• Customized resumes for specific openings
• One or more resumes for other jobs you can do and want to pursue
• An ASCII resume
• A resume for your social networking site
And you might decide you need a business card resume and an HTML or web-based resume.
Your resume is a living, breathing document, and the primary resume you so carefully developed is never really finished. It evolves throughout your job search as you learn more about the skills and experience your marketplace needs, and as you learn to express your possession of these skills and experiences in ways most accessible to your customer base.
Most important, it evolves every time you customize that resume in response to a particular job posting. Before sending your resume in response to any job opening, you should evaluate it against the job description, and tweak it so that it speaks clearly and powerfully to the stated needs of that job.
You will notice that the transferable skills we talk about throughout the Knock ’em Dead series (communication, critical thinking, multitasking, teamwork, etc.) crop up frequently in job postings:
“Work closely with” means you are a team player and work for the good of the team and the deliverables to which you are collectively committed.
“Communication skills” means you listen to understand and that you can take direction in all circumstances. It also refers to verbal and written skills, dress, body language, your social graces, and emotional maturity.
“Multitasking” does not mean you rush heedlessly from one emergency to the next; it means that you carefully order your activities based on sound time management and organizational skills.
“Problem-solving skills” means you think through the likely effects of your actions before taking them, and that you know your area of expertise well enough to identify, prevent, and solve the problems it generates on a daily basis.
Match the job posting against your resume to see that the words you use to describe certain skills match the words the employer is using.
Then think through how the job posting requirement of, say, “work closely with others,” applies to each of the employer’s specific skill requirements that require you to interact with other people and other departments to get your work done. For example, an accountant working with accounts receivable might, on hearing “work closely with others,” think about problem accounts and working with sales and the nonpaying customer, as well as working laterally and upward within the accounting department.
When you think through your work experience and discover achievements that speak directly to the stated needs of an employer, you can draw attention to your close match in either your resume or a cover letter.
In a cover letter, these might appear as the company statement in quotation marks followed by an achievement in that area:
“Analytical/Critical thinking/Problem-solving skills”
• Thorough knowledge of the issues that impact productivity in Operations have resulted in a 35% increase in on-time delivery.
“Work closely with” and “Communication skills”
• Improvements in on-time delivery also made possible by improved communications with stakeholders: Purchasing, Supply Chain, Customer, and Customer Service; which also delivered a 20% reduction in client complaints.
“Multitasking”
• Effective Operations Management demands understanding every department’s critical functions and timelines. Building these considerations into daily activities helped Finance & Supply Chain save $55,000 in last three quarters.
In a resume, you might decide to highlight such highly relevant achievements with a Performance Highlights or a Career Highlights section on your resume, coming right after the Professional Competencies section.
This section will comprise a short sequence of bulleted statements, each addressing one of the company’s stated requirements, and so emphasizing the fit between the employer’s needs and your capabilities. Use an example to illustrate if you can do so succinctly.
However, in your resume, space might be at more of a premium than in your cover letter, and so you would use the achievements without the quotes:
Performance Highlights
35% increase in on-time delivery + 20% reduction in client complaints
Effective Operations Management demands understanding every department’s unique problems and timelines. Building these considerations into daily activities helped:
• Finance & Supply Chain, saved $55,000 in last three quarters
• Increased productivity, with a 35% increase in on-time delivery
These on-time delivery increases were achieved with improved communications, connecting Purchasing, Supply Chain, Customers, and Customer Service:
• Delivered 20% reduction in client complaints
With just a few years’ experience in the professional world, most people reach a point where they have experience that qualifies them for more than one job. You built your primary resume around the job for which the odds are shortest. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other jobs you can do and want to pursue.
After your primary resume is completed, it is fairly easy to create a resume for any additional job you want to pursue. Given your completed primary resume, you already have a template to start with; plus the dates, layout, chronology, contact information, and possibly the employers are all going to remain the same. There’s a methodology, as I’m about to show you, that quickly helps you refocus and edit your primary resume into a resume for that second or third target job.
1. Save a duplicate copy of your primary resume, and save it under the new target job title, because although the job is different, a great deal of the information and resume layout will remain the same.
2. Complete a TJD exercise on the next target job.
3. On the duplicate copy of your resume, saved under the name of the second target job, use the new TJD to edit out irrelevant details and replace them with the higher-impact information that is more relevant to the new target job.
4. Edit and polish, and you have a customized resume for that second or third target job.
Social networking has rapidly become integrated into all business activities and into the social activities of half the world. If you belong to the half of the world that isn’t engaged with social media, a successful job search today demands that you’ll have to change your thinking. Later in this chapter, I’ll show you how to create a social networking resume/profile, and in the latest annual edition of Knock ’em Dead: The Ultimate Job Search Guide, I’ll show you how to network effectively online.
