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Six Things You Must Do Now If You're Looking for a Better Job (continued) . . .
Use the PAR format to showcase your experience
PAR stands for Problem --> Action --> Result. It’s the "gold standard" for showcasing your experience. The PAR format (also called Challenge --> Action --> Result or "CAR") spotlights your results and accomplishments. Whatever you call it, use this format! See the PAR page for details.
What to do if you get stuck
Often it's difficult to recognize—and be objective about—your personal accomplishments.
If you're having difficulty writing accomplishment statements, ask an experienced writer to help you. A resume coach can draw out your truthful experience and shape it into a winning, proven format that gets you called in for more interviews (Why Hire a Resume Writer?).
4. Be Brief. And if you're over 40, be really brief (Are you a LIAR if you don't mention every job?)
Years ago I rewrote a resume for a former boss who insisted on listing every job since college. His resume droned on through four pages of boring, hard-to-read text.
He refused to cut anything—partly due to pride of accomplishment, and mostly because he is a scrupulously honest person who believes that leaving anything out is “lying by omission.” Wrong!
If you must show old-but-relevant experience, condense it into a short paragraph (for example, "Additional Experience: 1977-1990").
Don't exceed two pages
Don't exceed two pages, no matter how substantial your experience (in academic settings, sometimes a third-page "addendum" is used for scholarly publications, patents and so on).
Limit your experience to 15 years for a managerial job and 10 years for a technical job. Make sure all your experience supports your job objective.
Lavishing too much attention on past jobs causes two problems:
- You've included way to much information, so your resume rambles and lacks focus. Worse, you’re probably not supporting your summary/objective.
- Too much detail makes you look old (euphemistically, you’re “over qualified” or “too expensive”).
Ever notice what happens when a 50+ gray-bearded man suddenly shaves off his beard? Everybody says, "Wow! You look 10 years younger!" Something similar happens when you cut your resume to two pages.
Here's another instance where a resume writer can help you. If you cannot bear to delete, edit and shape your work history into two pages, ask an outside writer to help.
5. Use keywords and lively, power-packed action verbs. Write in a conversational style.
Writing a resume is easy. Getting somebody to actually READ it is the hard part.
Your resume's third critical element concerns word choices and writing style. Be wary of presenting a "boring" presentation (plodding, "dense" and overly formal). If the reader feels tired or bored your resume might get trashed.
The conversational style emphasizes active voice, simple words, simple declarative sentences, short bullets and short paragraphs—but never degenerates into slang or “vogue” words.
The page you're reading right now is written in a conversational "Web2.0 style," and you’re still reading, right?
A famous writing adage says “the easier it is to read, the harder it is to write!" Writing in a conversational style is a tricky balance—like dressing for “casual Fridays” in an office on Wall Street.
The conversational style is not even new. You can find all its principles in a slim, 90-page paperback called "The Elements of Style," originally published in 1918! (Ref 6).
Can your resume pass the barstool test?
How does your resume sound when you read it out loud?
If you sound like you’re having an ordinary conversation with a person on the barstool beside you, you passed. But if you stumble, stutter, backtrack or hesitate—like most people who try this exercise—rewrite and try again!
The barstool test is a well-known litmus test for copywriters, but sometimes resume writers get tangled up in "businessese" (see Two Ways to Make Your Resume Stand Out).
6. Create an online identity that shows you're “with it”
If you’re over 40, you’re well aware of the stereotypes: “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks; “older people can't handle new technology” and so on.
One way to counter these perceptions—and make yourself visible to savvy hiring managers who Google job candidates—is to create an online profile on LinkedIn and then post your resume there (Ref 11 Also see Have You Been Digitally Dissed in Your Job Search?).
If you’re really ambitious, create a profile on facebook or myspace. In the Web 2.0 world, job seekers, recruiters and employers are using these social-networking sites for job searching and recruiting.
Get your own Web site, stake your claim in cyberspace, and slice years off your virtual age
Nowadays it seems like every teenage kid has a blog or a Web site, but few people over 30 bother to stake their claim in cyberspace. One of the easiest ways to build your online identity is to post your resume on your own personal Web site (for example, www.MaryJSmith.com).
Having your own Web site says "I might look a little older, but I'm technically hip and savvy." You'll dazzle job interviewers and amaze your friends. And you’ll have your own domain so people can easily look you up on the Web.
Setting up your personal Web site has never been easier. Let me guide you through the process, step-by-step. See Your Own Website Tonite.
