Resume Writer Matthew Greene, M.Phil.
Using A Sample
Resume or Template
Can Help or Hurt in 2010
by
Matthew Greene,
M.Phil
Matthew Greene has written or edited
about 14,000 resumes since 1984. His clients have been very
successful. Greene is a resume expert and author of the
best-selling book, Winning Resumes --"Sure-Hire" Tactics....
(Penguin) which is a selection of the
Fortune Book Club.
In 2010, are you using a "perfect" sample resume or readymade template or resume software
to write yours? Sadly, your chances of writing a winning resume are only 5% to 10%. Why so low? Because it's like trying to make or build something WITHOUT written instructions or how-to.
You also need to be very careful. There are
many, many pitfalls that I'll make you aware of.
Resume
examples can easily mislead you because you WON'T know what was added or left out. Many a resume template is of
little or no value and resume building software often results in a very WEAK resume. Sample resumes can be very "old" and outdated. If they were written or designed before 2009, they WON'T
help you write a resume to beat the
competition in today's job market!
Suitable resume examples may give you an idea of
what yours should look like. You may be able to use the same layout
and also find useful key words or "power" words, phrases, or
sentences.
But is that all you'll need? Is the process of
creating a perfect resume for these hard times so easy? Can you safely use a sample resume
or template without any guide, INSTRUCTIONS or how-to? NO! If you
do, you're likely to make resume mistakes that could cost you
dearly! It requires a lot of skill and experience to construct a resume that will
get you interviews in 2010.
What about QUESTIONS you would like to
ask? Did the resume example or template give you all of the answers
you need? If so, you are extremely lucky. The awful truth is that
85% of all job seekers will still need professional resume help to
improve or "fix" their resumes.
But wait! You still need to check if your
resume example or template was created three to five
years ago or so. If so, then it WON'T help you in today's job
market. Older samples that you'll find in most resume books may now be less-than-useful. These may have worked well five years
ago but not nowadays, so please be very careful in choosing a very recent
one to use! You see, both resumes and employers have changed a
lot since the Great Recession of 2009. Today's resumes look different and are
stronger and better. They are FOCUSED and even TAILORED to specific jobs.They certainly need to be more effective
because you are competing for fewer jobs in the brutal job
market of 2010.
Now, let's see how resume examples can help
you find answers to some of your own writing problems. In
studying them, please bear in mind that each and every sample is a
finished and polished resume that has already had a
"makeover". All of the original resume blemishes or "mistakes" have been
"fixed". Any negative or "RED FLAG" item that might have
turned off recruiters has also been downplayed or disguised or
shifted to Page 2 or even removed entirely. (Unfortunately, in
the case of all "perfect" samples you can't even begin to guess at
all of the changes that were made by a professional writer.
Since many samples are not "real", almost anything might have been
done to make them look "normal" or "better" for publication in an
article or book!)
First, let's
consider design and
layout. The sample resume you intend to use is probably very
attractive. It may look elegant and neat like those with a
Garamond typeface. But the awful truth is that many elegant
looking resumes have failed to generate even a single
interview!
Eye appeal is not
everything and constructing an effective resume involves much, much
more than making a resume look good. It has to "sell" you before,
during and after the interview! Too many nice-looking resumes are
very weak as marketing documents and won't "sell" you to
recruiters.
Choosing a suitable style or design or template to
present your CAN DO's and make a good first impression is not easy.
It's tougher than shopping for a new outfit for a very special
occasion. Let's face it. The design chosen by another party may not
work for you because your own facts may be entirely different. You
may also have a shortcoming or two or "something to hide". Will
looking at a "perfect" sample or template show you what to do in
your own resume? Not likely.
Can a "Perfect" Resume
Example Help to Make Yours Perfect? No!
To
construct a really good resume for 2010 will require professional help. You
see, many resume templates don't show you how and where to add your
own "sell" under those neatly organized headings. The rigid cell
structure and formatting also makes it difficult to do this. As a
result, you'll be taking the risk of "underselling" yourself which
is a fatal resume mistake.
Before you
decide to copy any word, phrase or sentence written in "fancy"
English, ask yourself if that kind of language is also used by employers in
their job advertisements. Is it a real buzz word or
keyword? You see, the language of schoolteachers or freelance
writers is often too "literary" or "flowery". Tough and
cynical recruiters may even view such writing as "BS".
(Widely-used phrases like "very dedicated" and "highly
motivated" and "self motivated" are very amateurish, especially when
used by executives. Even "results-oriented" has been used so
often, it now bores and even turns off many recruiters.)
You also need to be very careful when
adapting a JOB OBJECTIVE
. Many sample resumes include a
sentence about "seeking a challenging opportunity in a progressive
company or firm that will utilize all of my skills
and offer
opportunities for professional growth and advancement."
In 2010, that will be a BIG turnoff! Only God knows what all of
your skills might be! (Paper mills tend to write like
that.) Even worse, it is all "me", "me" instead of what the
employer wants to read what you are offering to do for him or her.
I often come across a Summary or Profile that is worded in
the language of literature and full of adjectives or
superlatives. The near-hysterical words "extremely" and
"superb" and "unsurpassed" have also become fashionable.
This is not what employers want to read. They need to
know what value you will bring to their companies. Your
strengths and skills and accomplishments are that value.
Classroom adjectives wont "sell" you but "selling points" that are
expressed in the language of business, will often knock their socks
off.
In any perfect
example, the DATES OF EMPLOYMENTwill all
look "normal". That is so because any embarrassing or "red
flag" dates have already been adjusted or "fixed". So what
must you do about the fact that your own work experience has been
"spotty" or mainly in one company? Or if you have been out of
work or have had several short-term positions that make you look
like a "JOB HOPPER"?
