Credit:photoplasia

Formatting

The single most important goal of proper resume formatting is to make it easy to scan for the eyes of the reader. HR executives are overloaded with various resumes pouring in. If they spot a document that is easy to read, they are more likely to actually read it. Thus, the simpler your resume looks like, the better for you.

Use only standard fonts, because technology is tricky and will malfunction at the most inconvenient time. There is nearly nothing worse than receiving a resume filled with incomprehensible signs. Guess where it is going end up? Those, who are thinking of our old friend trash can, are right.

As for the look and feel of the typeface, there are more knowledgeable authors who can provide some more advice on this issue.  When I was writing my resume, I stuck to Garamond. It shows that you are not lazy and sticking to the default typeface, like Times New Roman or Arial. At the same time it is quite conservative, and it is a standard font.

Oh, and don’t use Comic Sans MS. Just don’t. It is overused and has lost a lot of its originality.

Try to keep everything ‘gestalt.’ Using one font for the header, another one for the name of the position and the third one for the name of the company makes the resume look all over the place, which is undesirable (see the first paragraph.)

Unless you are applying for a creative position (copywriter, art director, designer), there is no point of ‘spicing up’ the graphic layout of the resume with photos, sketches, work samples, or your personal coat of arms. Make the resume easy to read and easy to scan, that is your main task.

Attention to detail

The HR manager reviewing piles of resumes each day is looking for only one thing – an excuse to throw one more document in a bin and have one less prospective candidate to worry about. Make sure that this unfortunate person is not you.

There should be no spelling mistakes, typos, factual errors and incorrect punctuation. The last one applies especially when hunting for a job in communications and media. Presence of any of those elements sends you straight away to the circular file.

In the next part of the “Job Hunt” series, we will take a look at cover letters.

Since I am a job hunter now, and I know I’m not alone, I would like to point to everybody’s attention an article on facts of life of one of our own. Read the discussion under the article. It is very insightful!

We can stay with the topic of job search for a while. Career Hub lets us know how to look for a job if you are an introvert. Personally, I have got a problem with defining an introvert as a holistic concept

Hot news from the world of social media: Facebook has added a “like” feature. Its blog informs about it. Any ideas about the impacts of this on the social media world?

Fact that Christian Bale has gone berserk on the set of the next Terminator movie makes me rather sad. I’ve held him in higher regard. Nonetheless, Kris Francisco poses a good question. If you were Christian Bale’s publicist, what would you do to alleviate the situation?

The best for the last. When I read this, I couldn’t believe it. This is what makes me cringe.

Credit:photoplasia

Since we know the essentials of resume writing, it’s time to get to minor details. Even they make a difference.

Medium

This seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? In what format, other than A4 (Europe) or Letter (U.S.), would you send in your resume anyway? It never hurts to stick to the conventional black & white combination of ink and paper. It is relatively cheap and tells your story briefly and concisely.

Another alternative is to point the prospective employer to your resume online. You can either create your profile on VisualCV.com or have your own personal web site with all the details. In case of the latter variant, have a professional designer make your online presentation. Chances are he will do a better job than you.

Don’t make the same mistake I did – I had decided to go on a creative spree and put together a resume made of PowerPoint slides, similar to this one. Images were not as good and the layout did not save it either. In the end, it cost me a possible internship with an FMCG company, and maybe a smoother start of my career.

Lesson learnt: for entry-level positions, it is better to stay away from slightly obscure forms of self-promotion, like video resume, visual resume (I like to call it the PowerPoint disaster) and audio / podcast resume. Black ink on white paper will do the trick.

Length

In case you are applying for a senior management position, feel free to have over 3 pages. In case you are applying for an entry-level position, keep everything to 1 page. You do not need more.

The length of the resume sends a message about your ability to express ideas and facts clearly, concisely and completely. Some would argue that one cannot contain all life and career experiences in the resume. That is not the point of the resume. This document is supposed to “sell” your knowledge, experience, skills, motivation and ability to do your job properly. Be brief and concise.

The next post on resumes will look at formatting and attention to detail.

Credit:photoplasia

In this part of the series we will take a look on the process of writing a resume.

Reverse the chronological order

Your resume should follow the reversed chronological order. The logic suggests that your last position is of the highest importance. If it is not so, you can indicate importance by giving the most important position more space on the page.

Write about achievements

There is a continuous debate whether resume should revolve around responsibilities or achievements. European CVs often list the former, while the American resumes cite  the latter. Generally, I would advise you to use achievements. It makes you more marketable, which is very necessary in times of economic crisis. Furthermore, achievements open possibilities to tell a story to a larger extent.

Use the STAR pattern

• S = Situation
• T = Target
• A = Action
• R = Result

Demonstrate your capabilities by giving the HR executive something to work with. Provide context as first, then outline your role. That’s the set up. Then you have to introduce your strongest weapons – a narative of what you did and how it impacted the company.

Below is an example. Say, I am applying for an HR position.  In my previous job (junior entrepreneurship, +/- 8 people) I was responsible for the HR department. Suddenly, 4 of them had to leave for their master’s studies. I had to find replacements ASAP, which I did.

Sought out and hired 5 candidates when 4 members had left. Managed to change fast and keep the staff motivated. Performance did not suffer.

Before I started to work in HR, I used to be a PR Officer. Among other things, I had to manage media relations. Here is how it looks on my resume.

Pitched a story idea about junior entrepreneurship to Prague Post, and got a full page article with a profile of Impact as a result.

It is vital that you tell a story. Humans love narratives, and especially if they find them exciting. Thus, spicing up the resume with some extra information cannot hurt your chances.

In the next part of the “Job Hunt” series, we will visually customize our resume.

Credit:photoplasia

As my job hunt progresses, I am starting to get down to my resume. While writing it, I will share with you some details and ‘how to’ guide.

CV versus Resume

There are few slight differences between a European CV and an American resume. Depending on a location of the desired job, you have to know when to use what. Personally, I prefer resumes over CVs because of one simple reason – their length (1 page) allows the applicant to sell him or herself more efficiently. There is less space for irrelevant information, and more space for key messages you want to get across. You can afford to be selective. Actually, you are even required to be selective, if you want to succeed.

There is also a difference between a chronological and functional resume. As entry-level graduates, chances are that we cannot use the functional variant simply because we do not have a sufficient array of experience and soft skills. Thus, we will stick with the chronological resume throughout this series.

Before you start writing

One size fits none. Remember this. If you have just one resume and you send it to all positions you are applying for, chances are that you won’t be invited for an interview. Every job position has got unique attributes that you need to discern from the job ad, and use them as a basis for customization of your resume.  You should send out only resumes that are modified (according to truth!) to fit the position you are applying for

For example, I could be interested in the jobs below. They all fit my skill set.

• Assistant Brand Manager at an FMCG company

• Entry level HR administrator at a consulting firm

• Account executive at a PR agency

Do you honestly think that sending one version of the resume to all of the three firms will do the trick? The truth is that it won’t, because the positions are fundamentally different from another. Companies and their values differ greatly too.

So what to do now? Find the must-have attributes in the job ad for the given position. Then look back in your career / education / training, and try to recall an experience that would prove you possess the must-have quality. No need to write anything down yet, just think about it.

In the next part of the series, we will look at articulating our messages on paper.