Yesterday Ari Herzog sent me a link and asked if this one page resume advice was contrary to my thinking. The link he sent was this one by Alison Doyle. I respect Alison as one of the people in the career industry who is thoughtful and gives accurate advice. I read through the article which begins:

Should your resume be longer than one page or should you try to condense it to keep it on a page? There isn’t a yes or no answer, the length of your resume depends on the type of candidate you are and your level of experience.

I agree with that advice. It doesn’t recommend a one page resume for everyone. But then Alison shares data from Saddleback College Survey which says in part:

According to a Saddleback College Resume Survey most employers want a one page resume unless the position requires experience. In fact, the percentage of employers looking for one page resumes increased to 48% last year, up from 35% in 2010.

Note the UNLESS and understand this is one survey done in Orange County, California. There are things in that survey I agree with too. But there are things that I don’t think are a national trend. Like this:

Nearly 30% of employers would prefer a 2-sided printed resume over a 2-page resume to conserve paper.

Now that contradicts most employers I know. So many resumes are read online or submitted via applicant tracking systems that I think it is a mute point. Saving paper is a nice idea but I think there are many other ways to do that. The resume isn’t one of them.

Misconceptions about resume writing are everywhere

The one page resume is one of the misconceptions. People get so focused on this one-page resume idea that they don’t put anything of value into the resume just so they can keep it on one page.

I think employers who believe in one-page resumes need to rethink their goal with the resume. You want candidates who can do the job. You want them to be succinct in their ability to communicate but you need them to tell you what they can do. Here’s another point from that Saddleback survey that I do agree with:

Mentioning where they worked (and years of service) but providing no information on what they accomplished. Projects completed. The overall details of their work.

The title of that page was the #1 resume mistake. Give job seekers a break. Let’s tell them loud and clear that to be hired or even considered for an interview, they need to provide value to the employer. Examples of your accomplishments are much better than a boring list of duties neatly set to fit on a one page resume.

Ari asked what my recommendations are and this is it: At Design Resumes, the resume is a marketing document that promotes you as the product to the employer. Proof is always in whether job seekers are hired. I can tell you success story after success story of my clients. They make me so proud. My clients (including students) have gone up against the worst economy in 80 years and found positions that they love by using 2 page resumes filled with value and accomplishments and implementing networking strategies to make sure their resume is read.

This from a student client from Wausau who graduated from the University of Minnesota with Bachelor of Chemical Engineering – Biomolecular Engineering Concentration, 2011, moved to California and used his value-filled two page resume:

243k jobs added? Make that +1. Started my new job at Medtronic today!!

What do I think? Write a resume that shows your value and you will be hired. Let’s give them some meat (think value and accomplishments) to read!

Stuck in your job search or just ready to move on from your existing position? Julie Walraven can help you find a new career! To find out how, Click here!

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You wonder why you weren’t hired

Many job seekers have asked me why a position is re-posted after they applied, especially when they didn’t even get an interview. Mary said that there are many reasons that happens.

• Perhaps as they reviewed candidates, none of them quite fit either the structure of the organization or the position.
• Perhaps background checks or reference checks didn’t work out.
• Or perhaps their top candidates declined the position.

The value of the right fit to the hiring manager

One of the bullet points we have in my HR director’s resume (Mary) says:

Collaborated with department managers to build understanding of the value in selecting the best qualified candidates and continue recruiting until the right fit is found for the position.

Mary trained the department heads on how to evaluate prospective candidates and not settle for someone just to fill the position. The “right fit” will add value to the organization and be an asset in growing the organization. The wrong fit could be problems down the road.

What can you do to make you the right fit?

Mary and I discussed the many things that job seekers can do to improve their chances of being picked.

1. Read the job description. Make sure that you actually CAN do the job and don’t apply to jobs that you are clearly not qualified to do. Mary used the example of a person in retail applying for a high level IT position. She had no technology experience. It wasn’t entry level. The job description clearly defined both the qualifications and what the position would entail.
2. Incorporate those Key Words from the job description into your resume and cover letter so that you come up as a match.
3. Make sure your resume is filled with accomplishments and quantify those accomplishments so that HR and the hiring manager understands that you can DO the job.
4. When you apply online, make sure you have first created your resume so that you are putting real content into the application. Write the traditional resume first and then use a text resume for applying instead of just filling in the blanks on the application. Directions for the text resume: Click here.
5. Research the company and the position. If you are called for an interview, you need to able to show them that you understand the company and what they need for the position.
6. Prepare for the interview. When you come to the interview, have a battery of additional accomplishments to share in the interview to demonstrate that you fit their needs.
7. Make sure you are not carrying baggage into the interview or into the background check. If you trash talk your old employer in the interview or even with people who could be providing the reference, you will blow your chances to be the one chosen. Attitude matters!

If you follow these suggestions, your job search will be on target and you will become the right fit for a new job much quicker!

Stuck in your job search or just ready to move on from your existing position? Julie Walraven can help you find a new career! To find out how, Click here!

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But then, who am I? Julie Walraven, yes, I may be the owner of Design Resumes, a professional resume writer, and even a CPRW, but really, should I go up against the Wall Street Journal? The Wall Street Journal should be right, yes?

