© Lee Hecht Harrison LLC All Rights Reserved

Presented by:Debbie Noe, SPHR

2700 Westown Parkway, Suite 200 West Des Moines, Iowa 50266

515-453-9590 fax 515-222-0565

1239 First Avenue, Suite B Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402

888-278-4392

info@CRGpros.com www.LHH.com www.CRGpros.com

Resumes That Get Noticed!

2015 Career Expo

2Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Presentation Objectives

Purpose of a Resume

Resume Formats

Parts of a Resume

Overall Resume Guidelines

Editing and Proofreading Approaches

Optimizing for Applicant Tracking Systems

Questions

Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results. 3

Experienced career management professionals. Assist job seekers in preparing, launching, and

managing an effective job search. Navigate job seekers through the process in

getting connect to work as quickly as possible.

CRG Lee Hecht HarrisonWho Are We?

4Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Purpose of a Resume

Sales Brochure – markets your qualifications, expertise, and highlights accomplishments.

Calling Card – provides contact information, brief summary, and is easy to read.

5Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Resume Formats

Most frequently used and accepted.

Starts with most recent employer.

Work history and time frames tied directly to each employer.

Less emphasis on specific employers and dates.

Difficult and confusing to read.

May raise more questions, especially if work history is omitted.

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Name Address One phone number Professional email address - not your work e-mail! Customized LinkedIn URL : /yourname. (NOTE:

LinkedIn has instructions on its website.)

Parts of a Resume:Heading

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Delete

Adds no value - "Looking for a challenging position in which to use my background, skills, and abilities to contribute to your organization.”

Why else would you be submitting your resume? Takes up precious space. Replace with a Career Summary.

Parts of a Resume:Professional Objective

8Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Identifiable ProfessionExpertiseIndustry ExperienceInterpersonal SkillsStrengths/Knowledge

Parts of a Resume:Career Summary

9Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

COMPANY, City, State 2002 – 2014

Job Title 2009 – 2014General job duties and responsibilities. Small paragraph for recent position. Shorter for earlier positions. Great resource: ONET - database of occupations.• Accomplishment statement

Job Title 2002 – 2009

Parts of a Resume

10Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Tempting (and more simple) to combine multiple job titles at one company.

Resist the temptation: Show how you moved up (or around)!

Says a lot about you if you were promoted within an organization.

Parts of a ResumeJob Titles

11Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

COMPANY, City, State 2002 – 2014

Job Title 2009 – 2014General job duties and responsibilities. Small paragraph for recent position. Shorter for earlier positions.

• Accomplishment statement• Accomplishment statement• Accomplishment statement

Parts of a Resume:Accomplishment Statements

12Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Each bullet highlights a specific accomplishment.

3 – 6 for your most recent job. 0 – 3 for earlier jobs. Don’t use more than two lines per bullet. Summarize: “What”, “How”, and “Results”. Results = How was success measured? Quantify and/or qualify results.

Parts of a Resume:Accomplishments

13Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Place after professional experience, unless you are a recent graduate.

Remove graduation year if more than 10 years since graduation.

Some college? “Attended BA level courses” Remove anything high school-related.

Parts of a Resume:Education

14Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Can bolster your resume and highlight other skills. Examples: United Way, Meals from the Heartland,

Habitat for Humanity. Don’t include anything that an employer cannot

ask – i.e. religion. Don’t include volunteer work with controversial

organizations.

Parts of a Resume:Volunteer Experience

15Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Professional Development and Training

Examples: Customer Service, Project Management, Process Improvement (Six Sigma), Creating High Performing Work Teams, Reducing Sexual Harassment, Conflict Resolution

Memberships

Professional Associations, Boards

Other Parts of a Resume

16Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Languages Certifications/Licenses Computer Skills

Omit if not relevant to hiring community Military Experience

Other Parts of a Resume

17Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Tell the Truth – anything that’s not 100% true doesn’t belong on your resume.

Don’t Use Clichés – Because hiring managers are really, really tired of seeing descriptions like reliable, dependable, hard worker, team player, quick learner, and detail-oriented.

Eliminate company jargon – use universal and commonly understood terms.

Overall Resume Guidelines

18Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Use Real English Words understood by the average person.

Use Powerful Verbs Don’t start phrases with “Responsible for”. Present tense for current positions. Past tense for past positions.

Don’t Include “References Upon Request” Not necessary and takes up room.

Overall Resume Guidelines

19Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Should comfortably fit on two pages .7 or .8 margins Readable font (i.e. Calibri, Arial) Stick to one basic font Not smaller than 11 pt. font Include white space – easier on the eyes

Don’t Squish It All In!

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Use CAPITAL letters and bold font selectively. Remove italicized font .

Confuses a scanner. Remove any photos or visual elements.

Confuses a scanner. Write out acronyms but include acronym in

parentheses– i.e. Sarbanes Oxley (SOX).

Don’t Distract Your Reader!

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Get a second opinion

Ask a few friends or professional contacts to look at your resume.

Then ask: What are the three most memorable things? What did they not understand? Was it boring, confusing, or too vague?

Editing Tips

22Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Spell Check

Proofread multiple times. Orphan words

Edit previous line to eliminate single words left on a line by themselves.

Numbers

Use numerical form instead of written (i.e., 30% instead of thirty percent).

Editing Tips

23Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Read your resume out loud

Helps you catch any spelling or grammar errors. Identifies sentences that sound awkward. Catches words or phrases difficult to

understand.

Editing Tips

24Maximizing Performance. Achieving Results.

Drop your resume into a word cloud generator (i.e. TagCrowd).

Creates an image representing your most frequent words.

Then ask yourself: What terms will employers associate with you? Are adjustments needed to ensure the right

message comes through?

Word Cloud Generator

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May be used to eliminate unqualified applicants. Scans for keywords and mathematically scored.

Only qualified ones may be reviewed by humans. How to optimize your resume?

Keep your formatting simple. Include the right keywords. Quadruple check for spelling mistakes.

Applicant Tracking Systems

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Thank you!

What questions do you have?