All companies, except the smallest locally owned and focused service/retail operations, use online recruitment as their primary staffing strategy. This means a predominantly online job search for most professionals.
An online job search means that your resume will probably have to exist in different formats for different situations, to give you the greatest visibility in your target markets. You will need to use different formats to achieve this.
1. Microsoft Word or PDF files are referred to as formatted
2. ASCII is either plain text or with line breaks
3. Web-based/HTML
The above gobbledygook of techno-speak will all be made plain in the coming pages.
A formatted resume is your resume as created in a word-processing document, most often the ubiquitous Microsoft Word. When you attach your resume to an e-mail or print it out for distribution by traditional mail or to take to interviews, you can do it in either Microsoft Word or PDF format.
With PDF, the layout is fixed and will appear exactly as you send it, which can’t always be said of Microsoft Word documents. Both ways are acceptable, and there are even people who attach their resume in both formats to give the reader a choice. I lean toward using PDF because the layout will never change no matter what. When sending an attached resume in Word or PDF by e-mail, you will mention the attachment in the body of your e-mail: “My resume is attached in a PDF document.”
An ASCII resume looks like the average e-mail message you receive. You will see how to create two separate versions of an ASCII resume: one best suited for pasting into the body of an e-mail message after your signature, the other for cutting and pasting into resume-bank resume templates. You will likely need both.
The ASCII version of your resume is the simplest and least visually attractive; it is just the unadorned basics: letters, numbers, and a few symbols. ASCII resumes are important because this is the only format that any and every computer can read. The reader will not need a word-processing program such as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, and software or printer compatibility isn’t a consideration.
A web-based/HTML resume is a “nice to have,” not a “must have.” Don’t even think about it until you have a properly constructed and branded resume that portrays you exactly as you wish to be seen. An HTML, web-based, or e-portfolio resume is one that can have additional features such as video and sound and can be uploaded in certain instances to resume banks and social networking sites, or even housed on the Internet at its own URL. There are some advantages to this. For example, if you work in arts, education, certain areas of communications, or technology, the ability to include audio and video clips, music, and pictures can be a plus. Likewise, if you are a web-page design professional or HTML guru, then by all means use the Internet to show your creative and technological abilities. If you are in a creative profession and would typically have a portfolio, a web resume can provide access to your work samples.
You start this simple process by opening the Microsoft Word–formatted version of your resume.
1234 Murietta Ave. • Palmdale, CA 93550
Residence(661)555-1234 • Mobile (661) 555-9876 • PatJohnson@email.com
FINANCE/ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONAL
Internal Auditor/Financial Analyst/Staff Accountant
Detail-oriented, problem solver with excellent analytical strengths and a track record of optimizing productivity, reducing costs, and increasing profit contributions. Well-developed team-building and leadership strengths with experience in training and coaching coworkers. Works well with public, clients, vendors, and coworkers at all levels. Highly motivated and goal orientated as demonstrated by completing studies toward BS in Finance, graduating with honors concurrent with full-time, progressive business experience.
—Core Competencies—
Research & Analysis/Accounts Receivable/Accounts Payable/Journal Entries/Bank Reconciliations
Payroll/Financial Statements/Auditing/General Ledger/Artist Contracts/Royalties/Escalation Clauses
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
MAJOR HOLLYWOOD STUDIO, Hollywood, CA • 2000 to Present
Achieved fast-track promotion to positions of increasing challenge and responsibility
Royalty Analyst—Music Group, Los Angeles, CA (2005–Present)
Process average of $8–9 million in payments monthly. Review artist contracts, licenses, and rate sheets to determine royalties due to producers and songwriters for leading record label. Ensure accuracy of statements sent to publishers in terms of units sold and rates applied. Research, resolve, and respond to all inquiries.
• Resolved longstanding problems substantially reducing publisher inquiries and complaints.
• Promoted to “Level 1” analyst within only one year and ahead of two staff members with longer tenure.
• Provided superior training to temporary employee that resulted in her being hired for permanent, Level 1 position after only three months.
Accounts Payable Analyst—Music & Video Distribution (2002–2005)
Processed high volume of utility bills, office equipment leases, shipping invoices, and office supplies for 12 regional branches. Assisted branches with proper invoice coding and resolving payment disputes with vendors.
• • Identified longstanding duplicate payment that resulted in vendor refund of $12,000.
• • Created contract-employment expenses spreadsheet; identified and resolved $24,000 in duplicate payments.
• • Gained reputation for thoroughness and promptness in meeting all payment deadlines.
• • Set up macro in accounts payable system that streamlined invoice payments.
• • Consolidated vendor accounts, increasing productivity and reducing number of checks processed.
Accounts Receivable Analyst—Music & Video Distribution (2000–2002)
Processed incoming payments, received and posted daily check deposits, reviewed applications for vendor accounts, distributed accounting reports, and ordered office supplies. Handled rebillings of international accounts for shipments by various labels.
