Writing or revising your resume … what to include

In a separate set of notes, I mentioned that it is really hard to know what to include in your resume. This is especially true if you are in the IT or scientific realm, because your world is very specific and detailed in terms of education and particular areas of expertise. Both of these worlds are vast!

For a new resume, please keep it to two pages, and if you absolutely must, due to longevity in the workforce, three. For revised resumes, the same rule applies….2-3 pages. I have sat down with so many IT folks who live in a world of alphabet soup listings on their resumes: operating systems, hardware, software, proprietary applications, and various versions and service packs of any number of these, each particular to their specialty. Likewise, for Scientific resumes, I see a wide range of entries, including GMP, GLP, QA, QC, LIMS, IND submissions, in-vitro assays, and much more. In fact, the list can go on for paragraphs….but I won’t. You can thank me later!

Unfortunately, the long list of acronyms is only helpful later on in the interview process. What is crucial is to get the interview in the first place! Hiring managers really don’t and won’t wade through an 8-14 page resume. They simply don’t have time for that. They need a quick look — a fast summary that highlights your experience (see my other post about pride versus praise). They need to determine in less than one minute that your credentials look like a strong match with their job description.

What to include: Make sure you highlight the basics: where you worked (company name, city, state), the dates you were there, your title(s), major responsibilities, and accomplishments. I recommend that you not go into too much detail for anything in the 90’s. After all, that was over 8 years ago! Employers really want to see that your skills are current. You may have used what they need 7 years ago, but they can likely find someone else more current than that.

Dont’ sell yourself short on accomplishments, but do remember to keep the total resume to 2-3 pages at the most. I normally don’t recommend listing your hobbies and such, but including some items just might be useful, such as Eagle Scout, local volunteer roles, etc. You never know who might decide that these things make you just a little different and desirable. Your Armed Forces background in a personal call. And for those jobs prior to 2000, list them, of course, but only give 1-2 bullets about what you did there. That way, you can show persistent skill usage, but not bore them with every single thing you did.

Resume writing can be intimidating at times. Don’t be afraid to seek help. It is well wroth the advice and cost. I would love to hear about your resume, and how you deal with your vast background.

Writing or revising your resume…what to avoid

First and foremost, I recommend that you avoid a detailed resume that shows everything you did starting with your first job. That is, of course, unless you are relatively new to the workforce. For those of us with some time under our belts, the hiring manager really won’t be interested in what we did in 1993 (that was 15 years ago!) or 1988 (20 years ago!). I know it might not seem that long ago, but trust me, it was.

I know, your past is what made you what and who you are today, and it all flows in logical professional-growth progression, but in the final analysis, potential employers will typically only look at the past 5-10 years of work history. Sure, they will look further back if they are interested in seeing where you used to work, or what types of companies you worked for, but their true interest is in what your current skill sets are, and how recently you have been able to apply them in the workplace.

Don’t tell them that you play chess, ride your dirt bike on the weekends, and read in your spare time. The only exception to this might be if you have done some reliable research on your potential new boss, and can mention some of your personal information that matches with his/hers. A quick example is that he was an Eagle Scout and so are you, or he plays hockey in a local club like you do, or she heads up the local chapter of the scholastic society you were in during college, etc. Don’t get upset with me if I couldn’t think of “like” examples for men and women! I was just trying to think of quick examples! There may even be civic involvement on the part of your potential new company that you are likewise involved with, and there is nothing wrong with that showing up on your resume discretely.

Don’t hide anything, of course. It will eventually come out in the initial phone interview or subsequent face-to-face interview. If you were out of work for personal reasons like the birth of a baby, perhaps a family member or even a parent was in a situation that required your personal care and attention for a while, mention that on the resume. If you had to take a strange job for a little while during the job-hunting process, list it unless it was only for a few months. Anymore, most employers either have been in that situation themselves, or know someone close to them who has. That means that they are no longer shocked or amazed that you took a job or two that weren’t directly related to your “real” work, just so you could make ends meet. They are more interested in knowing that you are resourceful and a fighter. They like to know that you are eager to get back to your real expertise and an IT or Scientific professional.

I am curious….what are your thoughts about this. I would love to know, and get your feedback! Thanks!

IT and Scientific resumes — pride vs. praise!

Because you are an It or Scientific professional who may need to write or update your resume, there are many things to consider, and we’ll talk about those in some detail, but please feel free to ask questions, and I’ll do my best to share my thoughts.

The fact that you are even thinking about writing or updating your resume means that something is going on– you are suddenly out of a job, you really don’t like your job and have decided that being temporarily unemployed is better than going back to your job again this week, you know that your job is being eliminated or “down-sized”, your spouse has gotten a better job in another city so you have to move there also, and on and on. You need to update your resume.

Regardless of whether you are starting to build your resume for the first time, or are simply updating it, you really do face some unique challenges (due to your type of work) which I believe are based primarily in the difference between “pride” and “praise”.

Too many times, I see resumes of IT and Scientific professionals that are 6-16 pages long, and that is just the resume itself! Then, I get many more pages of publications, patents, papers, presentations, etc. It is basically a very detailed accounting of every professional move that ever occurred. I completely understand how this happens, but it really hurts you in the job-hunting process, in my opinion. All of this is really disconcerting to talk about, because everything you put on your resume is a part of you….part of your pride in your work, and the desire to praise and highlight yourself in written form, so as to impress potential employers.

