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Resume Questions (1 Viewer)

ChiefD

ChiefD

Footballguy
Haven't written a resume in 11 years spanning two jobs. Couple of quick questions:

1. Length. Is it still the common practice to still have a one-pager? Or is two pages ok?

2. # of jobs. I've been at my current job 6 years. Previous job 5 years. How many jobs do I need on this thing? The previous two have good experience for the types of jobs I'm looking for - the one right before that could but would be a stretch. So is it appropriate to list my current job and previous job with pertinent details, and then summarize the rest?

3. Been out of college since 1995 - still relevant to put that on there?

4. Other interests - how much do do employers want to see about family, hobbies, etc.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 
What profession?

In your case I would do 1 page.

NAME

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (basically this, use 3-5 sentences to sell yourself)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (remember, no one cares what your tasks were, they want to know what you achieved and when you exceeded expectations).  Use the two employers only.  

ADDITIONAL SKILLS - job specific skills such as six sigma black belt, fluent in mandarin, accomplished artist

EDUCATION - throw your college stuff here, skip the GPA unless you are really proud of it

 
wilked said:
What profession?

In your case I would do 1 page.

NAME

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (basically this, use 3-5 sentences to sell yourself)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (remember, no one cares what your tasks were, they want to know what you achieved and when you exceeded expectations).  Use the two employers only.  

ADDITIONAL SKILLS - job specific skills such as six sigma black belt, fluent in mandarin, accomplished artist

EDUCATION - throw your college stuff here, skip the GPA unless you are really proud of it
Click to expand...
Sales and marketing. Probably looking more on the sales side of things at this point.

Thank you sir. :thumbup:

 
What type of sales?  I will pull my last resume up later tonight - I got a couple offers of if it in sales and marketing. 

 
Nugget said:
What type of sales?  I will pull my last resume up later tonight - I got a couple offers of if it in sales and marketing. 
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The last 6 years have been B to B, but the previous 5 were in B to residential customers.

Current role is a hybrid and has a lot of layers to it. I basically sell online solutions for customers but then create and manage their marketing portfolio. Sometimes it is digital only but can occasionally include traditional marketing channels.

Essentially I can sell a website, create a brand, and then manage any and all online and traditional marketing. It's a tough job to try and explain on a resume.

 
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ChiefD said:
The last 6 years have been B to B, but the previous 5 were in B to residential customers.

Current role is a hybrid and has a lot of layers to it. I basically sell online solutions for customers in but then create and manage their marketing portfolio. Sometimes it is digital only but can occasionally include traditional marketing channels.

Essentially I can sell a website, create a brand, and then manage any and all online and traditional marketing. It's a tough job to try and explain on a resume.
Click to expand...
I think you should emphasize the growth your customers have achieved and the sales targets you have exceeded.

 
ChiefD said:
Haven't written a resume in 11 years spanning two jobs. Couple of quick questions:

1. Length. Is it still the common practice to still have a one-pager? Or is two pages ok?

2. # of jobs. I've been at my current job 6 years. Previous job 5 years. How many jobs do I need on this thing? The previous two have good experience for the types of jobs I'm looking for - the one right before that could but would be a stretch. So is it appropriate to list my current job and previous job with pertinent details, and then summarize the rest?

3. Been out of college since 1995 - still relevant to put that on there?

4. Other interests - how much do do employers want to see about family, hobbies, etc.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
1) 2 pages is fine 

2) list all jobs, the more recent he more details. Try to show two positions at your current employer over 6 years (one from 10-13 with details underneath, one from 13-16 with details underneath), shows growth within the organization. Not a necessity if you've had the same position the whole time

3) Yes

4) you could have a skills section at the bottom (nothing to do with family/hobbies) - only put relevant stuff to the jobs your applying for

 
When is it ok to step to two pages?

I've been starting to look for senior manager and director positions (supply chain/operations) and feel that having two pages is usually necessary to cover the qualifications and experience that people are looking for.

 
ChiefD said:
The last 6 years have been B to B, but the previous 5 were in B to residential customers.

Current role is a hybrid and has a lot of layers to it. I basically sell online solutions for customers but then create and manage their marketing portfolio. Sometimes it is digital only but can occasionally include traditional marketing channels.