• Hired as permanent employee from temporary position after only three months.
Additional Experience: Billing Clerk/Accounting Clerk/Bookkeeper (details available upon request)
EDUCATION
BS in Finance; Graduated with Honors • CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, Northridge, CA; 2005
Completed Studies Concurrent with Full-Time Employment
Computer Skills: Windows, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Peachtree, J.D. Edwards, Tracs
Step one will convert the Word resume to an ASCII (or text) format. It will remove all graphic elements, standardize the font, and remove bolding, italics, and underlining. The purpose of this step is to produce a document that can be read by all operating systems (Mac, PC, Linux, etc.), ISPs (Internet service providers), and resume-tracking software systems. You will use it for uploading and insertion into career and company websites. Here’s how you do it:
1. Save resume using the “File/Save As” command.
2. In the “Save As” window, use an identifiable name such as (your name), E-Resume.
3. In “File Type” or “Format,” scroll down and select “Plain Text” or “Text Only.”
4. Make sure that “Insert Line Breaks” is not checked.
5. Make sure that “Allow Character Substitution” is checked.
6. Save and close.
The purpose of step two is to make sure that the ASCII document is “clean” and that all information is left-justified to optimize readability by resume-tracking systems.
When you open the “E-Resume” file, all information will be in simple text and characters will show keyboard characters. Your resume will now look like this:
1234 MURIETTA AVE. * PALMDALE, CA 93550
RESIDENCE(661) 555-1234 * MOBILE(661) 555-9876 * PATJOHNSON@EMAIL.COM
FINANCE/ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONAL
INTERNAL AUDITOR/FINANCIAL ANALYST/STAFF ACCOUNTANT
DETAIL-ORIENTED, PROBLEM SOLVER WITH EXCELLENT ANALYTICAL STRENGTHS AND A TRACK RECORD OF OPTIMIZING PRODUCTIVITY, REDUCING COSTS, AND INCREASING PROFIT CONTRIBUTIONS. WELL-DEVELOPED TEAM-BUILDING AND LEADERSHIP STRENGTHS WITH EXPERIENCE IN TRAINING AND COACHING COWORKERS. WORKS WELL WITH PUBLIC, CLIENTS, VENDORS, AND COWORKERS AT ALL LEVELS. HIGHLY MOTIVATED AND GOAL ORIENTATED AS DEMONSTRATED BY COMPLETING STUDIES TOWARD BS IN FINANCE, GRADUATING WITH HONORS CONCURRENT WITH FULL-TIME, PROGRESSIVE BUSINESS EXPERIENCE
-CORE COMPETENCIES-
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS/ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE/ACCOUNTS PAYABLE/JOURNAL ENTRIES/BANK RECONCILIATIONS
PAYROLL/FINANCIAL STATEMENTS/AUDITING/GENERAL LEDGER/ARTIST CONTRACTS/ROYALTIES/ESCALATION CLAUSES
MAJOR HOLLYWOOD STUDIO, HOLLYWOOD, CA * 2000 TO PRESENT
ACHIEVED FAST-TRACK PROMOTION TO POSITIONS OF INCREASING CHALLENGE AND RESPONSIBILITY
ROYALTY ANALYST-MUSIC GROUP, LOS ANGELES, CA (2005-PRESENT)
PROCESS AVERAGE OF $8–9 MILLION IN PAYMENTS MONTHLY. REVIEW ARTIST CONTRACTS, LICENSES, AND RATE SHEETS TO DETERMINE ROYALTIES DUE TO PRODUCERS AND SONGWRITERS FOR LEADING RECORD LABEL. ENSURE ACCURACY OF STATEMENTS SENT TO PUBLISHERS IN TERMS OF UNITS SOLD AND RATES APPLIED. RESEARCH, RESOLVE, AND RESPOND TO ALL INQUIRIES.
* RESOLVED LONGSTANDING PROBLEMS SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCING PUBLISHER INQUIRIES AND COMPLAINTS.
* PROMOTED TO “LEVEL 1” ANALYST WITHIN ONLY ONE YEAR AND AHEAD OF TWO STAFF MEMBERS WITH LONGER TENURE.
* PROVIDED SUPERIOR TRAINING TO TEMPORARY EMPLOYEE THAT RESULTED IN HER BEING HIRED FOR PERMANENT, LEVEL 1 POSITION AFTER ONLY THREE MONTHS.
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE ANALYST-MUSIC & VIDEO DISTRIBUTION(2002-2005)
PROCESSED HIGH VOLUME OF UTILITY BILLS, OFFICE EQUIPMENT LEASES, SHIPPING INVOICES, AND OFFICE SUPPLIES FOR 12 REGIONAL BRANCHES. ASSISTED BRANCHES WITH PROPER INVOICE CODING AND RESOLVING PAYMENT DISPUTES WITH VENDORS.
