Length

A resume should be long enough to cover important details and accomplishments, but short enough to attract and keep the reader's attention. Only on rare occasions should a resume be more than two pages. If you need more information, then end the resume with "Additional information and references readily available." Academia is the exception to this rule, but in commercial settings, hold to two pages.

Style

There are functional, chronologic, and reverse chronologic resume styles.

Functional resumes highlight your skills and accomplishments and work best when you have been doing the same type of work for many years. Start with an objective, then a summary, a section on your education or professional training, follow with a skills or accomplishments section, then end with a job history.

Reverse Chronologic resumes almost always throw the reader a curve ball. Only use this style when you need to tell a story or when your most applicable experience was early in your career.

Chronologic resumes are still the most common and easiest to read. Use this format unless you have a need to use another. Start with a well-written objective, then job history or education (education first if you have less than five years professional experience), a skills section will finish this nicely.

 

Quantify and Qualify

Engage the reader of your resume. Tell a good story with lots of details. When you say that you were responsible for something, describe the size or otherwise qualify the statement.

For example, rather than saying "Responsible for hiring, supervising, and training the sales force along with sales, loss prevention and merchandising the store," you present yourself in a much better light when you say, "Recruited and developed a staff of over 100 in a 100,000 sq. ft. store with $11M in sales. Improved loss prevention by 10%. Won company wide award for store presentation."

• Tell how you positively impacted the organization. Quantify and qualify by listing accomplishments, not a job description.
• Explain what you actually did in terms anyone can understand. The use of acronyms or technical jargon may be impressive to the person that will hire you, but a recruiter's assistant, researcher, or worse yet, a Human Resources intern might be the first person in the recruiting chain to read your resume. If they don't understand that you are a fit, no one else will ever see your credentials.
• Tell the truth, but do it in good taste. Liars get caught and fired.
• Leaving something off your resume (like a short time with a lousy employer) is ok if you describe your JOB HISTORY as CAREER HIGHLIGHTS and use years as time markers and not months. Tell the story when you are interviewing as hiring managers will be more understanding face to face. It is never okay to leave a job off your employment application.
• If there is any question of your citizenship or clearance status, then list it in the first portion of the resume or at the very end. If you are on a VISA, put it on your resume, it simply saves time getting to the information. It does not help you get the job.
• If your name could be considered male or female (like Pat or Chris) consider putting Mr. or Ms. in front of your first name.
• Put your contact information on the resume and include a professional sounding e-mail account. If your e-mail address could be considered offensive, silly or hard to remember, get a yahoo or hotmail account with a more appropriate address.
• Keep these things off your resume:
  
  
  • Religious status (unless applying for a job with a religious organization and you think it will help)
  • Marital status
  • Race
  • Date of birth
  • Ages of your children

Resume FAQ's

Q: What if my resume makes me look old?
If you would prefer not to disclose your age, document the last 20 years or so, then add a section entitled "Earlier Experience." In this section use a few sentences to highlight any work you did that is not on the resume. You didn't hide anything, but you didn't give anything away unnecessarily. Additionally, list your education, but leave the years off.

Q: Should I use an objective?
Absolutely. If there is a reason for you to create a resume, there is an objective. Your objective will come out eventually and if your priorities don't match with the employers, you're not going to get the job anyway. Tell them what you want in the first paragraph of your resume, doing so will expedite the process if you are a fit.

An example of a strong objective might be, "To apply my 10 years of government related sales management experience to a position as a Director of Business Development with an aggressive Government Services Provider" This will keep you from getting some calls, and you can thank us for it. Now all the foodservice companies in Baltimore won't call you, but you can bet you will attract the attention of the government services companies.

Q: What if no one has heard of the companies where I worked?
Always assume the reader never heard of your employers. Take this opportunity to tell the reader. For example,

Director of Recruiting
Continental Search & Outplacement, Inc., Baltimore, MD 1996- Present
CS&O is a boutique recruiting firm specializing in hard-to-fill assignments.

Executive Recruiter
Futures Personnel Services, Inc., Towson, MD 1991-1996
Futures was an established employment agency and an Inc. 500 award winner.

In the example the reader has the (accurate) impression that the candidate worked for two first-rate organizations instead of two small businesses that would be unknown to most people.

Never list your references on your resume. Here's why:

Suppose you are applying for your first Sales Manager job and you list your last 3 Sales Managers as references. The recruiter or hiring manager would be very tempted to bypass your candidacy and call the three people with years of experience that you listed as references and recruit them.

Always have a separate document with your references to provide when asked or at the end of the first face-to-face interview. If a recruiter, HR manager or the hiring manager asks for references, it is a good sign. You should have these references ready and provide them in an easy to ready format, showing name, contact information, number of years known and your relationship to the person. Always contact these people in advance and ask their permission to use them as references.

Who should I list as references?

Everyone has friends, and usually they will say nice things about you. Provide the names of supervisors, executives and peers who have first hand knowledge of your work experience, work habits and accomplishments. List four if at all possible, most companies want to contact three and this gives them room for error.

Your Cover Letter and You
(By Don Hunter in the Animal Science Monitor February 13, 2008)

Chances are good that you’ve written scores of cover letters during your career. Have you ever wondered while you were writing them, “Am I even doing this right?”

Advice regarding the writing of cover letters is plentiful, and many different theories abound, some of which are similar in nature. With this article, I’d like to stress that there are two overriding factors when it comes to constructing an effective cover letter: 1.) what it looks like, and 2.) what it does.

What it looks like helps to draw the reader in and hold their attention. What it does involves how it spurs the reader to think, and ultimately, to act. After all, you’d like them to think positively of the letter and to contact you, not lose interest while they read it and then promptly pitch it.

Your letter’s presentation
As the saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” and what the hiring manager sees when they pull out your resume leaves an immediate imprint on them. That’s why the presentation of your cover letter—not to mention your resume—should be of the highest standards possible. In particular, you should focus on the following two points:

• Use appropriate material—I’m talking about the use of professional stationary and envelopes, in addition to a quality printer. (Yes, the stationary and envelopes should match.) In addition, stay away from abbreviations whenever possible, and use a standard letter format in order to complete your presentation.
• No errors—This is a point that can’t be over-emphasized. What good is a quality appearance if you misspell words and commit grammatical miscues? Have multiple people read over the letter for content, punctuation, and grammar. Even one mistake could be costly.

Your letter’s execution
Okay, so you have the presentation covered, but what about execution? Will your cover letter prompt the person who reads it to act in the manner in which you’d like them to? Your letter should adhere to the following points:

Address an actual person—Stay away from “To Whom It May Concern.” With a little sleuthing, you should be able to discover the name and title of the decision-maker who will ultimately be reading your letter.

• Every letter different—While you’re sleuthing, find out about the company, as well. This will enable you to customize the cover letter in such a way as to convey your understanding of the company and what it does. Don’t utilize a form letter or “broadcast letter.” These have a less genuine feel to them.
  
• The rules of engagement—In short, get to the point. If you’ve had prior contact with them, be sure to mention it. Explain the reason for your correspondence, and make specific reference to the position that interests you.
  
• Tailor yourself—Since you’ve done your homework, you know something about the company and the position for which you’d like to apply. Consequently, you can mention prior experience that illustrates your fit for the job, including ways in which you helped your previous employers.
  
• Finish strong—In sales, the salesman is always taught to ask for the sale. So what should you ask for in your cover letter? An interview, that’s what. Finish the letter on an upbeat, positive note, and indicate that you’ll be contacting them in the near future.

Your letter’s impact
By paying close attention to both your cover letter’s presentation and execution, you can better maximize the impact it has on the reader. If you neglect one of these two areas, you could inadvertently sabotage your efforts. Consider your cover letter as your “hook.” After reading it, the hiring manager should be intrigued and want to know more about you.

However, if your letter looks and sounds like the hundreds of other cover letters they’ve read during their career, then the only impact created will be that of your letter hitting the bottom of the trashcan.

If you have any questions about this topic, please send me an email at brg@charterinternet.com. And if you’re currently engaged in a job search or are interested in advancing the scope of your career, be sure to send me your resume. I’d be happy to discuss your career goals and ambitions, including ways in which I can help you to achieve them. Any exchange of information, including resumes, will be kept in total confidence and handled in a discreet fashion.

You just had a great interview; you blew them away. You go home and wait by the phone. Five days go by, then ten and still no call. Why? They may be waiting for your "Thank you" note. It seems the person you would have been replacing had just been fired for taking people for granted and for not following up. In this situation the first test of any candidates was to see if the person had good follow-through and was considerate enough to be part of this professional and caring organization. Instead of blowing them away, you just blew it.

A thank you note should be polite, brief, show your enthusiasm for the job and should mention something relevant from your interview.

Rules

• Hand-written notes are preferable; however, if you decide to e-mail the letter, send it right away and use confirm receipt.
• Send notes within 72 hours of your interview. However, late is better than not at all.
• ALWAYS use spelling and grammar check.
• Send a 'thank you' to everyone who interviewed you that day.
• Send a 'thank you' after each interview, but don't send the same one each time.

General guidelines

• Keep it brief. Don't tell them anything they don't need to know.
• Keep it positive. You have kept your mouth shut about things that bother you this long; a few more weeks won't kill you.
• Make it final. You have  already made your decision (maybe including family, spouse, etc… in on the  process); nothing is gained by being indecisive. You have probably been  through a long interview process, you have talked this to death with your  family (or whoever) and you have been awake in bed two nights considering the  move. But you have made your decision and while you have been taking orders  from your boss for quite a while, it is your turn to give the order. "It is  time for you to find someone to replace me."

Here's an example:

Put your name and address at the top like a resume or use personal letterhead

<Insert today's date>

<Your Boss's Name>
<Your Company's Name>
<Your Company's Address>

Dear <Boss's Name>,

It is time for me to move on in my career. Another firm made an exceptional offer and I accepted as I feel it is in my best long-term interests. I will wrap up most of my projects and administrative responsibilities and will turn over my notes and clean out my desk by 11 am on <insert date>.

I will not entertain a counteroffer, as this company provides an opportunity for me that <current employer's name> cannot provide.

I want to thank you for the opportunity to work with you and I hope I can leave with your good wishes. I wish you and the staff success.

Sincerely,

If you are considering a counter-offer, it could be due to your boss or co-workers making you feel sorry for them or guilty for leaving. They are being selfish. If they cared about you, they would wish you well. This new job is a great opportunity.

Ask any recruiter if you should take a counter-offer and they will tell you absolutely not. We have all been trained to say this and most of the time it is wise. Occasionally there are reasons to take a counter-offer; following are five that come to mind. If you are really thinking about accepting a counter-offer then here are the best reasons to stay:

5 Reasons to turn down a great job and stick with your present employer

1. The president of the company has decided that you are more valuable to the company than your boss and he/she is firing him and promoting you with a huge salary increase. Maybe you should stay put.
2. During your interview process with your potential employer a great company bought your present employer and you have a great opportunity that was not present before.
3. Your family will hate you for making this change.
4. The company that offered you the job is changing the rules or has just been acquired by another company or is suddenly involved in scandal. (Example - Enron)
5. You hit the lottery and want to hang out every day with old friends.

If any of these situations arise, talk with your family, recruiter, potential employer and an executive at present employer. Discuss this situation and go with your gut instinct.

Otherwise, rather than accept a counter-offer, take the new opportunity and gain additional experience. If it turns out in a year or two that you made a mistake, then call your old boss. If you were really valuable to the team, he or she will find a job for you.