Overcoming resume paralysis
by Robbie Miller Kaplan
The recent economic downturn and major layoffs remind us how important it is to have a current resume. And yet most individuals procrastinate when they attempt to write one. Why is it such a hard task? Is it just tough to write about yourself or too difficult to toot your horn? It’s so important to master this skill because resumes remain the primary source for screening prospective candidates, hiring applicants, or promoting employees.
No matter how talented you are, it’s easy to become tongue-tied when faced with writing about yourself. Think of your resume as a story; one in which you organize your credentials in a coherent format so employers clearly understand your education and experience and how they uniquely qualify you for the jobs you seek. Your job search and career success hinges on this important document, so let’s talk about the essentials in writing a good one.
1. Identify your patterns. Everyone has patterns in their work and volunteer history, their education and training. The trick is to identify your patterns and weave together all the parts that make up “you.” Are you an innovator, always finding fresh angles to identify and solve problems? Is it your verbal and written communication skills that stand out in each of your jobs? Or is it your varied experience and understanding of both the public and private sectors? Has all your experience been in one industry in diverse settings? Or do you have technical expertise that crosses multiple platforms?
2. Communicate essential credentials. It’s crucial to understand that the very best resumes demonstrate that your qualifications match the requirements for the positions you seek. Carefully research jobs of interest and cull through the position descriptions and job postings to create a list of essential experience, skills, licensure, and educational requirements. Use that list as a guide to identify how your credentials, by way of experience, accomplishments, skills, and education, match the stated requirements.
3. Detail your accomplishments. Attention-grabbing resumes communicate what you’ve contributed. Employers have problems to solve and they want to hire individuals who have experience solving their problems. This process can be as simple as asking yourself for each experience: “What problems did I solve?” “How did I solve them?” “What were the outcomes?” “What did I do differently that no one did before?”
4. Eliminate clutter. Keep in mind that your resume must be tailored for the positions you seek. It’s important that you include all the information that demonstrates your job candidacy, but beware of clutter. Clutter is any extraneous information that has no relevance to the job requirements and distracts employers from your core credentials. Ask yourself for each item you plan to include: “Does this make me a more qualified candidate?” If it doesn’t, eliminate the clutter.
A resume, all by itself, won’t get you a job, but an effective one will open doors. It will introduce you to employers and most important, it will toot your horn!
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