* IDENTIFIED LONGSTANDING DUPLICATE PAYMENT THAT RESULTED IN VENDOR REFUND OF $12,000.
* CREATED CONTRACT-EMPLOYMENT EXPENSES SPREADSHEET; IDENTIFIED AND RESOLVED $24,000 IN DUPLICATE PAYMENTS.
* GAINED REPUTATION FOR THOROUGHNESS AND PROMPTNESS IN MEETING ALL PAYMENT DEADLINES.
* SET UP MACRO IN ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SYSTEM THAT STREAMLINED INVOICE PAYMENTS.
* CONSOLIDATED VENDOR ACCOUNTS, INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY AND REDUCING NUMBER OF CHECKS PROCESSED.
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE ANALYST-MUSIC & VIDEO DISTRIBUTION (2000-2002)
PROCESSED INCOMING PAYMENTS; RECEIVED AND POSTED DAILY CHECK DEPOSITS, REVIEWED APPLICATIONS FOR VENDOR ACCOUNTS; DISTRIBUTED ACCOUNTING REPORTS, AND ORDERED OFFICE SUPPLIES. HANDLED REBILLINGS OF INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTS FOR SHIPMENTS BY VARIOUS LABELS.
* HIRED AS PERMANENT EMPLOYEE FROM TEMPORARY POSITION AFTER ONLY THREE MONTHS.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE: BILLING CLERK/ACCOUNTING CLERK/BOOKKEEPER (DETAILS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST)
EDUCATION
BS IN FINANCE; GRADUATED wITH HONORS * CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE, CA; 2005
COMPLETED STUDIES CONCURRENT WITH FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT
COMPUTER SKILLS: WINDOWS, MICROSOFT OFFICE (WORD, EXCEL, POWERPOINT), PEACHTREE, J.D. EDWARDS, TRACS
Now:
1. Set margins to 1 left, 2 right, 1 top and bottom.
2. Align all information to the left.
3. Check for unusual keyboard-character substitutions such as dollar signs. Usually the substitution will automatically default to asterisks, which is fine. Make changes as appropriate.
4. Correct any strange line breaks.
5. Separate sections using all caps for headings and lines composed of keyboard characters such as hyphens, equal signs, asterisks, tildes, etc.
6. Save, but don’t close. Again, make sure that “Insert Line Breaks” is not checked and that “Allow Character Substitution” is checked.
Your e-resume will now look like this:
PATRICIA JOHNSON
1234 MURIETTA AVE.
PALMDALE, CA 93550
RESIDENCE (661) 555-1234
MOBILE (661) 555-9876
PATJOHNSON@EMAIL.COM
===================================
===================================
FINANCE/ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONAL
INTERNAL AUDITOR/FINANCIAL ANALYST/STAFF ACCOUNTANT
DETAIL-ORIENTED, PROBLEM SOLVER WITH EXCELLENT ANALYTICAL STRENGTHS AND A TRACK RECORD OF OPTIMIZING PRODUCTIVITY, REDUCING COSTS, AND INCREASING PROFIT CONTRIBUTIONS. WELL-DEVELOPED TEAM-BUILDING AND LEADERSHIP STRENGTHS WITH EXPERIENCE IN TRAINING AND COACHING COWORKERS. WORKS WELL WITH PUBLIC, CLIENTS, VENDORS, AND COWORKERS AT ALL LEVELS. HIGHLY MOTIVATED AND GOAL ORIENTATED AS DEMONSTRATED BY COMPLETING STUDIES TOWARD BS IN FINANCE, GRADUATING WITH HONORS CONCURRENT WITH FULL-TIME, PROGRESSIVE BUSINESS EXPERIENCE.
===================================
-CORE COMPETENCIES-
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS/ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE/ACCOUNTS PAYABLE/JOURNAL ENTRIES/BANK RECONCILIATIONS/PAYROLL/FINANCIAL STATEMENTS/AUDITING/GENERAL LEDGER/ARTIST CONTRACTS/ROYALTIES/ESCALATION CLAUSES
===================================
===================================
MAJOR HOLLYWOOD STUDIO
HOLLYWOOD, CA
2000 TO PRESENT
ACHIEVED FAST-TRACK PROMOTION TO POSITIONS OF INCREASING CHALLENGE AND RESPONSIBILITY
~~ROYALTY ANALYST-MUSIC GROUP, LOS ANGELES, CA
~~(2005-PRESENT)
PROCESS AVERAGE OF $8-9 MILLION IN PAYMENTS MONTHLY. REVIEW ARTIST CONTRACTS, LICENSES, AND RATE SHEETS TO DETERMINE ROYALTIES DUE TO PRODUCERS AND SONGWRITERS FOR LEADING RECORD LABEL. ENSURE ACCURACY OF STATEMENTS SENT TO PUBLISHERS IN TERMS OF UNITS SOLD AND RATES APPLIED. RESEARCH, RESOLVE, AND RESPOND TO ALL INQUIRIES.
