I’ll give you a hint.

This is NOT the secret:

Writing a resume is easy . . . anyone can do it.

That’s simply not true.

If you’ve ever tried writing your own, you know that it’s really hard to do.

It’s just as hard for us. Even seasoned resume writers with many years’ experience labor over each resume.

It doesn’t get much easier over time to craft resumes that do their job – brand and differentiate our clients to help them gain job interviews.

So much goes into the writing strategy. And each resume has to be tailored to each job seeker’s particular target, situation and career goals.

I know you’ve already scrolled down for this, so here it is. Our best kept secret is . . .

There’s no right or wrong way to write a resume.

One of the variables is who will be reading the resume –  recruiters, HR professionals, top-level management in on the hiring process, Board members . . . the list goes on.

They have different needs and may look for different things in resumes. Resumes may need to be adjusted to appeal to specific kinds of people.

Something often repeated among my colleagues:

If you pass around the same resume to 10 different people, you’ll get 10 different opinions.

That’s the thing with marketing . . . and that’s what a resume is, a marketing document. Different things appeal to different people. You just never know what’s going to hit home with people. Entirely.

But if your resume contains the right information, positions that information in a clear and easily accessible manner, and presents you in the right way, chances are it will do its job.

As long as it’s highly targeted — as it MUST be — a resume can look and read various ways and still work.

The hard part is determining what the “right” information is and strategically positioning it on the page . . . the paper, digital and web page, that is.

This can be hard for you, as a job seeker, to do. You’ve probably only written a handful of resumes for yourself over your career, if that. Many top-level executives have never needed a resume before, or never written one themselves.

So how do you determine what the right information is?

Decide who you are targeting, what those target employers’ needs are, how you can help them meet those needs, and what keywords and phrases their hiring professionals will be searching for when they source talent.

You need to align your good-fit qualities with what those employers are looking for in candidates.

The biggest resume writing mistake job seekers make is NO CLEAR JOB SEARCH TARGETING. That is, not determining at the start of their job search which companies and positions within them are a good mutual fit.

Start there. If you hit all the marks correctly, chances are your resume will hit home, get you the interviews you want, and help you land the gig you want.

Related posts:

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What NOT To Put in Your C-level Executive Resume

photo by stevendepolo

Right before I speak with potential clients for the first time, I Google their names.

This is exactly what many hiring professionals and executive recruiters do when they’re assessing candidates.

What I typically find is a very meager online footprint, with very little social networking. They’ll almost always have a LinkedIn profile and, unless that person shares a name with others, LinkedIn will be the number one search result on the page, and it will be associated with the person I’m about to speak with.

Most often, they’ve posted a bare-bones LinkedIn profile, with no summary section, no keyword-rich professional headline, and very little (if any) information under each job title. Beyond LinkedIn, they will rarely have any social media presence.

I generally only search the first page of results for my initial chat. What I’m looking for is more information about the person to assess whether they’re a good fit to work with me, to see whether they’ve done any work to build their brand online, and to see if they have any digital dirt that could cripple their search.

Frequently these job seekers are unaware of how important it is for them to have a strong, branded online presence. Given the same set of qualifications, skills and expertise, those who have a diverse and higher-volume of search results are more likely to be noticed, sought out, and hired.

According to Talent Management Magazine’s article about a recent survey from CareerBuilder, nearly 37 percent of firms use social networking sites to research job candidates. What are they looking for?

• To see if the candidate presents himself/herself professionally — 65 percent
• To see if the candidate is a good fit for the company culture — 51 percent
• To learn more about the candidate’s qualifications — 45 percent
• To see if the candidate is well-rounded — 35 percent
• To look for reasons not to hire the candidate — 12 percent

Nearly 34 percent found information that caused them NOT to hire a candidate.

That issue can pose major problems for some job seekers. In today’s highly competitive job market, hiring professional have their pick of the absolute best. If they find dirt or even a flimsy reason to rule you out, they will. There are plenty of others to slide in place.

One of the major problems I find when Googling people’s names is not within content these people posted themselves online (if they’ve even done so). It’s not inappropriate behavior that found its way online, or that they posted somewhere.

I’m finding content on the first page of results that the person DIDN’T post themselves, so they may have little control over it.

• Sometimes the person knows about it.
• Sometimes the person had an unfortunate blip in their career or personal life that made news. They’ve since made amends, but the bad news lingers forever online.
• Sometimes the content is associated with some dastardly person who has the same name.

Whatever the reason, those search results could seriously damage their job search.

