These are desperate times for many job seekers. But you can avoid desperate-looking and time-wasting measures when it comes to putting together and marketing your resume.
There are more than six job seekers for every job opening, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data from November. And the first mistake many of them make is sending out resumes in bulk without giving much thought to whether they are a good fit for a job.
"Everybody's desperate so they're wallpapering resumes everywhere," said Susan Whitcomb, a Fresno, Calif., author and president of Career Coach Academy. "That's not effective because it just screams, 'I'm desperate! I need a job!' "
An effective job search does not entail "sitting at your computer all day sending off your resume into the hinterland," said Andrea Kay, a career consultant and author in Cincinnati. Only about 15% of your time should be spent responding to job ads online, she said.
More important, focus on companies that are a good fit for you--and the people to contact at those companies. "Your goal is to get yourself sitting in front of or having phone conversations with live people," Kay said. For example, try to find people you know who can introduce you to someone at the company.
Or simply contact the firm yourself. "If you're well-qualified to work at Company XYZ, then make yourself known at that company," said career coach and author Wendy Enelow of Coleman Falls, Va. "Forward your resume not to the HR department but to the person you would be reporting to." Try using regular mail rather than email to stand out.
Remember, some job openings are never posted. And even in tough economic times, "there is always some churn at companies," Enelow said.
Seen And Heard
Make your resume resonate with potential employers. "When I help somebody do a resume," Kay said, "the first thing I ask them is, 'How do you want to be seen?' Your resume is a tool that positions you the way you want to be seen."
That involves telling the company why you're a great candidate.
"You want [them to see you] as a problem solver who can make them more money, make their company more efficient," she said.
Another tip: Write to appeal to machines and humans. Keywords are important to get past electronic resume scanners, but you've got to pass muster with human scanners, too. So it's important to engage early on. That's one reason so many resumes start with profiles or summaries, said Donald Asher, a career expert in Gerlach, Nev.
"You get a chance in the first 10 lines to put the stuff that's important," he said.
That profile or summary says, "This is the value I bring to your company--the value, key skills, competencies, talents and achievements," Enelow said.
Your cover letter, meanwhile, should be short and to the point. Be clear about which job you want. Then, "Here's my resume, this is why I'm such a valuable candidate and I'm going to follow up with you about the job," Enelow said.
Do's And Don'ts
Here are some other techniques to keep your resume focused and help it stand out.
Forget your objective. "In the old days, [resumes] started with an objective that said something like, 'Looking for a challenging position with a growing company that can allow me strong career growth,'" said Rick Saia, a certified professional resume writer with Pongo Resume, in Northborough, Mass. These days, "the company is really not as interested in what they can do for you as in what you can do for them."
Tap online media. If you don't post a resume or profile online-- on, say, LinkedIn, VisualCV, or even your own site--you risk looking less "with it." "Having a resume online is just one more way to position yourself as an A candidate," Whitcomb said.
Detail achievements, not duties. Resumes should answer three questions, Saia said: "How did I make money for my employer, how did I save money for my employer, and how did I make a process more efficient so that it made things run more smoothly."
Less is more. Resume standards wax and wane. "Ten years ago, resumes were longer," Enelow said. Today, she said, while there are no firm rules--an experienced executive often has a two-page resume while a recent college graduate's is often one page--if you go too long, you risk boring your audience.
Customize it. In their resumes, job seekers often fail to align their qualifications with each employer's distinct needs, Saia said. As much as possible, show how your expertise fits what a particular company is seeking.
Avoid jargon and cliches. "People use lofty language, they use jargon," Kay said.
Some phrases to avoid: win-win, pursuant to, drive results, actionable, change agent, maximum value.
Better language: compassionate and committed professional, trustworthy, entrepreneurial, highly organized, a talent for building goodwill, diplomatic, a reputation for being resourceful in handling emergencies and deadlines.
Kay said people are "afraid to be interesting, they're afraid to be personal." She suggested job seekers ask themselves: "How would other people describe me?" Another option: Cull language from performance reviews.
Don't get too familiar. "Employers constantly tell me they get emails from individuals that are way too flip, too informal," Kay said. Don't start your e-mail with "Hey" or "Hi there."
Forget the flourishes. Keep your resume's format simple. Use just one font type. Paragraphs should be no more than four to six lines. Limit bullet points to four or five (break out a fresh section if there's more you need to say). Don't overuse boldface.
Typos. It's Resume Writing 101, but career experts said job seekers continue to submit resumes with typos. Read your resume backward, read each word, read it out loud. Have others proof it for you. Don't rely on a computer's spell-check function.
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