* RESOLVED LONGSTANDING PROBLEMS SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCING PUBLISHER INQUIRIES AND COMPLAINTS.
* PROMOTED TO “LEVEL 1” ANALYST WITHIN ONLY ONE YEAR AND AHEAD OF TWO STAFF MEMBERS WITH LONGER TENURE.
* PROVIDED SUPERIOR TRAINING TO TEMPORARY EMPLOYEE THAT RESULTED IN HER BEING HIRED FOR PERMANENT, LEVEL 1 POSITION AFTER ONLY THREE MONTHS.
~~ACCOUNTS PAYABLE ANALYST-MUSIC & VIDEO DISTRIBUTION
~~(2002-2005)
PROCESSED HIGH VOLUME OF UTILITY BILLS, OFFICE EQUIPMENT LEASES, SHIPPING INVOICES, AND OFFICE SUPPLIES FOR 12 REGIONAL BRANCHES. ASSISTED BRANCHES WITH PROPER INVOICE CODING AND RESOLVING PAYMENT DISPUTES WITH VENDORS.
* IDENTIFIED LONGSTANDING DUPLICATE PAYMENT THAT RESULTED IN VENDOR REFUND OF $12,000.
* CREATED CONTRACT-EMPLOYMENT EXPENSES SPREADSHEET; IDENTIFIED AND RESOLVED $24,000 IN DUPLICATE PAYMENTS.
* GAINED REPUTATION FOR THOROUGHNESS AND PROMPTNESS IN MEETING ALL PAYMENT DEADLINES.
* SET UP MACRO IN ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SYSTEM THAT STREAMLINED INVOICE PAYMENTS.
* CONSOLIDATED VENDOR ACCOUNTS, INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY AND REDUCING NUMBER OF CHECKS PROCESSED.
~~ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE ANALYST-MUSIC & VIDEO DISTRIBUTION
~~(2000-2002)
PROCESSED INCOMING PAYMENTS; RECEIVED AND POSTED DAILY CHECK DEPOSITS, REVIEWED APPLICATIONS FOR VENDOR ACCOUNTS; DISTRIBUTED ACCOUNTING REPORTS AND ORDERED OFFICE SUPPLIES. HANDLED REBILLINGS OF INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTS FOR SHIPMENTS BY VARIOUS LABELS.
* HIRED AS PERMANENT EMPLOYEE FROM TEMPORARY POSITION AFTER ONLY THREE MONTHS.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE: BILLING CLERK/ACCOUNTING CLERK/BOOKKEEPER (DETAILS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST)
===================================
===================================
EDUCATION
BS IN FINANCE; GRADUATED WITH HONORS
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY
NORTHRIDGE, CA
2005
COMPLETED STUDIES CONCURRENT WITH FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT
COMPUTER SKILLS: WINDOWS, MICROSOFT OFFICE (WORD, EXCEL, POWERPOINT), PEACHTREE, J.D. EDWARDS, TRACS
Step three will create a resume that you can cut and paste directly into e-mails. While it appears to be the same as the previous version, in this step you will have line breaks at the end of each line. Since the margins have already been set at 1 left and 2 right, the new file with line breaks will contain lines having no more than 65 characters. This is the standard width of e-mail windows, and will fit into a standard screenshot. If you had cut and pasted the original e-resume into an e-mail without this step, the lines would have scrolled off the page and been hard to read.
1. Save again, using the “Save As” command, this time making sure that “Insert Line Breaks” is checked, as well as allowing character substitution. Use a save name such as (your name), e-mailResume.
2. This version will have line breaks and will fit a standard screenshot. Remember, this is the version to cut and paste directly into e-mail.
The resume will look like this:
PATRICIA JOHNSON
1234 Murietta Ave.
Palmdale, CA 93550
Residence (661) 555-1234
Mobile (661) 555-9876
PatJohnson@email.com
===================================
===================================
FINANCE/ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONAL
Internal Auditor/Financial Analyst/Staff Accountant
Detail-oriented, problem solver with excellent analytical strengths and a track record of optimizing productivity, reducing costs, and increasing profit contributions. Well-developed team-building and leadership strengths with experience in training and coaching coworkers. Works well with public, clients, vendors, and coworkers at all levels. Highly motivated and goal orientated as demonstrated by completing studies toward BS in Finance, graduating with honors concurrent with full-time, progressive business experience.
===================================
-Core Competencies-
Research & Analysis/Accounts Receivable/Accounts Payable/Journal Entries/Bank Reconciliations Payroll/Financial Statements/Auditing/General Ledger/Artist Contracts/Royalties/Escalation Clauses
===================================
===================================
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
MAJOR HOLLYWOOD STUDIO
Hollywood, CA
2000 to Present
Achieved fast-track promotion to positions of increasing challenge and responsibility
~~Royalty Analyst-Music Group, Los Angeles, CA
~~(2005-Present)
Process average of $8-9 million in payments monthly. Review artist contracts, licenses, and rate sheets to determine royalties due to producers and songwriters for leading record label. Ensure accuracy of statements sent to publishers in terms of units sold and rates applied. Research, resolve, and respond to all inquiries.
