Friday, December 26, 2008

It's Not Your Father's Resume Anymore

By Craig Calvin

If you still think of your resume as simply a historical document of your working life it may be time to revamp your thinking and your resume. Studies show that the average resume gets only about 15 to 30 seconds to drive its point home and to, hopefully, impress your future employer. Today, resumes are leaning toward a hipper, more progressive tone. They play down age, and play up achievements using monetary gains and savings to accentuate the positive.

Value proposition is a catch phrase being tossed around nowadays. Businesses have been using it for years to sell their stuff. Savvy job hunters now know they need to incorporate it into their resumes to help them sell themselves. A value proposition in your resume essentially describes the tangible results a company can expect to receive from you. And, by tangible, companies want to see dollar signs. This may be in the form of decreased operational costs ~ some money-saving ideas you may have implemented, or a step you may have taken to improve customer retention.

Another change that's come about is replacing the standard one-line objective statement with a resume summary placed strategically near the top of the resume. This detailed paragraph takes an "in your face" approach to expressing your value and goals to the potential employer in terms of how you can help them to increase their revenue or cut their expenses.

Play up your experience and down play your age. You don't want your old style resume to present you as too old for the job. Older applicants sometimes aren't given fair opportunities, though probably not often on purpose. If the boss is 20 years younger than you, then he may shy away from hiring someone who he considers old. Despite age discrimination laws, this still does go on and you can't afford to draw unwanted attention to your age if you are older.

So, how do you overcome that? You can begin by omitting the date that you graduated, and by including the jobs that you've held over the past 5 to 10 years ~ rather than the past 30. Use a vibrant, energetic tone, with words like "progressive", "results-oriented", and "savvy". Perhaps, one of the best ways to convey your value is to keep your skills (i.e. computer, and software skills) updated to a current level. Be sure to let your potential employer know that you are willing and capable of learning new technologies and skills quickly. Finally, skip the dreary rundown of your past employment listing your duties and responsibilities. Employers want you to highlight achievements you made while you at past jobs. - 16747

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