Does My Resume Stink? Peter Newfield 03/28/07

One of the resume blunders that I routinely see, and yet continues to fascinate me, is that job seekers feel they must show every position they've held since they left school. I always explain that there is no "legal requirement" that forces you to list your entire employment history, and the real fact of the matter is that most employers and executive recruiters are only interested in what you've done over the past ten years. Also note, at an executive level the real focus is on the relevant experience, contributions, and accomplishments you've achieved as a senior level manager.

John is a prime example of a job seeker who thinks a resume needs to include everything. John has numerous accomplishments that have had significant impact on turning around business performance and improving the bottom-line, but they were lost in the large amount of text describing all of the positions he's held. John also created his resume with the thinking that he had to present everything in two pages. Today, it is not uncommon for an accomplished executive to take his or her resume to 3 pages. Adding an extra page allows for easier reading, as it provides more white space to better highlight the key information hiring managers are scanning for.

Upon first glance at John's "before" resume, the format seemed to be presented haphazardly. The information wasn't broken down into categories, some positions had bullets while some had paragraphs, and his summary was too long and unfocused. Therefore, my first challenge was to take all of this information and format it consistently and correctly.

I started with the summary section. This section must define to the reader what John is looking for in his next position. John has not only been a Chief Financial Officer, but also an Operations Director. The skills attained in both of these positions are important in his next career step and should be the focus of his summary section. John has utilized his skills and experience within diverse industries; however, naming all of this experience is not necessary as it will become apparent just in reading the resume. In addition to shortening and cleaning up the summary, I also placed his core competencies and areas of expertise in the beginning and at the end of this section.

Another common error I noticed in John's resume was that he placed his education section at the beginning of the document and included his graduation date. By adding the date he attained his degree (over 30 years ago), not only is John setting the stage for possible age discrimination, but he also fails to show that his experience outweighs the importance of his education. Since there is less emphasis placed on education in John's case, this section should be located toward the end of the document.

Delving further into the resume, I noted that John's presentation of his experience was a bit convoluted, which could confuse the reader. So, I reorganized his experience in the "after" version of his resume to clarify the industry of each position, the main challenge he undertook upon accepting the position, his areas of accountability, and finally the results he produced for the company. This format presents the reader with all the things he or she needs to know in one clear, concise package.

John also had some important certifications that he did not include in this resume. Recruiters and employers are often looking for specific certifications, and may have ruled John out of a great position if they did not see these achievements listed.

John now realizes that he does not need to provide everything during the resume process. A resume should let the reader know who you are, what you bring to the table, and how you can accomplish the challenges presented to you. As I tell all of my clients, a resume is not a legal document but a marketing piece. Your resume should get you in the door, and then it's your job to sell yourself.

Peter Newfield is President of Career-Resumes.com, one of the premier resume writing services in the United States.