Essentially I can sell a website, create a brand, and then manage any and all online and traditional marketing. It's a tough job to try and explain on a resume.
Click to expand...
Like a Web.com?

 
Gawain said:
When is it ok to step to two pages?

I've been starting to look for senior manager and director positions (supply chain/operations) and feel that having two pages is usually necessary to cover the qualifications and experience that people are looking for.
Click to expand...
I created a resume a year or so ago for the first time in a long time. Spoke with multiple recruiters, they all said two pages was fine - as you grow, hard to put all the experience into one page.

 
fantasycurse42 said:
I created a resume a year or so ago for the first time in a long time. Spoke with multiple recruiters, they all said two pages was fine - as you grow, hard to put all the experience into one page.
Click to expand...
What about when you've been in business for yourself, like a career in DVD sales or Wilson Footballs?

:D

I feel like the only way to get a job in NYC is through a recruiter. When I post a job on craigslist or ziprecruiter, I'm inundated by resumes. I'm sure the same happens with the positions I'm looking at. Did you reach out to them, or did they contact you through Linkedin or other means?

 
Gawain said:
What about when you've been in business for yourself, like a career in DVD sales or Wilson Footballs?

:D

I feel like the only way to get a job in NYC is through a recruiter. When I post a job on craigslist or ziprecruiter, I'm inundated by resumes. I'm sure the same happens with the positions I'm looking at. Did you reach out to them, or did they contact you through Linkedin or other means?
Click to expand...
I keep my LinkedIn profile pretty up to date (actually need to update for 2016 'accomplishments') & loaded with buzzwords recruiters are looking for. It works, I've only responded twice in the last year and a half, but I've prob been hit up 80-100 times. Best I can recommend is finding a few profiles of people on LinkedIn that have the position you want, then taking bits and pieces from their profiles, rewording them and making it unique to you.

The biggest issues I have with recruiters when they reach out to me is I can get the job they're pitching me without them - I want them to get me into an interview that might be a stretch for me. I'd have to imagine anything filtering through Craigslist is garbage. 

This thread peaked my curiosity, prob gonna peak in on Indeed tomorrow and see what's out there right now.

 
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Gawain said:
When is it ok to step to two pages?

I've been starting to look for senior manager and director positions (supply chain/operations) and feel that having two pages is usually necessary to cover the qualifications and experience that people are looking for.
Click to expand...
After a few years of experience it's pretty tough to fit things into one page.  If in a technical field (papers, patents, etc.) a resume could easily be over that.

 
Like others have said, 2 pages is fine.  I get tons of resumes - PM me if you want good examples.  I'll redact names, etc.

One thing I would recommend is if you really want to be in sales, don't waffle between sales and marketing.  In sales I want hunters, those who can fearfully prospect, be very persuasive, are not afraid of money, etc.  Completely different than marketing folks.  Marketing people often say they want to be in sales until they are given a quota, then they change their minds and go back to marketing.

 
I agree with others that you should at least list all the jobs as well as the college attended.  Let 'em see how you've progressed.  They'll put an emphasis on the recent job or two, and you've had good stability.

 
I've been in the recruiting industry for over 20 years, I'm happy to help you out if you send me a rough draft.

a couple of general points:

to me, more important than # of pages is the quality of what you put on the page.

if you are providing bullet points make sure you list more significant accomplishments first and less important ones last

for sales focused resumes, I want to know how you did against your yearly plan, the size of your deals, the types of companies you sold to (industry & size) as well as who are you selling to on the client side (C-level, VP, Procurement, etc.)

having a couple different versions of your resume is fine

 
2 quick thoughts.  If you do end up with a 2-pager with some white space, I would think about hobbies; knowing your background a bit from the 10K Thread.  Running exhibits some core competencies you can use in an interview that start as a personal example that you can transition to how you live these in your work life.  Organization, focus, analytical skills, partnership/mentoring, (plus it exhibits a work/life balance).  Second, thinking of the 10K Thread, as former vet of the thread, Wraith, works is some form of executive recruiting.  He is a great guy and may be able to give guidance.  PM me for name if needed.

 
reworking my resume as well

I've had the same job for 9 years but transitioned roles over the years. Before that I was doing work that doesn't relate to my current IT work. Not sure if I should bother mentioning the previous stuff.