My searches on two recent client prospects revealed problematic online identities:

1. A 65 year old mid-level sales and marketing executive, who was very concerned about ageism in his search.

LinkedIn was the #1 search result. About half way down the first page was a link to his high school yearbook and the year he graduated. Instantly, his age was revealed.

2. The second search result for a CMO in medical devices (let’s call him “Joe Smith”) jumped out with the hyperlink “Can anyone share their real thoughts on Joe Smith?” Who wouldn’t be drawn to that headline?

The link led to a snarky industry-related chat site where several anonymous people on his team trashed his leadership abilities . . . in detail.

In both instances above, the job seekers probably can’t get those pages taken down. Their only recourse is to work on outdistancing those bad search results with good ones, pushing the bad ones down and onto the second, or hopefully, third or fourth pages of results, where they’re less likely to be found.

Your takeaway?

Follow the steps that hiring professionals do when they’re sourcing and assessing talent by what they find online. Know what the people who have a hand in hiring you will find when they search you.

Do a quick Google search on “your name” right now, and then once a week or so, and see what’s out there.

If you find digital dirt, here are three things to do:

• Try to push it down beyond the first page or two by building up branded, relevant search results on high-ranking sites.
• See if you can get the page taken down.
• See if you can rewrite the content to position yourself in a more positive light.

Related posts:

Does Your Online Presence Scream “DON’T Hire Me”?

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Executive Branding Online: Write Book Reviews on Amazon

photo by SallyB2

With so much misinformation about personal branding  bombarding us across social media, it’s easy to see why people are confused.

But the concept of personal branding is quite simple:

Define, differentiate and communicate the unique ROI (return on investment) value you offer your target audience over your competitors.

Target audiences differ, just as what they’re looking for in people like you differs.

For job search and career management, your brand and the way you communicate it need to resonate with your target employers and/or current employer.

In business, build your brand communications around what will hit home with your customers or clients.

In effect, your brand helps people decide whether to hire you, keep you as an employee, or do business with you.

The concept is simple, but uncovering your brand to get to that simple formula requires deep reflection. The factors that converge to exact a memorable brand and express it powerfully are complex:

1.  Targeting

Get clear on what you want to do next, which employers will fulfill your career needs, and what current needs of theirs you’re uniquely qualified to meet. Know your target audience so you’ll know what makes you a good fit for them.

2.  Passion

Think about the activities, interests, or conversational topics that fascinate or excite you and make you feel energized. Your passions make you get out of bed at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning or get you talking enthusiastically with others. How do your passions converge with what you are best at doing?

3.  Chemistry

Give a feel for the kind of person you are and how you used your top personal attributes to make things happen for your employers.

You’re unique. Make your brand messaging reflect that. Translate the passions you have into content with personality. Don’t be afraid to pack a punch. Generate excitement about you as a candidate. Get “personal” with your brand.

4.  Authenticity

Don’t be fake. Don’t make claims about yourself that you can’t back up. Be genuine. Define who you are now and what you offer now – not who you want to be or the kind of person you want to be thought of.

5.  Introspection

Dig deep into the personal attributes and qualities that drive you and make you unique. How have you used these traits to benefit your employers?

Showcase your motivated skills and areas of expertise – the ones you excel at, love doing and contribute the most by doing. Having a hard time identifying them? Try developing Challenge – Action(s) – Result(s) or CARs stories.

6.  Extrospection

Find out how you’re perceived by the external world – the true measure of your personal brand.

Get feedback from those who know you and your work best – peers, management, staff, employees, clients, mentors, etc. They will affirm or make you question your own assessment of your value to your target employers.

7.  Differentiation of Your Unique Value Proposition

What qualifications, skills and areas of expertise set you apart from others competing for the same kinds of jobs? What combination of things do you have to offer that no one else does?

Quantify – or better yet, monetize – your ROI value. What makes you worth the high cost of hiring? What makes you the best hiring choice?

8.  Precision

Work on tight writing on the (paper, digital and web) page and to-the-point verbal communications of who you are and the value you offer. Don’t bore people with superfluous and irrelevant content.

9.  Visibility

Keep yourself visible and top of mind with your target audience/target employers. Position yourself on LinkedIn and other social media, and relevant blogs. Develop a realistic online brand communications plan and stick to it. Be online or be invisible.

10.  The 3 Cs – health insurance for your personal brand:

Clarity – Be clear about who you are, who you are not, who your competitors are, and who your target audience is.

Consistency – Consistently express the same personal brand message, designed to resonate with your target audience, across all communications channels you decide to use.

Constancy – Memorable brands are always visible to their target audience. Proactively stay top of mind with them through social media, real-life networking, and all other personal marketing efforts.

