Your Resume: A Work In Progress

Your resume. Your professional life summed up in one or two pages. I have lost track of how many times I have fine tuned, polished and picked apart my resume. Every time I think I have it perfectly done, I will submit it to a resume writer, or read another article that speaks of including or doing everything I'm NOT doing in mine. To put personal interest or not (it allegedly can either make you approachable or make you sound amateurish), to include years enrolled or not (some say it will tell your age), to open with an objective or not (many claim that this is "fluff" and that recruiters feel that this screams rookie) ... the arguments are endless to do this or that.

There are approaches that advocate countless directions so what to do? Polish it, fine tune it, read it over and over again, read your friends resumes, examine the job posting, research the company ... and then tailor your resume to what feel like YOU.

After years of getting the interviews I wanted (and some of which I wanted but didn't get) I can tell you this; get feedback. Often we are too close to our own resumes to really be objective. While I never used a resume writer, I did get their feedback. Often resume writers will provide you with critique if you ask for it, aiming to sell their services. A good resume writer sometimes cost up toward $500 (and more for execs) to rewrite your resume. Few can afford it, but if you can, I say do it. However, if you are a good writer and have good feedback, just keep tweaking your own. Invite feedback from your friends whose opinion you respect. People often don't want to critique someone's resume out of worry that it will offend the recipient. Let them know that you are looking for critique and welcome it. Trust me, suspend your defensiveness (even if you have slaved over that resume for months on end) and open yourself up to opinions. It will give you a whole new perspective.

FYI, I speak from experience: I recently landed an executive job with my dream company. It's another Fortune 500 company, but in an industry I'm fiercely passionate about. It took me months on end of tweaking my resume, but it paid off. It was a humbling experience at first. No matter how good you think your resume is, it will inevitably have to compete against several hundred others who also consider their excellent.

Remember that most recruiters and hiring managers get absolutely swamped with resumes for any good job. I recently received close to 200 resumes in one business week, for an entry level marketing position. Needless to say I was not able to read every resume I received, but I did scan through them and a few did catch my attention. The cookie cutter ones who read (and looked) like they had been taken out of a Word template did not make the cut. Beware of templates; they are widely recognized.

Imagine yourself a hiring manager ... what would get YOUR attention?

What's in a diploma?

While watching the Food Network’s “Who Wants To Be The Next Food Network Star?” finale last night (the right candidate won in my opinion!) I couldn’t help but ponder Jag’s position and situation. For anyone not familiar, he was one of the final two contestants but ended up taking himself out of the competition when it was discovered that he had lied on his application, listing both service in Afghanistan and graduation from culinary school; none of which he had accomplished. Why anybody would lie on a resume or application when you’re vying for a public job on national TV is beyond me but that’s not what I was thinking about. Jag showed up for the finale and seemed to have tremendous camaraderie and respect from the rest of the cast. It seems that his skills and performance had left a strong enough impression on them that they chose to disregard his fibbing a resume which made his presence on the show even a possibility.

It brings up a topic that is very relevant to the business world as well; the measure of a candidate’s true skill versus what is on his or her resume. Some of the most brilliant people I know never graduated from college. Other very talented professionals (I know) graduated from a community, or non-name brand, college. Michael Dell (Dell), David Geffen (Dreamworks) and Richard Branson (Virgin Air) are among some well known executives never graduated from college.

The pressure to present excellent credentials and an impressive resume weighs heavily on applicants to Fortune 500 companies. In a world where hiring managers and recruiters look only at “names”, whether that is prior experience with a Fortune 500 or a top school, it is tough to stand out. But the question remains, are those candidates without a degree or without the pedigree lesser qualified? I don’t always think so. Unless I am hiring for an entry-level position, I usually look at work experience as the main indicator of a person’s talent, with education being secondary qualifiers.

One might think “once you’re in, you’re in” but think again, a lady I worked with (highly skilled and super sharp I might add) was not applying for higher level management positions because she did not have a college degree. She worked for the company for over 15 years but worries that she wasn't qualified for senior level positions. Frankly, I didn't know anyone MORE qualified!

A college diploma and/or a name-brand school are wonderful qualifiers for those that have them. I would however like to see more “… or equivalent work experience” added next to the required degree in job postings. It opens up the playing field to include some truly wonderfully qualified candidates, many of whom I have been fortunate and honored to work with.

A person shouldn’t have to lie on an application if they truly feel that they qualify. Jag might have had his own TV show today had he not fibbed the resume (though he never was a favorite of mine, for reasons other than his background). He apparently was skilled and personable enough; both of which carried him through to the finals. If anything, that should tell America something about what really matters.