 
2Young2BBald said:
2 quick thoughts.  If you do end up with a 2-pager with some white space, I would think about hobbies; knowing your background a bit from the 10K Thread.  Running exhibits some core competencies you can use in an interview that start as a personal example that you can transition to how you live these in your work life.  Organization, focus, analytical skills, partnership/mentoring, (plus it exhibits a work/life balance).  Second, thinking of the 10K Thread, as former vet of the thread, Wraith, works is some form of executive recruiting.  He is a great guy and may be able to give guidance.  PM me for name if needed.
Click to expand...
It's good we have disagreements here, gives different perspectives. 

My opinion, no employer cares that you run and you don't need any unnecessary info on the resume.

Skills should be adjusted on the resume to line up with some of the tasks. In example, if it is a marketing position and creating presentations is part of the job description, something referencing fluency in PowerPoint would be relevant. 

Not downplaying your running accomplishments at all, just my POV.

 
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I had a recruiter friend give me some points on updating my resume.  Make sure that the first word of each bullet isn't the same.  "Created xyz" "Created  zyx" etc.  2 pages is expected if you've been in the industry more than 5 years.  Education goes at the bottom, after work experiences, but make sure you include it. Make sure to have an summary at the top, which is Wilked had a good link for.  Make sure to include promotions within the same company, to show vertical movement.

 
Spin said:
I had a recruiter friend give me some points on updating my resume.  Make sure that the first word of each bullet isn't the same.  "Created xyz" "Created  zyx" etc.  2 pages is expected if you've been in the industry more than 5 years.  Education goes at the bottom, after work experiences, but make sure you include it. Make sure to have an summary at the top, which is Wilked had a good link for.  Make sure to include promotions within the same company, to show vertical movement.
Click to expand...
I've had conflicting feedback on the summary portion, everything else is spot on though.

 
fantasycurse42 said:
I've had conflicting feedback on the summary portion, everything else is spot on though.
Click to expand...
Meh, I thought the same as you, but included one anyways.  Granted I've only been out of college for 4 years now, but it's a quick 2 - 3 line explaining how your skills and experiencing match up perfectly for that specific job.  It's probably more important if you're changing lines of work, where your skills/experiences might not line up quite the same.  If you're staying within the same line of work, probably best to leave it off and let your relevant work experience do the talking.

 
fantasycurse42 said:
I've had conflicting feedback on the summary portion, everything else is spot on though.
Click to expand...
I agree. Im not a fan of the summary portion. Im all about bullet points. List your last 2 positions and then start bullets on about 4-5 accomplishments on each position. Start every sentence off with a different word, but make it a powerful word each time to catch their attention. Such as created, led, managed, sold, developed, planned, introduced, increased, etc

I would definitely list education, but after your experience. Dont put your gpa, but maybe some course work. 

Add some business skills, management skills, sales skills, computer skills. Nothing about personal life imo

 
Think of the 'summary' portion as your mini cover letter.  Or as I said earlier, elevator speech.  Basically, can you 'hook' them with 3-4 sentences?  Don't rely on bullets for that, paint a picture for them.

Here's mine as an example.  No way would anyone convince me that this is not helpful as the first thing people see when reading the resume: 

[SIZE=11pt]Chemical Engineer with over twelve years of manufacturing and design experience recognized for the ability to make significant process improvements, cost savings, and technical problem solving.  [/SIZE]Strong record of leadership initiatives including driving culture change, leading root cause analysis teams, and developing revenue opportunities.  Self-directed and highly motivated, with proven ability to make an immediate impact on business.
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[SIZE=11pt][/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]I expect a manager to read that and either decide - yes, we are looking for someone like that, or no, that is not what we are seeking - and then peruse the rest of the resume to see that the information supports that summary.  It's a lot different than letting them read the bullets and trying to make their own summary, they might not arrive at the same place.  Ultimately that is what you are trying to accomplish with a resume, summarize your accomplishments and work into a picture / story of who you are and what you are capable of.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]For sales it might go something like this (just an example, obviously would want to polish it):[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Sales specialist with a proven record of exceeding stretch sales goals, including all four previous years.  Top salesperson for two of those years on a team of twelve.  Most recently made manager of the group eighteen months ago, and since then have identified and developed a completely new revenue stream increasing company income by 12% annually.  Am seeking to transition to pharmaceutical sales to lead a new team and continue to drive both sales and strategy within an innovative company.[/SIZE]
Click to expand...