Should we dismiss the time-tested resume?

No! And happily I followed a tweet by Jorgen Sundberg,  Undercover Recruiter to this post by John Hollon, the Vice President for Editorial of TLNT.com, and the former Editor of Workforce Management. His post is entitled: Weekly Wrap: Why Are We So Quick to Dismiss the Good, Old Résumé?

Mr. Hollon points out that the “some firms say” is really a study of 3 firms… Yes, I said 3. Yup, I really believe an information that bases the opinion on three firms instead of in-depth research with reliable results. This article is so good that I recommend you do read it later but I want to share my favorite part:

Ok, I get that traditional résumés are old school — boring, old technology, one directional, often poorly done — but they haven’t lasted as long as they have by accident. They work, even in our technology crazy times, because of one simple thing: they allow a hiring manager or recruiter to get a quick, brief snapshot of an applicant.

Why résumés still work

It may not be the best view they get, but it is one they can get quickly and easily with little muss or fuss. Give me an hour and a two-foot pile of résumés, and I’ll give you the Top 5 or 10 candidates in that stack. Yes, I still want to see their social media presence, but I can thumb through and scan that résumé pile pretty quickly — and a lot faster than I could track down and eyeball all of their LinkedIn profiles or Facebook pages.

It’s frankly silly and somewhat dishonest for The Wall Street Journal to take what three companies do and give the impression that it is the big new trend. Yes, a résumé isn’t the perfect way to evaluate a job candidate, but it’s a good start that is easy to access and understand, especially for your technology challenged CEO.

And yes, both the hiring managers and job seekers are buried

Brilliant! I understand that recruiters and HR managers are buried in resumes and I know many job seekers do it wrong by blasting out volumes of poorly written resumes instead of carefully targeting just the jobs they are both qualified for and really want. But the need for the right, well-written, accomplishment-laden resume to open the door for the job seeker has never gone away, especially in the worst economy in 80 years.

One more quote from Mr. Hollen’s article:

Oh, and by the way, that same WSJ story about the expected death of the résumé noted this way down in paragraph 16:

At most companies, résumés are still the first step of the recruiting process, even at supposedly nontraditional places like Google Inc., which hired about 7,000 people in 2011, after receiving some 2 million résumés. Google has an army of “hundreds” of recruiters who actually read every one, says Todd Carlisle, the technology firm’s director of staffing.”

Imagine that. Google still uses old school résumés. I wonder if that has anything to do with how they’re doing?

I stand by my belief that the resume is indeed the foundation of your job search. Just spend some time getting that resume right and then some time actually targeting your job search coupled with a very healthy dose of networking and you will be on your way to a new career!

Stuck in your job search or just ready to move on from your existing position? Julie Walraven can help you find a new career! To find out how, Click here!

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Some students believe getting an “A” on their resume in school means that their resume is an “A” quality resume. Sounds logical, right?

Recently, my intern was talking to a classmate who insisted that her resume was a quality resume because she got an “A” on it. My intern snickered and said, “Sure, so did I.” But she wrote it before she met me and spent time studying quality resumes and resume strategies. Now she knows her original resume lacked the value and accomplishments needed for a successful resume.

Selected despite the resume

When I chose my intern, my decision was made despite her resume. I had asked my contacts at a college about their intern program and asked for resumes of possible candidates. What sold me on my intern was the solid recommendation she got from the head of the program. She said, ” As promised here is the resume of a student that I believe would be an asset to you and your business.” and went on to explain why.

In this case, I ignored the resume other than to read the basics because part of the internship working with me to create a compelling resume and job search strategy.

In the month plus we have been working together, my choice has been proven right. But most companies don’t get past a bad resume and you will never get the chance to prove you have the value they seek.

What’s wrong with getting an A on your resume?

1. Typically, classes in resumes in high school and college are taught by someone who has no training in resume writing and the book they are using as their guide is an old English book (or a new English book with old information.)
2. Classes in college tend to push duties over accomplishments. Everyone can list duties, it’s what you have done with those duties that make you the shining star that they want. A professional resume writer spends time probing you to find those hidden gems of information to make you stand out and then phrases them in a way to compel the hiring manager to call you for an interview. Can you do this yourself? Absolutely! But you need to know what questions to ask yourself and you need to know how to write like a professional resume writer.
3. More often than not in school, the emphasis is on the one page resume instead of concern over whether you have value and content to fill more than one page.

I know that there are qualified professionals in some campus career centers who have been trained by the professional career industry. Sadly though, most campuses fail to hire someone with that training. So the students are taught by someone reading from an old book.

The “A” grade on your resume may yield no response from employers

Even more scary, the job seeker who got an “A” on their resume is baffled when they don’t get any response from an employer. As I shared the beginnings of this post with my intern, she said, “of course, now I know exactly why my “A” on my resume wouldn’t have done the job to get me a job. It lacked the essential ingredients of a good resume. But the best part is, when I get ready to look for a new position, I’ll have an “A” quality resume!”

Why? We discuss resume strategy during each of our work sessions and my intern will benefit from a new resume designed and developed using cutting edge career solutions!

Stuck in your job search or just ready to move on from your existing position? Julie Walraven can help you find a new career! To find out how, Click here!

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