I paused and responded, Oh no, what's wrong? Robert continued, I have too many interviews and not enough time! Later, Robert wrote, I was very pleased with the entire process. You did everything you promised in a timely fashion. My finished résumé is without a doubt one of the best résumés I have ever seen. It highlights all my strengths and plays down weaker areas. The response has been remarkable. The first seven résumés sent all resulted in personal interviews!

The new year is a great time to re-launch your search, starting with a revamped résumé ensuring, just like with Robert's résumé, that it is marketing your differentiating factors. Happy job hunting!

See Robert's before and after résumés at www.ladybug-design.com/blog

Launch