* Resolved longstanding problems substantially reducing publisher inquiries and complaints.
* Promoted to “Level 1” analyst within only one year and ahead of two staff members with longer tenure.
* Provided superior training to temporary employee that resulted in her being hired for permanent, Level 1 position after only three months.
~~Accounts Payable Analyst-Music & Video Distribution
~~(2002-2005)
Processed high volume of utility bills, office equipment leases, shipping invoices, and office supplies for 12 regional branches. Assisted branches with proper invoice coding and resolving payment disputes with vendors.
* Identified longstanding duplicate payment that resulted in vendor refund of $12,000.
* Created contract-employment expenses spreadsheet; identified and resolved $24,000 in duplicate payments.
* Gained reputation for thoroughness and promptness in meeting all payment deadlines.
* Set up macro in accounts payable system that streamlined invoice payments.
* Consolidated vendor accounts, increasing productivity and reducing number of checks processed.
~~Accounts Receivable Analyst-Music & Video Distribution
~~(2000-2002)
Processed incoming payments; received and posted daily check
deposits, reviewed applications for vendor accounts; distributed accounting reports, and ordered office supplies. Handled re-billings of international accounts for shipments by various labels.
* Hired as permanent employee from temporary position after only three months.
Additional Experience: Billing Clerk/Accounting Clerk/Bookkeeper (details available upon request)
===================================
===================================
EDUCATION
BS in Finance; Graduated With Honors
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Northridge, CA
2005
Completed Studies Concurrent with Full-Time Employment
Computer Skills: Windows, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Peachtree, J.D. Edwards, Tracs
You now have your very own ASCII resume for the resume databases. But remember that, since your resume is constantly evolving, you will have to repeat this conversion process regularly.
Social networking has exploded on the Internet over the last few years, and using this approach in a job search has proved wildly successful for many people. Its impact has been further increased because recruiters see professional networking sites like LinkedIn as the perfect venue to find candidates: a long-time friend and recruiter of CFOs compared using LinkedIn for recruiting to “shooting fish in a barrel.”
With well over 100 million professionals using LinkedIn for networking, you would be crazy to ignore it. There are two reasons for a social networking site: to find people and to be found.
In both instances, you will need to create a profile of who you are. When you reach out to potential networking contacts, they are likely to check out your profile before responding. When recruiters and others are in turn looking for someone like you, the quality of that profile determines:
• Whether you will be found amongst that 100 million–plus users
• Whether the recruiter follows through with a contact
But first things first: upload your primary resume. This won’t become your profile, but having it available gives you some visibility immediately. Use the application box.net to upload it: it works far better than the LinkedIn tool, which can create formatting problems. It is then available to a recruiter to download, print out, or forward. As a privacy issue, you may wish to remove your street address and just use the city of your residence as the geographical identifier.
The profile you create will give you visibility with search engines and enable others to find you: remember that there could well be 150 million LinkedIn users by the time you read this! Also, recruiters and hiring managers who have already seen your resume increasingly like to check out your social profile(s) to find out more about you. This is why—once you are satisfied with your profile and not before—I suggested adding hyperlinks at the end of your resume.
Your LinkedIn profile, and any other social networking profiles you subsequently develop, are your public face and your most important passive marketing tool, so it deserves careful thought and effort. And with so many other profiles out there, you need to make sure yours is easily found and accessible.
The first thing anyone sees about you is your name and a brief headline. You can start with the Target Job Title from your primary resume, and then you have about ten words with which to describe who you are professionally. For maximum impact, check your TJD for the highest frequency keywords used to describe your job and use those, because they are the words most likely to be used by recruiters searching for someone like you.
You have a huge amount of space here and, consequently, your summary will probably grow over time as you develop the rest of your profile. The nature of a social networking site is social, so everything you write should be in the first person.
You need to give recruiters the right information to find you, but the nature of these sites is such that you can give more information and expand on the tight focus you use in a job-targeted resume. Start by adding those five or so lines from your primary resume’s performance profile/performance summary. Add to it with any additional information from the performance profiles/performance summaries of additional resumes, including anything that might be relevant from your old general resume.
Some people writing on this topic suggest writing about your interests here. I strongly disagree. This information is irrelevant to all but the most interested parties and giving it to them upfront is likely to cost you readers. LinkedIn has provided a space for this in your profile, and those personal interests should appear in the proper place: at the end of your profile.
Like a traditional chronological resume, the experience section of your profile begins with your current job and work. Again, you can cut-and-paste the entry from your primary resume first, then add to this with additional information from subsequent resumes.