Related posts:

10 Steps to an Authentic, Magnetic Personal Brand

Top 10 Executive Resume Branding Tips

10 Things to Love About Your Executive Brand

For the past several weeks a lovely cardinal has been hanging around one of my office windows, alternately perched on a branch of a nearby shrub and smashing into the window.

He does this for hours at a time, every day.

He could be thinking the window is an open space he can get through or that his reflection is another bird coming at him.

Whatever the reason, he’s getting nowhere. But he keeps banging against that window, day after day.

Remember Einstein’s definition of insanity?

“Doing the same thing over and over again,
and expecting different results.”

Are you one of the many, many executive job seekers locked into a repetitive process that’s not working?

If you have a branded, targeted LinkedIn profile (so you’ll be found in online searches) and resume you’ve been using diligently, and you’ve  been in a proactive job search (I mean, you’re actively and purposefully networking for a new job) for more than let’s say a month, and you’re getting nowhere . . . no interviews . . .

It’s time to revisit your resume because it’s not positioning you as the good-fit candidate you know you are.

Maybe it doesn’t clearly align your expertise and value proposition with the needs and challenges your target companies are facing right now. If so, go back and stress these attributes and qualifications using the relevant keywords and phrases recruiters and hiring professionals will be looking for.

Or maybe you’ve made the biggest resume writing mistake . . . you haven’t done the personal branding and company/industry targeting work you MUST do first, before even attempting to write your resume.

Either way, take another look at your resume. If it’s broke, fix it!

Put yourself in the place of the people who will be assessing you through it (and your LinkedIn profile). Make sure your promise of value hits home with them.

Related posts:

Top 10 Executive Resume Branding Tips

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The Lazy C-level Executive Job Search

photo by hart_curt

(The following is my latest article as the Personal Branding Expert at Job-Hunt.org.)

You’re suddenly facing a job search, so you rush right to your resume (if you can find it) to update it. But wait. You may not be ready to tackle your resume yet.

If it’s been several years since you revisited your resume, or if you’re one of those lucky people who never needed a resume, you may not be aware of how much resumes have changed in the past several years.

Before working on your resume, re-think how to update it, so that you’ll create a career marketing document that will optimally do its job – land you interviews.

Have you been paying attention to all the talk these days about personal branding? How your brand should be built around what makes you a good fit for your target employers? How resume branding can help you clearly identify and communicate what differentiates you from your job-seeking competitors?

Most importantly, you may not understand that step one in job search is NOT diving right into writing your resume.

Step one is laying out the groundwork with targeting and branding. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have the information about your target audience and yourself that you’ll need to write a compelling resume.

Here are 10 tips to build an interview-generating, brand-reinforcing resume:

INFORMATION-MINING

1. Targeting

Before you can define your brand and create content for your resume, you need to know who you’re targeting . . . who will be reading your resume. You’ll need to decide what kind of job you’ll be seeking, compile a list of companies you want to work for, research their current challenges and needs, and determine how you can help them meet those challenges.

Doing this will help you align everything in your resume with what your target employers will be looking for in candidates. Industry and company research, and the information you’ll find in job descriptions, will help you identify required qualifications and those all-important relevant keywords that need to be in your resume. A Google search of your target companies, the companies’ websites and Indeed.com are good resources. And check out Job-Hunt’s Company Research articles.  

2. Personal Branding and Value Proposition

Branding is no longer optional. Your competitors could well be using this method to differentiate themselves. You need to brand yourself and the unique value you offer, just to keep pace with them.

My 10-step Personal Branding Worksheet will help you uncover and communicate the combination of attributes, passions, strengths and qualifications that differentiate you from them.

As you’re building your brand, create a vibrant brand positioning statement for your resume.

3. Write Down Your Career Success Stories

Instead of merely listing a string of relevant keyword phrases in your resume, back them up by providing specific examples of your achievements and how they impacted the company – saved them money, made them money, improved processes, improved customer satisfaction, etc. Show them the numbers! Think of the best contributions you’ve made to your employers, in terms of highest value to them.

My article on Challenge – Action – Results (C-A-Rs) stories will help. 

WRITING YOUR RESUME

4. Skip the Objective Statement

Employers don’t care that you want a “challenging position to advance my career”. They want to know what you’ll do for them and whether you’ll be a good hiring choice. Objective statements waste valuable space and prime real estate on the page.

5. Real Estate and Strategic Positioning

 Busy HR people and other hiring decision makers typically allow only 10-15 seconds to scan a resume and decide whether you’re a person they want to interview.

Their eyes will go right to the top third or half of page one first, and may go no further. You need to capture their attention and hold it by encapsulating the best you have to offer in that spot on the page.

Suggestions for branding “above the fold”:

 Lead with a hard-hitting personal brand statement that includes your most important relevant keywords and describes your ROI (Return on Investment) value to your target employers.

• Add a powerful quote from a recent performance review or someone you work with.
• Include 3 or 4 short value-driven bulleted statements with numbers.

6. Readability, Formatting and Length

Avoid densely packed, hard-to-read information. Remember that, when you email your digital resume, the reader could open up and view your document on their PDA . . . that’s a very small screen. Shorter chunks of information are easier to read – on your digital or paper resume – and will draw the reader’s eye to continue down the page.

Keep the formatting attractive, consistent, and clean. Don’t use more than 2 different fonts (one for headings, another for content), and don’t choose frilly, unprofessional fonts. Use graphic lines sparingly and avoid underlining text.

As far as length, recent grads or those with only a few years’ experience should be able to keep it to one page. Executives and more experienced job seekers should try not to go over 2 pages.

Remember that a resume is a career marketing communication, not a career history. It needs to incorporate just enough compelling information to generate interest in you. Everything in your resume must be there for a reason. Nothing should be arbitrary. Pare down your content ruthlessly!

7. Typos and Grammar

It should go without saying that typos and errors in grammar are the kiss of death. They may also convey misinformation. Proofread several times and have someone else do it, too. Don’t rely on spellcheck. Make sure your contact information is correct.

8. Overused “Resume-Speak”

You’re not like everyone else. Your resume shouldn’t read like everyone else who’s competing for the same jobs. You’ve done the branding work, so you know what differentiates you. Make that come across in your resume. Keep the content interesting and don’t fall back on dull phrases that don’t differentiate you, such as results-oriented, visionary leader, excellent communication skills, proven track record of success, etc.

9. Passive Verbs

 Avoid the anemic, boring phrase “responsible for”. Show your vitality with robust action verbs, identify your personal brand attributes, and explain your niche expertise with relevant key words. Use strong words like advanced, drove, spearheaded, accelerated, optimized, streamlined, leveraged, etc.

10. Repetitive Job Descriptions

Don’t waste precious space in the “Professional Experience” section reiterating obvious responsibilities. Readers will already know the basic duties for your jobs. Reinforce your brand by highlighting your relevant keyword phrases linked to specific examples of the value you offered your past employers.

Bottom Line:

Yes, all of this takes a lot of time. But the work you do, and the content you create, defining your personal brand and developing your resume (and biography and other career documents) around it forms the foundation for all your personal marketing materials, online and offline, and offers many benefits:

• Energizes you with what differentiates your value proposition to your target employers.
• Helps you know how to tell your network how they can help you achieve your career goals.
• Prepares you to speak confidently and knowledgeably about the value you offer.
• Provides a wealth of on-brand information to re-purpose for each of your online profiles and any web pages you create.
• Prepares you to network and interview well.

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The Biggest Executive Resume Writing Mistake

The Future of the Executive Resume According to Martin Yate

4 Reasons You Can’t Write Your Own Executive Resume

Despite the impact of the digital age on executive job search, career professionals will tell you that a targeted, value proposition-driven resume is still one of the most critical elements in any successful search.

The resume is NOT dead. You still need to have one.

But the Internet, social media and the new world of work have had a major impact on executive resume content and formatting. No longer merely a career history outlining jobs, responsibilities and achievements, these days a resume is a career marketing document that positions you as a good-fit candidate for your target employers.

Pull together a branded resume with content and format designed to resonate with your target employers, and you up the odds that you’ll generate interest and get interviews.

A great resume is also the foundation for an interview-generating LinkedIn profile, and other online profiles and personal marketing materials.

But do you know how to pull all the pieces together to create your branded, value prop-driven resume? Most job seekers don’t know enough about today’s strategic resume writing to best position themselves to land.

I can help. And here’s where I discuss what my new CMRW credential is all about.

Awarded by Career Directors International (CDI), the Certified Master Resume Writer is the careers industry’s oldest master-level resume credential and the only one endorsed by a professional association.

Only the 17th person worldwide to have earned this distinguished credential, I join a select group of elite resume writers who have proven themselves by submitting a portfolio of work that has been judged by a panel of CMRW peers. Professionals who themselves are Toast of the Resume Industry (TORI) Award Winners and worldwide leaders of the industry.

The portfolio submitted must stand out for its innovation, for advanced formatting that grasps the attention of the reader, and for superior command of the language that makes every bullet point an unfolding story.

Are you thinking you may need help with your executive resume? Review my contact page  and get in touch with me to discuss whether we may be a good fit to work together.

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