(Note: In a well-written resume,
dates of employment will usually be given in years only and not in
months and years. The time period in each job will
therefore seem longer and any gaps in employment will also be
closed. Using this clever strategy results in pure resume
magic because it makes it possible to leave out one or two or three
short-term positions. This is okay because "resume" means
"summary". It is NOT a page from True
Confessions or a Police rap sheet!)
Will a "perfect" resume example or template show you
how to deal with the problem of not having a 4-year degree when so
many job ads expect you to offer this? Many sample resumes
have been "doctored" or "adjusted" to show that all degrees have
been completed! This won't help you to deal with the problem
of having "TOO LITTLE EDUCATION". (In fact, there's a lot that can be
done to "improve" your education and training!)
Finally, whenever I see too many
black dots in any resume, I
know that the writer was very inexperienced. Why did he or she
need to use 20 to 50 black dots or BULLETS that will not impress
anyone? Instead, only 5 to 10 bullets or arrows are required
to draw attention to your most valuable skills and/or
accomplishments -- the items you want to be noticed.
(Attention getters should
never be used to give a resume more "eye appeal". They have an
important functional and strategic role to play to draw attention
to only a few of your "selling points".)
To summarize,
using a "perfect" sample resume or two is a good way to start but
dont expect them to give you all of the ANSWERS you may need to get hired in 2010.
And there are also many, many pitfalls in using someone else's
resume. This is why, in 2010 you should definitely ask a resume expert if
you've made the right decisions in yours.
Some services offer you a FREE RESUME EVALUATION. Please
take advantage of this because any mistakes you make in writing your
own resume may cost you dearly in lost job opportunities and income.
A single resume mistake could actually cost you thousands of
dollars!
Do Resume
Examples Help ?
Have you managed to find a
good resume example that fits your own career history and current
job objective perfectly? Probably not in 2010, even if you purchased
all the resume books in every bookstore. The reason is
that job seekers are not
clones!
Many people believe that a good example or two
or three will help them write the kind of focused resume that is
required to succeed in today's job market. Sadly, the vast
majority will be disappointed. They will also lose valuable
job opportunities.
"Resume example" is a very
popular search term on the Web. Thousands of people try to
find examples that are well-designed, properly constructed,
and written to impress the reader. But only FIVE (5) PERCENT will later succeed in creating a
dazzling resume of their own.
Why? Because what has worked for someone else, may NOT work
for you. And because developing your resume requires
many skills that the other writer may have had but not you!
After all, how much can you
really use or adapt from a resume that was written by or created for someone else? Your work histories, skills, and "selling
points" may be very different! Your own job objective may also
be different. In short, it would be like trying to fit into
someone else's clothes or worse taking someone else's
medicine!
In 2010, even the best example in any resume book
will seldom give you ALL of the answers you need. People
have different goals, skills, abilities, achievements, education,
training, and work histories. In addition, everyone is short
of something or has items to play down or "hide". Will you be
able to copy or adapt more than a few bits and pieces from a
resume that was written by a professional
writer?
Unfortunately,
a good example WON'T reveal it's
construction secrets to you. What
decisions were made in creating that resume? Why was a
particular type of presentation selected? What information was
selected for inclusion or for special emphasis? What was
omitted or downplayed or "cleaned up" and why? (What to
leave out may be as crucial as what to include!)
It is obvious that what you fail to include or
emphasize or fail to omit can easily ruin your chances. But
the resume examples of others will seldom help you make these
important decisions because they are finished products like cakes
that have already been baked and decorated. They won't reveal
any mixing or baking secrets to you.
Thus, copying a design and a little content from any resume
will often backfire. You see,
unless you know the reasons why and the "how-to" involved, you'll
produce a half-baked resume or worse you'll sell yourself
short. 95 PERCENT of such efforts WON'T be able to compete
against the well-written presentations of skilled
writers.
An example of a resume that may look good at
first glance, may actually be NEGATIVE ! Why? Because
it may lack the crucial 10 to 15-line marketing "top" which has to
sell you to the reader. Second, many a resume example does not
mention any achievements or accomplishments. (To a typical
recruiter, that means you have none because you would certainly have
included anything you were proud of. That's a very big
negative!) Third, any resume that is "bullet-ridden" with 25
to 50 pretty black dots or arrows will not draw attention to the
very few items that do need to be highlighted
Let's face it. The main reason why
people search for attractive-looking resumes is to try to save
a few dollars. They believe that their own writing skills will
be adequate. I must disagree. What about presentation
skills, marketing skills, and selling skills? And what about
the ability to focus or target their resume or resumes to address
the needs of different audiences?
Do you also try to prepare your own tax
return? Writing a focused resume that will work for you in
today's job market may be far more challenging than that!
The cost of a self-written resume that does not work is
very high because it may cost you job
opportunities and thousands of dollars in income far more than the
cost of any professional resume.
Perhaps you should consider hiring the services
of a professional writer in 2010 -- someone who has more experience and skills in this
highly specialized area. He or she has already developed or
improved hundreds or even thousands of successful resumes for
clients. In most cases, the cost of a skilled writer will be fully
justified as an investment in your own career. [ Please visit WINNING RESUMES BLOG: http://winning-resumes-blog-mattgreene.blogspot.com/ -- for valuable recession "tips".]
mattgreene@aol.com
Tel.: 1-718-436-3504
[ Home ]
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[ How a Sample Resume or Template Can Help or Hurt ]
[ Resume writing services: How to check them out ]
[ A better resume for hard times ]
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[ An executive resume must have an effective value statement ]
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