Meet Logan
Logan was seeking an opportunity as a finance/equity analyst after recently completing an undergraduate degree in finance. Despite being a junior-level candidate, he had 10 years of experience in property management operations prior to relocating to the U.S. to pursue his degree.

Résumé Concerns
Logan's existing résumé did little to distinguish him from others. Serving as a simple narrative of his career, Logan created a résumé that began with his academic credentials and ever so briefly explored his career experiences. In the presentation of his career, Logan used very brief bulleted explanations, giving the reader very little information about the scope of his experience and contributions. For instance, Logan had presented his longest position-6 years-in just 25 words, providing no opportunity for the reader to see the value in that portion of his career.

Logan also neglected to add a qualifications summary to his résumé. The omission of this vital section would make the hiring audience have to figure out how Logan would meet their needs. Unfortunately in the brief 4- to 7second screening process, no reader would have time to work to see why Logan would be the right candidate. In addition, without the focus a qualifications summary adds, the recipient would be left wondering if Logan really knew who he was, whether he was focused on being a finance/equity analyst, and if he planned to return to his property management roots-all questions that would consume readers' screening time and lead them to the eventual disqualification of Logan's candidacy.

Makeover Action Plan
The key to successfully positioning Logan, and differentiating him from competitors, was to leverage the uniqueness of his career experiences, cultural diversity, and undergraduate program of study. Through extensive exploration of his past positions and contributions, I was able to build a résumé focused on his achievements-achievements which predicted his ability to perform in investment banking and finance arenas.

Retargeting the format and approach, Logan's new résumé not only looks the part of a professional candidate, but speaks to it as well. Opening with a qualifications summary, the résumé immediately communicates key accomplishments pertaining to Logan's business development strengths-strengths that directly relate to the positions of interest. Relaying the transferability of past experiences was critical in qualifying Logan for his career objective, so attention was paid to the most related functions he had performed throughout his career. In addition, select coursework titles were highlighted to allow for the infusion of appropriate keywords that would otherwise have been impossible to incorporate. Lastly, brief non-value-added bullet points were replaced, with job summaries presented in paragraph format, and bullets were left presenting key contributions from each position.

Logan's new two-page résumé positioned him much more effectively by presenting the transferability of past experiences, the highlights of his academic training, and the uniqueness of his diverse background-all packaged professionally and with a focus on the total value of each component.

Logan was very pleased with his new résumé, stating, Thank you so much for this; I really appreciate it! My résumé now looks great and I am sure that it will bring me much success in my search for a new job.

The Message
Résumé writing is less about writing and more about marketing. Approach your résumé with your target audience in mind and determine what you have to market that will prompt that audience to act positively. With the right strategy and messages, you really do have the power to completely change the outcome of your job search.

Resume Example: Before

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