While the rule of thumb for social networking is a first-person voice, you might want to stick with the attenuated third-person voice you used in your resume; it is more immediate and allows you to speak for yourself without seeming self-congratulatory.
When everything is pasted in, review the entry and see if there is additional experience you would like to add. There is plenty of space here, so as long as your entries for each job start with the most important information from your primary resume, you can add additional supporting information at the end of each entry.
Whatever you do, don’t cheap out and just list your current job: it can give the appearance that this is all the experience you have. LinkedIn tells us that you are twelve times more likely to be found by recruiters when you have more than one job listed, perhaps because those other jobs allow you to weight your profile with enough relevant keywords to be found in recruiters’ database searches.
Adding a Professional Competencies and/or Technology Competencies section to your LinkedIn profile has the same benefits as adding it to your resume: it makes your profile more visible in database searches and your skills more readily accessible to readers.
Click on Edit Profile, then look for the Add Skills link. You can paste up to fifty skills in the dialog box.
Cut-and-paste the information from your resume. However, unlike your resume, you might want to consider listing high school as well: LinkedIn says that this increases your networking opportunities, and it makes sense in this context.
Add all your professional certifications, and because this is a networking site, you can add certifications related to activities outside of your professional life, such as your scuba diving or ballroom dancing certifications.
Finally, the place where it is appropriate to add something about your outside interests! If someone has read this far, learning that I enjoy history, historical fiction, kayaking, ballroom dancing, am an obsessed collector of phonographs, prohibition-era cocktail shakers, art-deco chrome, and am the world’s worst bass player might be of interest, because it gives me an additional dimension; but coming earlier in my profile it would only be a distraction.
Include membership in any associations or societies. List profession-related organizations and professional awards first, then follow with groups and awards related to your personal interests.
If you list anything here, I would be sure to include at least 50 percent profession-oriented materials.
While a headshot on a resume is inappropriate, it is pretty much expected with a social networking profile. Springing for a professional headshot is the best option, but if this isn’t possible, you can probably do a passable job with the help of a friend.
Review professional-looking headshots on LinkedIn, because you’ll be looking at the size yours will be, and you can evaluate what works and what doesn’t. You’ll notice the distance they seem to be taken from and the plain, light-colored backgrounds that seem most popular. You’ll notice that almost everyone is looking directly into the camera and is smiling to some degree.
The same considerations you applied to spelling, punctuation, and grammar in your resume also apply here. If you have problems creating your profile or editing it, at www.knockemdead.com, we create LinkedIn profiles for our resume clients and also offer a separate social networking profile editing service, similar to the one we offer for resumes.
As with all things computer-related, if you don’t back up your work, somewhere along the line you are going to lose it. My recommendation is to save everything in a Microsoft Word document, and to back up that document.
You can learn much more about networking and how to leverage your social networking presence in the latest annual edition of Knock ’em Dead: The Ultimate Job Search Guide.
An HTML or multimedia resume can be a sensible option if you work in a field where visuals and sound and/or graphics represent critical skills. About 50 percent of resume banks and social networking sites accept HTML resumes; plus a simple HTML resume can be created by using the “Save as HTML” command, which you can access in Microsoft Word when you save and name your documents.
If you want to create a small website, you can create a much richer experience for the viewer, adding audio and video and other bells and whistles if they will help. You can add a hyperlink in your standard resume, or in your cover letter/e-mail, that takes the reader to your web-hosted resume. This has the advantage of allowing the viewer to see your background positioned exactly as you wish it to be, with the enrichment of additional media.
• Don’t be seduced by design capabilities for the sake of their flashiness; remember the needs of your customer and your communication goals. Use technology to make life easier for the visitor. For example, your e-mail address can be a hyperlink, so that clicking on it immediately launches the user’s e-mail to contact you.
• If the HTML resume ends up being a complex document with graphics, sound, and video, layout is going to be a major consideration. You don’t want the mission-critical topics—performance profile/performance summary, core and technical competencies, education, work samples, etc.—to get lost in the glitz. It is all too easy to get caught up in the aforementioned glitz of building a website, because it’s just a convenient and fun way to put off the real grunt work of building your resume.
• Provide a hyperlink that allows the user to print out that beautifully formatted PDF version of your resume.
• Don’t start from ground zero; find an example you like and copy it.
Much depends on your situation and what you are trying to sell and to whom. It’s a nice thing for anyone to have, but not mandatory unless:
• Your profession is web-based
• Your work involves visual and auditory components
• Your work is technology-based with a communications component
•Demonstrating technological savvy is a plus for your branding
Since an online portfolio is the most complex resume document you can create, you want the core content of the site to be finished before you start creating this version with all its bells and whistles. The most practical approach is to get your Microsoft Word resume completed, along with the necessary ASCII text versions. Once you’ve done your due diligence as you develop the other versions, and have your job search up to speed, you can decide if you need to develop this third variation.
