Resume Writer Matthew Greene, M.Phil.
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| *About Matthew Greene: Since 1984, Matthew Greene has written or edited about 8,000 managerial and executive resumes. Most of these have been very successful. Greene is a resume writing expert and job search consultant. He is the author of the best-selling book, Winning Resumes --"Sure-Hire" Tactics.... (Penguin), a selection of the Fortune (now Money) Book Club. |
In 2012, management resumes should be designed and written to showcase and market your best "selling points" — UP FRONT. You MUST offer your strongest skills and abilities to recruiters in only 15 SECONDS. These are your "sell" or value. If you do, you may even succeed in overcoming the problem of not having a 4-year degree or some other "problem"!
A good management resume is much more than a "basic" resume. It is a tool you need for the proper MARKETING of two things -- what you have to offer and the likely benefits of hiring you. In other words, your VALUE. All management resumes must include such a VALUE STATEMENT.
WHAT DO EMPLOYERS WANT? Their job advertisements tend to ask for only a FEW truly essential requirements or "must have's". These are usually not negotiable. But MOST other requirements are only "preferred" or "desirable" or "a plus". Or they will accept "equivalent experience". That means that you have a real chance.
To be
effective, your management resumes should target each employer's SPECIFIC
needs and "sell" you UP FRONT — from Line One onwards. This will
impress recruiters and continue to sell you during the
interview as well as later to a selection committee. All resumes need to be stronger and better in this recession.
In any
resume for a manager or executive, selling yourself starts in your
JOB OBJECTIVE! A well-written Job
Objective is crucial because it is the attention-getting
"head" of your resume. First, it tells the reader
what position you are seeking. Second, it starts to offer the
benefits of hiring you such as your most qualifying work experience
and/or track record of accomplishment and/or valuable skills — a few
selected items that will impress, back up and support your
application. [Modern Job Objectives are marketing-oriented. They should include
sales "hooks" such as one or two or even three bulleted
accomplishments. These will start to "sell" you
immediately.]
The next section in management resumes is a bulleted
SUMMARY or
QUALIFICATIONS STATEMENT or PROFILE. This will present your job-related
education, your most impressive or related job experience, your
track record of success or promotions, the names of major employers,
your most impressive accomplishment(s), and your strongest skills
and strengths. Such items should support your job objective. (If
possible, BULLETED items should address each of the SPECIFIC requirements stated
in job advertisements.) Since you are a manager or executive, you should also
list your AREAS OF EXPERIENCE OR EXPERTISE in two or
three columns so that the
reader will quickly see that you can offer "Leadership" or "Project
Management" or "Operations Management" or "Strategic Planning" or
"Solutions Selling" or "Team-building" or "Negotiating
Skills". Thus, in only 10-15 lines, your management resume or resumes will make you
LOOK like the candidate they are eager to interview and
hire in 2012 -- EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE A 4-YEAR DEGREE. "Where's
the Beef?" and Other Resume Questions Is your management resume still on ONE PAGE?
In 2012, most managers
and executives will NOT be able to do themselves justice on a single page! Take a
long, hard look at your own management resume or resumes and ask yourself the crucial question:
"Where's the
beef?" Is your management resume like a hamburger where the "beef" (your
"sell") is hidden? Will a
super picky employer or recruiter be able to see
why they should hire you? Thousands of self-written management resumes omit or mess up the
Job
Objective and/or bulleted Summary. This is a
fatal mistake. Why? Because these resume sections have a crucial
role to play in winning management resumes -- similar to
attention-getting, Point-of-Sale promotional materials in a store
that motivate shoppers to buy. Does your WORK EXPERIENCE section
consist of 5-7 solid, gray paragraphs with run-on lines? Do keywords
or impressive numbers or phrases "jump out" at the reader? Are the
names of your major customers or clients highlighted? Do your
Are you using 20-40 decorative, black "BULLETS" or arrows to
make your resume look more interesting or to give it "EYE APPEAL"? I see this in many management resumes.
Please DON'T do this! They will be ignored because they are only pretty "dingbats". Important KEYWORDS should
always be bolded,
underlined or italicized to draw the reader's
attention to them. They should "jump" off the page. If the reader is
searching for BUZZ WORDS or phrases such as "cost reduction" or
"turnaround" or "start-up experience" or "process improvement" or
"strategic or tactical selling" or "selling to C-level executives"
or "creative marketing" or "business strategy" or "business process
re-engineering or improvement" or "customer-centric", these should be
highlighted. They are a MUST in all management resumes. Above all, your resume should be easily scannable in 15
seconds or less. What the reader wants to see must "jump out" at him
or her. (But DON'T bold or highlight too many words or phrases or sentences in the resume. That will backfire.)
Finally, laser PRINTING on first-class resume paper is essential for creating that all-important first impression. (KINKO's # 2 resume paper is ideal. It is 24lb linen and the color is off-white. Use their laser printers to prepare master copies of your documents.)
IMPORTANT NOTE: The awful reality is that many highly
qualified management candidates in 2012 will fail to land job interviews. Why?
Most of these will be beaten by a less-qualified candidate
with the best
resume -- such as someone WITHOUT a 4-year degree. Every job search expert knows that but that is how the hiring system works.
Please wake up, smell the coffee and get professional help before your money runs out as the Great Recession continues. Please visit WINNING RESUMES BLOG for valuable recession "tips".]
mattgreene@aol.com
Tel.: 1-718-436-3504
©1999-2012 by Matthew Greene
URL:
http://www.winning-resumes.com
All rights reserved.
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