 
I agree a summary is a good idea...

Dynamic, team-oriented senior executive with a documented 20+ year track record of exceptional sales and leadership success in the
health information technology space. Consistently builds inspired sales organizations that deliver over quota performance, obtaining
profitable new business and acquiring major market share with big-ticket solutions in highly competitive environments. Highly skilled at
developing and executing winning strategic sales plans. Experience creating and confidently delivering compelling presentations to all
levels. Extensive national C-Level rolodex. Demonstrated excellence at both personally driving revenues and improving sales team
performance. Tenacious in building new business, securing customer loyalty, and forging strong relationships.

 
Judge Smails said:
I agree a summary is a good idea...

Dynamic, team-oriented senior executive with a documented 20+ year track record of exceptional sales and leadership success in the
health information technology space. Consistently builds inspired sales organizations that deliver over quota performance, obtaining
profitable new business and acquiring major market share with big-ticket solutions in highly competitive environments. Highly skilled at
developing and executing winning strategic sales plans. Experience creating and confidently delivering compelling presentations to all
levels. Extensive national C-Level rolodex. Demonstrated excellence at both personally driving revenues and improving sales team
performance. Tenacious in building new business, securing customer loyalty, and forging strong relationships.
Click to expand...
WTF still has a rolodex?  Come on Judge, at least try to stay relevant!

:P

 
fantasycurse42 said:
It's good we have disagreements here, gives different perspectives. 

My opinion, no employer cares that you run and you don't need any unnecessary info on the resume.

Skills should be adjusted on the resume to line up with some of the tasks. In example, if it is a marketing position and creating presentations is part of the job description, something referencing fluency in PowerPoint would be relevant. 

Not downplaying your running accomplishments at all, just my POV.
Click to expand...
When I was hiring I wanted to see something about their personal accomplishments.  The biggest hurdle I wanted to cross when hiring was finding someone that would fit in with the current group.  If you have qualified people to choose from you can teach them the intricacies of the specific position but you can't teach personality and knowing something about their personal side helps.  I would think this is especially important in a sales type position.

I also preferred short resumes that hit on the important qualifications and to stand out in some way.  When hiring you get a ton of resumes and they all start to seem to be the same.  Having something that helps you stand out gets you the interview.  To me that is really all the resume is there for.  Showing you have the right qualification and standing out positively in some way.  I don't have time to read 5 page resumes.  I want the cliff notes version because I will get to the details in the interview portion of the process.

Also, as someone said previously, make sure you spellcheck.  That is the easiest item to use to cross someone off the list of 100 resumes you are going through.

 
I experimented with adding hobbies and interests on my resume for a while, but I wasn't getting calls. I removed them and they started again. I have found that if they care then it will come up in the interview and if they don't then it won't. 

I think it's valuable information when evaluating candidates, but from my experience current decision makers generally don't care. 

 
Mechanical Design for the past 23 years, 18 at the last place and I'll be losing my job in Sept. I have a few Head Hunters calling and I want to explore some new possibilities. I am updating my resume but don't have a cover letter. Can anyone help me out here?

 
Mr.Pack said:
Mechanical Design for the past 23 years, 18 at the last place and I'll be losing my job in Sept. I have a few Head Hunters calling and I want to explore some new possibilities. I am updating my resume but don't have a cover letter. Can anyone help me out here?
Click to expand...
Does anyone even expect a cover letter anymore?

 
Mr.Pack said:
The Recruiter who contacted me asked me for any Cover Letters I have, but I don't have any. I haven't needed a job in 18 years.
Click to expand...
Seems like a weird request. I've always viewed cover letters, if used at all, as specific to each opportunity. I wouldn't think to have generic cover letters.

 
Mr.Pack said:
The Recruiter who contacted me asked me for any Cover Letters I have, but I don't have any. I haven't needed a job in 18 years.
Click to expand...
I don’t recall needing one in my searches over the last few years, maybe once or twice 

I’d just google Cover Letter [job] and tweak it

 
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