How To Make Your Resume Work For You!
by John Crant Wednesday, December 02, 2009
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John Crant is an Author, Career Coach and Speaker on Job Search through his seminar and lecture series at corporate events, at the YMCA in NYC, at The New York Public Library's JOB SEARCH CENTRAL, he works with Workforce Development organizations, and his specially designed series is helping colleges and universities with the Secrets to Launching Your Career in a Changed Job Market.
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Your resume should be doing a lot of work for you. Many people have resumes that grow and grow over time. That may seem okay, as we do add more capability and expertise to our list of skills that we are ’selling’ when we are looking for a new job or a new career. But over time, your resume can grow more ineffective -as you add in more and more.
It’s natural, especially in these days of harder economic times, to want to include everything that may catch the eye of ’someone’ that may have a need - and hopefully will choose to call us in for an interview. But the ‘everything + the kitchen sink’ approach is not one that you should be using on your resume.
Let’s revisit what we think a ‘Resume’ is. If we look in the dictionary, that may not help us. One listing that I saw simply said, “1. a curriculum vitae. 2. a summary.” Okay, but that’s not much of a help or a direction to follow.
A Resume:
What is it? It is, and should be, a simple ‘Sales Sheet’ on a hot product (you!) for which you want to help create ‘desire’. The key word here is simple. It truly needs to be just a single page in most every case. And the information you do choose to include, needs to be valuable to the reader and be very easily ‘absorbed’ within just a few seconds (really, within just 3 to 5 seconds of ‘look time’). So, be sure to do extra work on your formatting.
Things like your address, phone number and hobbies are not really important. Dump the hobbies and make your contact info very small - they will find that information if they want to call you in. Focus the value of your resume on your contributions and accomplishments that should jump off the page. Those are items that they may be looking at, and then imagining, how you can bring those type of accomplishments to their team - should they choose to hire you.
Copyright © 2009 by John Crant
An avid outdoorsman, the author revels in testing our natural traits of self-questioning and doubting that can usually help us avoid one of the major things we face in life: risk. But without risk, there is little reward. Yes, we do need to question and doubt at every step of the way to be sure that our selections and choices allow for the best possible chance of success. But we must interminably challenge ourselves, if we are to achieve our dreams.
As an industry manager, executive recruiter, recruiting and sales trainer, event speaker, and as VP of a nationwide system of recruitment offices, the author has seen most every aspect of the hiring process from both the internal and external view as the decision-maker, the decision-influencer, and as the objective observer. This varied insight is what provides the clarity you will find in his personal coaching, in his lectures, and in his book.
“Trust and have faith in yourself. Work and develop your abilities as a Self-Recruiter, and never shy away from the most difficult and unappetizing pieces, and you could end up in the place you might never have expected: the top.”
John Crant is an Author, Career Coach and Speaker on Job Search through his seminar and lecture series at corporate events, at the YMCA in NYC, at The New York Public Library's JOB SEARCH CENTRAL, he works with Workforce Development organizations, and his specially designed series is helping colleges and universities with the Secrets to Launching Your Career in a Changed Job Market.
To contact John, e-mail him at john@selfrecruiter.com or call (212) 372-9878.
John's new Book on Job Hunting Secrets is: Self-Recruiter® Changing the Rules: How to Be Your Own Recruiter & Ride the Economic Crisis to Your Next Career Challenge. Copyright © 2009 by John Crant.
It’s natural, especially in these days of harder economic times, to want to include everything that may catch the eye of ’someone’ that may have a need - and hopefully will choose to call us in for an interview. But the ‘everything + the kitchen sink’ approach is not one that you should be using on your resume.
Let’s revisit what we think a ‘Resume’ is. If we look in the dictionary, that may not help us. One listing that I saw simply said, “1. a curriculum vitae. 2. a summary.” Okay, but that’s not much of a help or a direction to follow.
A Resume:
What is it? It is, and should be, a simple ‘Sales Sheet’ on a hot product (you!) for which you want to help create ‘desire’. The key word here is simple. It truly needs to be just a single page in most every case. And the information you do choose to include, needs to be valuable to the reader and be very easily ‘absorbed’ within just a few seconds (really, within just 3 to 5 seconds of ‘look time’). So, be sure to do extra work on your formatting.
Things like your address, phone number and hobbies are not really important. Dump the hobbies and make your contact info very small - they will find that information if they want to call you in. Focus the value of your resume on your contributions and accomplishments that should jump off the page. Those are items that they may be looking at, and then imagining, how you can bring those type of accomplishments to their team - should they choose to hire you.
Copyright © 2009 by John Crant
An avid outdoorsman, the author revels in testing our natural traits of self-questioning and doubting that can usually help us avoid one of the major things we face in life: risk. But without risk, there is little reward. Yes, we do need to question and doubt at every step of the way to be sure that our selections and choices allow for the best possible chance of success. But we must interminably challenge ourselves, if we are to achieve our dreams.
As an industry manager, executive recruiter, recruiting and sales trainer, event speaker, and as VP of a nationwide system of recruitment offices, the author has seen most every aspect of the hiring process from both the internal and external view as the decision-maker, the decision-influencer, and as the objective observer. This varied insight is what provides the clarity you will find in his personal coaching, in his lectures, and in his book.
“Trust and have faith in yourself. Work and develop your abilities as a Self-Recruiter, and never shy away from the most difficult and unappetizing pieces, and you could end up in the place you might never have expected: the top.”
John Crant is an Author, Career Coach and Speaker on Job Search through his seminar and lecture series at corporate events, at the YMCA in NYC, at The New York Public Library's JOB SEARCH CENTRAL, he works with Workforce Development organizations, and his specially designed series is helping colleges and universities with the Secrets to Launching Your Career in a Changed Job Market.
To contact John, e-mail him at john@selfrecruiter.com or call (212) 372-9878.
John's new Book on Job Hunting Secrets is: Self-Recruiter® Changing the Rules: How to Be Your Own Recruiter & Ride the Economic Crisis to Your Next Career Challenge. Copyright © 2009 by John Crant.