Pride in your work is great, but not to the point of listing everything on your resume. The whole point of the resume is to convince the HR manager or hiring manager that you are a very good candidate for their open job, and that the decision to consider you further will be made in a matter of seconds, not minutes. Therefore, use this as the chance to praise yourself for work well done! Highlight your accomplishments in terms of profits made, money saved, processes stream-lined, errors eliminated, and so forth. Don’t get into the minutia of how it was done…..just say it and move on.

I think discussing pride can get in the way of an excellent job well done if overstated. Therefore, I recommend thinking in terms of praising yourself and acknowledging your job well done. I do realize that the difference between pride and praise might be small, and only in my mind, but I simply encourage not overdoing it!

Employment in uncertain times

One thing is “for sure and for certain” — if you lost your job due to any number of circumstances (lay-off, restructuring, down-sizing, outsourcing of your job to a foreign country, the list can go on and on), it doesn’t help very much to hear that other people are in the same boat as you are. It might seem like it should help, but it doesn’t. The bottom line is that you don’t have a job now.

People who suddenly find themselves without a place to call “work” are generally smart, hard-working loyal, creative professionals who had been doing what they had been asked to do for several years, believing that they were secure. That is a belief that quickly fades after a layoff happens to you. “Fair” is not a word used in these cases. For IT and scientific professionals, among others, this is certainly painful because you have a lot of education, special training, certifications, etc.

There is rarely a sense of calm or patience or understanding that accompanies this worrisome event. You may have so many questions, and very few answers, it seems. You ask “Why?” but then realize that it really doesn’t matter. The job is gone, and you have to find another one, and quickly.

GOOD NEWS!

The good news (yes there is actually good news!) is that there are plenty of companies in the U.S. that still have to do business, and they need smart, energetic, articulate professionals just like you to help them get it done. In the IT and scientific community, these jobs are crucial, and you who are involved in these jobs are highly trained, highly educated, highly motivated, and highly paid (subject to interpretation!). Some of the very companies that layed off people in the past (perhaps Cisco, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and many others) are realizing that the company’s work simply isn’t getting done, and it really has to get done. To be generic, even though their off-shore idea seemed good at the time because it saved lots of money, either the quality wasn’t as good as it used to be, or maybe the communications angle just didn’t set well with their strong customer base, or perhaps the call-center training wasn’t as comprehensive as desired, and therefore they start hiring people again…people just like you!

There are many ways to go about the job search process, and no one has the magic bullet to find a job, but I will share my ideas with you in another conversation. One last thought for today…conversation is crucial! Please share your thoughts and ideas, your frustrations and successes. Thanks.

I almost forgot…another link to peek at that discusses how to find a job in a bad economy:

http://www.dirjournal.com/guides/find-a-job-in-a-bad-economy/

Contact me anytime!

Greg Miller, CRSP
IT and Scientific Recruiter
919-451-4501
milga1@aol.com
My LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorykmiller 

 

After-shocks from not having a job….what to do now!

Well, here you are, jobless, wondering what just hit you, or perhaps it happened weeks or months ago, and you still can’t believe it. I know….I’ve been there. So many questions, like:

• I’m only good at one thing (IT or Scientific, which is pretty specific and specialized), and I’ve been doing that pretty well all these years. At least that’s what everybody told me all this time.
• I just got this job a few months ago and made plans based on that. Now that it’s gone, what am I supposed to do? As an IT guru or scientist or regulatory affairs expert (for example) I don’t always have tons of choices. With so many companies (random examples: Cisco, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), IBM, BiogenIdec….this list could go on for a long time and is not intended to be either exclusive or inclusive)….there are opportunities, but sometimes workforce reductions.
• This is really going to look bad on my resume. How will I explain this when I interview for a new job?
• Where can I find another local job where I can keep doing the same thing?
• How am I supposed to tell my spouse, my kids, my neighbor, my friends, the folks at church? And exactly what am I supposed to tell all those people? This is embarrassing! I am a highly paid and educated professional! I am an IT professional, a bench scientist, a lab tech, a programmer, etc.
• Where do I start?

These are common questions that really need to be answered, although your case really is different than anyone else. I think I’ll just start from the top and talk about each bullet point. This is going to take some time to completely cover, but I think it is good to go through them one week at a time.

I’m only good at one thing and I’ve been doing that pretty well all these years. At least that’s what everybody told me all this time.

Everything happens for a reason. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but I believe it is true. You are actually good at more than one thing…you’ll see. Sure, you did one thing for years, but you will discover that you have other skills not yet uncovered because they weren’t needed until now. If you only had your job for a few weeks or months, maybe it wasn’t a good choice in the first place. Maybe the company didn’t do the right thing saying the job needed to be filled. Who knows? The point is, you are multi-faceted and you will end up OK…diffferent, but OK….wiser, but OK.

So, who to talk to…ask people you worked with to provide references for you. We’ll talk more about that in another conversation. See if your company provides job transition services. Again, we’ll talk more later. Check local churches about job-seeking services. Again, lots more later on this subject.

I always try to leave you with something to munch on…..so try this….I think it is interesting!

http://www.msmoney.com/mm/career/transitions/changing_jobs/changing_jobs_intro.htm

Contact me anytime!

Greg Miller, CRSP
IT and Scientific Recruiter
919-451-4501
milga1@aol.com
My LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorykmiller