Billie Sucher Blog

What's Happening: Résumé Writing 101

Earlier this week, I was providing a résumé critique for a client. While his résumé, overall, was pretty good, it was simply too long with too many words. I asked “Dave” the following question:

Dave, if you were an HR Manager or recruiter, would you read all this stuff?

Immediately, he offered a crisp “no”!

In sharing with Dave many tips and ideas on how to rewrite his résumé to get it in more manageable, readable and actionable order, I suggested he consider a Think Tweet mentality.

Think Tweet?

Yes, Think Tweet. I’ll show you what I mean. We went to the computer where I showed him how to make a tweet:

Today I am showing a client how to write a tweet and how it is so important to write with brevity in sharing the essence of your message with your audience.     -17

As I typed the above tweet as an example for my client, he read aloud the message that popped up when we tried to post the lengthy entry.

Your Tweet was over 140 characters. You'll have to be more clever.

Your tweet was too long – it went over by 17 characters, Dave advised me. 

We rewrote the entry, and he quickly grasped the difference between a long-winded one-liner (tweet) and a short one. Less is more.

If you decide to write (or revamp) your own résumé, I would encourage you to keep it brief and relevant and present the essence of your message in as few words as possible. Make it easy for the reader to get to know you in a few seconds. No more long and boring résumé.

As Twitter suggests: “You’ll have to be more cleaver.”

Common Sense and Your Job Search

Common sense is not so common. ~ Voltaire

Connect the dots and connect with others to help you move forward; going solo in your job search is lonely; going together in your quest for new work is likelier to land you what you want and/or need.

Overcome whatever it is you would like to overcome. It is that simple and that tough. If you fear public speaking, then challenge yourself to speak.  If you are afraid of failure, ask yourself what’s the worst that can happen and what’s the best that can happen? If you detest looking for a job, how about looking for one anyway? Keep telling yourself:  Someone is going to get a job and it might as well be me!

Make the most of what you have. Instead of mulling over what you don’t have, how about being mindful of what you do have to offer?

Motivate yourself. Make that promise to self – then do your best to keep it!

Offer to help someone do something, learn something, grow something, and be something; in helping another person, you may very well end up helping yourself.

Never give up on yourself or others. Regardless of the number of people who may have shown you they are not interested in helping you, listening to you or being a part of your life at this time -- never give up!

 

Stay focused on an hourly basis…hours soon add up to days and weeks and months before you know it.

Educate yourself on 2012 best practices for career management. Self-educate or find a career management pro who is invested in your continued success. Start with a Google search and see what you discover. Ask your network for referrals.

Nice, a good word to practice in your job search, regardless of how many people have been rude to you. Nice: enjoyable, agreeable, pleasant, good, fine, lovely, amusing, wonderful, kind, polite. Nice.

Share what you know and sooner or later, someone may buy what you are selling in this competitive marketplace.

Engage for the purposes of serving and helping others achieve their goals and in turn, you may wind up achieving your own – a new job, a new lead, a new business idea, and if you’re really lucky, maybe even a new friend.

How do you define common sense as it relates to job search?

Gettin' Hitched and Your Job Search

It won’t be long now, and my son and his fiancé will be exchanging their vows. Date set. Plans made. Reservations scheduled. Wedding paraphernalia purchased. Details checked, checked and rechecked. Hours and hours invested in the getting married project.

While I have enjoyed the entire process of helping my son and his bride-to-be, it has been an incredible amount of work. Lists to make and remake, people to contact, dates to confirm, modifications to integrate, duties to execute and information to learn and discover. In the olden days, it took very little time and for sure, a lot less money to get hitched. I vividly recall that as a Baby Boomer bride, the sum total for our entire wedding event equaled $500.00.  Today, it is a vast undertaking of time and resources (of multiple varieties) to get to the nitty-gritty of saying I do.  12 months of preparation for a 20-minute ceremony. The word elope kept flittering across my mind as I was using another word – tulle – to make the billionth bow for the garden ceremony. Tulle, fool, cool, drool, spool, pool, jewel – as you may have discerned, the bow-making process was getting to me! Oh, how I love words!

As I have been helping with the organization and implementation of the approaching wedding, I have also been thinking about job seekers and the similarities between wedding preparation and a career transition project. Here are some questions to consider as you embark upon your own quest for a new beginning from this day forward:

~ Do you have a reasonably good idea of the type of position you desire?

~ Do you have a strong sense of your existing skill set and what, if anything, is missing or needs some fine-tuning?

~ Do you have a thorough understanding of your product and its value to a potential employer?

~ Have you made a list of at least five of your best work-related skills and can you cite them with confidence, as well as deliver concrete examples for each skill claimed?

~ Do you know with specificity what three to five adjectives best describe you and are those particular descriptors aligned with your new target goal?

~ Have you built a vibrant network of invested partners to help you pull off a successful event of landing a new job?

~ Have you followed up with all parties involved in your career transition project to gauge their support of your efforts?  Think: professional references. Think: LinkedIn recommendations. Think: résumé endorsements.  

~ If hiring managers and recruiters mention their concerns about your candidacy, what concerns might be voiced? (Know your liabilities and weaknesses before you go to market).

~ Have you reviewed your career transition project to make certain that you are meeting deadlines and progressing according to schedule?

~ Have you taken time to thank all of the people who have supported your job search efforts?  

~ Are you paying close attention to the details of your transition project or when the big day finally arrives, will the details (and the lack thereof) be your undoing?

~ When the job offer finally arrives, will you take some time to contemplate the proposal, or will you without hesitation give the employer an emphatic I Do?

Whether you are getting married, or getting a new job, it takes time, effort and unwavering commitment to make sure that it will indeed be one of the happiest and best days of your life.

Raspberry Bubblegum and Your Job Search

Remember when I wrote a blog post last year about looking for a dress for our son’s wedding? A couple of week’s ago, our first-born daughter (certainly more of a fashionista than I) took me on another shopping adventure to find the perfect dress.  Since last year, I have looked in multiple states from Virginia to Texas, scouring store after store in search of the perfect dress to wear as the groom’s mother (GM). Some prefer, I have discovered, to be referred to as MOG. What the heck is a MOG? Mother of the Groom, I was advised.

Anyway, I have learned that as the GM, I am to buy a dress that is understated, not overstated. Not too flashy. Not too frumpy. Nothing long unless the bride requests same. Below the knee, preferable to above the knee. Elegant, not excessive. Nothing too extravagant. Nothing white, nothing ivory. 

In mid-April, the dress was found – everyone said it was gorgeous, beautiful, stunning, smashing, blah blah blah. I bought the dress. Note, I did not say I liked the dress – I just bought the dress because everyone (but me) said it was the ‘puuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect (yes, I know how to spell perfect) dress for me as the MOG GM. It is raspberry in color, has multiple layers of cloth – too many to mention, with some big bling scattered here and there and a v neck that reveals more skin than this Boomer prefers.

Prior to the acquisition of the Raspberry Bubblegum dress (that’s the name I gave it), earlier in April of this year, I was doodling while waiting for a client. On a piece of scratch paper, I had sketched the dress I wanted to wear to the wedding, along with notations: Black, elegant, cap sleeve, simple, v neck, just below the knee.  Yesterday, when I got home from work, I said to my husband: “I have made an executive decision. I am going to go look for a dress to wear to the wedding.” He said “I’ll drive.”  He knew I did not like Raspberry Bubblegum, as dazzling as it is. Twenty minutes upon entering the department store, I exited with dress bag in hand. One new black, elegant, cap sleeve, simple, v neck, below-the-knee dress at one-third the cost of Raspberry Bubblegum.

Fast forward to today in my career coaching session with a GenY client when I offered….whether you are shopping for a new suit, a new car, a new home, or a new job, do a doodle of the thing you want to buy – then stick to it to the best of your ability! Whether you are a GM buying a dress for your son’s wedding, or a young man looking for a new start, trust yourself to create a blueprint of the essential elements you prefer for your perfect whatever it is you want or need  – elements that are important to you, and you alone. While feedback, support and ideas are appreciated and valued, in the end, whether it’s a dress – or a job – do not lose sight of who it’s for and who is going to wear it.

The new black dress is indeed a perfect fit for this GM! Can’t wait to get this party started. 

 

Aren't You Over That Job Loss Thing Yet?

The other day, one of my clients shared that a gainfully employed someone had asked him “Aren’t you over that job loss thing y e t?”

The other day, someone asked me if I was over losing my brother.

Over.

O – v – e – r.

How long does it take to get O V E R something, anyway?

I don’t know the answer, do you?

Maybe getting over job loss or getting over losing someone you love works for you.

I have lost a job and I have lost dear friends and loved ones. For whatever reason, the word over simply does not work – for me. 

For whatever reason, getting on works better.

Not much better, just better.

Getting on makes more sense – to me.

Getting on with it – whatever it is.

Getting on down the road with no map to take you there. 

Getting on to what’s next when you have not one clue.

Getting on without a grip until you find something to grasp. 

Getting on with good-byes.

Getting on with letting go.

Getting on with a comforting word or deed.

Getting on with a willingness to start where you are. 

Getting on with a memory that brings comfort and joy.

Getting on without staying stuck in the past.

Getting on by remembering the best of what was.

Getting on with picking up the pieces.

Getting on with what remains.

Getting on with reconstruction of what’s yet to be.

Getting on with people who care a little.

Getting on with people who care a lot.

Getting on with those who stand strong by your side.

Getting on when you have not one idea what you are getting on to.

Getting on even though you are frightened and afraid.

Getting on without fear and failure dominating decisions.

Getting on through cloudy days and dark nights.

Getting on with a face to the future.

Getting on with a timeout, time away.

Getting on with strength you didn't know you could muster.

Getting on with grace.

Getting on with gratitude.

Getting on when the go back to is gone.

Getting on to a place of peace.

Getting on, going on because you don't  know what else to do.

700 Characters to Résumé Success Via a Think Tweet Mentality

I love the feedback I get regarding Twitter when I am teaching a client to integrate a “Think Tweet” concept into résumé writing.

Tweet? What is a tweet?

Twitter? – can’t say that I have heard of it!

What the #$%^ is a “think tweet” concept?

Tweets -- would that be about birds or something?

Nope, Twitter is Twitter! Twitter rocks. Twitter is not about birds, unless of course you post tweets about birds.

If you do not get Twitter, participate in posting tweets, or connect with people on Twitter, I hope you will be open to considering how a “Think Tweet” concept is most applicable to professional / executive résumé writing and job interviewing.

One of the activities I invite clients to consider in crafting a rock-solid profile on their résumé (I love profiles – not everyone does) is to prepare five of the most relevant, compelling, supportive, and essential pieces of direct evidence they can produce to prove to a prospective employer that their candidacy warrants an interview.

HOMEWORK EXERCISE:

Compile five of your very best tweets in the space below, proving first to self, then to others, that you are a rock-solid contender for the job to which you aspire. When you have the tweet completed, review your entry for number of characters with spaces. If the number of characters with spaces exceeds 140, then rewrite your thought (tweet) until it complies with the Twitter standard. Not only will this exercise help you improve your résumé profile and overall résumé-writing abilities, it will also enhance your interview skills as you will know with intention and purpose what to say when the FAQ Tell Me About Yourself is asked. Good luck and happy tweeting!

Job Target/Title: ____________________ 

Five Tweets of Your Best Direct Evidence Showing Proof That You Are A Worthy Candidate for the Job.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               ProofProof Proof #1 – 140 characters with spaces

Proof #2 – 140 characters with spaces

Proof #3 – 140 characters with spaces

Proof #4 – 140 characters with spaces

Proof #5 – 140 characters with spaces

140 x 5 = 700 characters with spaces to success.

Think Tweet, thanks to Twitter!

P.S. Feel free to follow me on Twitter for more job search tips and tweets: @billiesucher