Some disadvantages include:
• Adding the graphics and visuals and video and audio is a time-consuming process, and can be expensive if you hire someone to do it for you; most professionals don’t need to present themselves in this way.
• If you want an HTML or web-based resume, you’ll need to build a website or have one built. This website will then have to be hosted somewhere and you’ll have registration fees and hosting fees and announcement fees (elementary optimization); if this is a foreign language to you, as a website owner you’ll have to learn it, because all these things cost money. Apart from paying to have such a site built, these costs are usually small, but they are ongoing and add up over time.
• If you want to build it yourself without any experience, there is a learning curve involved.
• Because the content is more complex, these documents take longer to open and work through, so the content needs to be compelling if you are going to hold anyone’s attention.
•You will build a web-based resume because you hope to send people to see it. You can’t expect recruiters to flock to it, since there is fierce competition to achieve a reasonable search ranking in the world of resumes. So unless you spend a small fortune on optimization, you can’t realistically expect much traffic; it is more a place to which you send recruiters.
For most people, having a LinkedIn Profile will be quite adequate.
The first time you hear about a business card resume, it can sound like a gimmick, and you should know better than to waste valuable job search time pursuing gimmicks. That said, business cards are an accepted sales tool the world over, and for a job hunter they’re so much less intrusive than carrying around a wad of resumes under your arm.
If you want to try a business card resume, you must consider the severely limited space available to you and use that space wisely:
• List critical information: Your name, Target Job Title, telephone number, and e-mail address.
• Use legible, business-like (Times Roman, Arial) fonts.
• Make it readable. Limit the word count so that you can maximize font size to increase readability; better to have one legible e-mail address than add a social network address and have them both be illegible.
• No one in a position to hire you can read an 8-point font, and reminding someone that they are old and have failing eyesight … not a good sales pitch.
Space is minimal, so less is more and readability is everything; the words you choose must communicate both your understanding of the job and your ability to deliver when you are doing that job.
1. Repeat your Target Job Title.
2. This is followed by a two-word headline on the next line: Performance Profile/Performance Summary.
3. Follow this with a single short sentence that addresses the #1 deliverable of your target job. The #1 deliverable in your job (and all jobs) is—say it with me now—the identification, prevention, and solution of problems within a specific area of professional expertise. It is ultimately what we all get hired to do.
4. Finish with a social network address that delivers a comprehensive professional profile to any interested reader, such as your LinkedIn profile, your web-based resume, or any other URL that delivers the full story on your professional capabilities.
As an example we can all relate to, an accounting professional who worked in accounts receivable might have the rear side of a business card resume that looks something like this:
| Martin Yate | 516.555.5555 |
Accounts Receivable
Performance Profile/Performance Summary
Focused on the ID, prevention, and solution of all
recurrent A/R problems.
http://www.linkedin.com/martiny
Notice that by starting this mini-resume with a verb, you not only show understanding of what is at the heart of this job, you also deliver a powerful personal brand statement by telling the reader what to expect.
We tend to think of our resume as a tool to get a new job at another company, and forget that we can use it to get a promotion where we already are.
You need a job-targeted resume for pursuing internal promotions because:
• No one is paying as much attention to you as you would like.
• It shows an employer you are serious about growth.
• It’s a powerful way to get yourself viewed in a different light.
• It puts you on a par with external candidates who will have job-targeted resumes.
• It puts you ahead of these candidates, because you are a known quantity.
•When you have the required skills, it’s much easier to get promoted from within.
Promotions come to those who earn them, not as a reward for watching the clock for three years. Thinking through what’s really needed for your next step up the ladder, building the skills to earn that promotion, and then creating a resume that positions you for the job, is smart strategic thinking.
Your promotion campaign starts with determining a specific target job for the next logical step up the ladder, and then understanding the requirements for someone holding that job title.
Collect job postings for that next step and deconstruct the target job’s specific deliverables.
Once you have a crystal-clear idea of what is needed to succeed in the target job:
• Identify areas for skill development.
• Determine how you will develop these skills.
•Volunteer for assignments that build these skills and give you practical experience that can become part of your resume.
Once your skills have reached 70 percent of those required for the new job, you can start building a resume targeted to that promotion.
Before you send any version of your resume, proofread it carefully. Send your electronic cover letters and resume attachments to yourself and to a friend or family member. Ask them for printouts of your practice e-mail messages and resumes to ensure that what you intended to send is actually what was received, and can be printed out. Often, this exercise will help you find mistakes, bloopers, or larger problems incurred during the conversion process. If you find typos at this late stage, reward yourself with a smack upside the head for being sloppy. The most common and annoying problem is that the contact information you carefully put at the top of the second page now appears halfway down it; these are the important mistakes you can easily catch with this exercise.