Some good advice on resumes

Good Monday morning, Matt,

After his first sentence, I knew this guy's job hunt wasn't going anywhere.

Sure he was a smart guy, with great experience, but that's just not enough these days.

I was at our Live Event in Atlanta last Tuesday when I met "Tim," a Sales and Marketing guy from Atlanta. I asked him what type of job he would be a fit for.

"Well, I love fixing things, so I can fix things real well. And I am also interested in high-tech and getting things off the ground."

And sure enough, that's just about what his resume said, too.

And right there, folks, you have the biggest mistake that people make in their job hunt. It is so sad, and so preventable.

You see, so many job seekers look at the job hunt from their own point of view: "I want to fix" or "I like to grow." And that's exactly the kind of error that can be deadly to your job hunt.

So I said, "Sorry, Tim, but nobody today is hiring somebody who likes to fix things or gets things off the ground. The recruiter or HR person who looks at your resume has a job to fill – and a hiring manager expecting them to find a great person for that particular job, whether its an operations professional or a sales person, or what have you."

"You need to tell them what you are going to do for them, and then tell them specifically what you have done in the past: cut costs, increased sales, reduced headcount, or expanded market share."

"But what you can't do, what you mustn't do, is think about your resume from your point of view."

Look, it's like this. Since I've been travelling so much, I traded in about 35,000 of my American Express Rewards Points for a pair of those nice Bose noise cancelling headphones. They are really fantastic, they cut out all the background noise and let me listen to all the "I Know You Rider" and "Scarlet Begonias" that I want.

I guess I got attracted to them by the ads I'd seen and the people on planes really enjoying their time in the skies with their QuietComfort headphones.

And then it struck me. The difference between the resumes people write for themselves and a professionally written resume is like the difference between a product manual and an ad.

They're both true, they both concern the same product, but one just "tells" while the other "sells."

Most people write their resumes like a Product Manual...

Bose Manual

It's all true; it's got all the data in there. But it's boring. And it simply tells you what the product does.

While a good resume, like a great ad, tells you the benefits that you will get from the product:

Bose Ad

These headphones "dramatically fade distractions," the "patented acoustic design delivers lifelike audio," and the "patented ear cushions maximize comfortable fit."

As a music listener, I want fewer distractions, lifelike audio, and a maximized fit.

Similarly, as a recruiter, I want a sales or operations or tech or marketing or HR person who cut, grew, reduced, or increased. I'm less interested in somebody who "would like to," or "managed" or was "responsible for."

It's the difference between a product manual – that tells you everything about the product – and a great advertisement – which sells you the benefits that you will get from that product.

And having spent so much time with you, and really caring about the outcome of your job hunt, I can only ask you: please, please, get your resume professionally written. If not by us here at TheLadders, then by another CPRW (Certified Professional Resume Writer) accredited by the PARWCC.

You wouldn't hire an amateur to write your will, do your taxes, write the ad copy for your new product, or even cut your hair. So please, please, please, avoid the biggest mistake that people make in their job hunt and have a professional re-write your resume today.

It will help me help you so much more easily!

Have a great week, Readers!

Warmest regards,
Marc Cenedella
Marc Cenedella
Founder & CEO
TheLadders.com, Inc.