Resumes: Don't go it alone!

As a hiring manager for several departments of a high-profile national non-profit agency, I have seen many, many resumes. All kinds of resumes poured into our office from all kinds of candidates. Our Human Resources department screened out the most ludicrous, but they knew that my requirements could be a little counter-intuitive for some positions, so anyone barely competent-looking was sent my way. And let me tell you, the spectrum was impressive--these ranged from glossy packages complete with Glamour Shots at the top (if you were wondering, not the best use of your page space when applying for an internal position at a non-profit agency) to Word documents with uneven margins and grammatical errors. There were days when I felt like hiring the first person able to actually put together a streamlined, error-free document, regardless of previous experience, education, or any of the other qualifications we all work so hard to gain!

Employers today are overloaded with incoming resumes for open positions. In the old days, you had to put some effort into applying for a knowledge-based position (as opposed to one in the service industries, where you'd typically fill out an application form in person). Not anymore! With job sites like Monster and CareerBuilder, anyone can upload a resume and cover letter in a matter of minutes, ensuring that hundreds of documents with varying levels of readability pour in from every side. On one hand, that's actually good news for the reasonably skilled resume builder; remember my delight as a manager at seeing any fairly well-written resume? Chances are, your document will at least score a read-through if it looks professional.

But there's another aspect of resume writing that goes beyond proofreading, even though proofreading alone is difficult enough to make enlisting outside help valuable for 9 out of 10 applicants. Having a resume that nets a call back comes down to careful research, and a certain amount of PR work. You have to know what the employer is looking for, and explain why you're the best person to fulfill their needs. And while the principle itself is basic enough, the plain fact is that most job seekers don't really know how to do this. It's a bit like a scavenger hunt: in job postings, there are hidden clues and prompts letting you know what kind of phrases, experience, skills and overall tone an employer is hoping you'll present them with. Identifying all of the clues is just half the battle. Once you've done that, you have to be able to look at the job seekers' experience, education, awards, volunteer work, etc., and present all of this information in such a way as to answer as many clues as you can (hopefully all of them, but in many cases not), leading with the points most important to the employer. Some clues will be less vital. Others will be dealbreakers, and if you want to get your foot in the door you must answer these big prompts using every bit of proven ability you've got.

And folks, that ain't always easy. We all have our own opinions of our abilities, our skill set. We are impressed by some things we do, dissatisfied with other aspects of our work persona. These perceptions aren't always accurate. And that's where a resume coach comes in. An experienced coach doesn't just know how the resume should look (what kind of formatting is best? does it really have to be just one page?), they know how to arrange everything to make you stand out among the dozens of other applicants. This lets you score that all-important in-person interview. After that, of course, you're on your own (more or less--coaches will also often offer interview training sessions as well).

If a professional just isn't in the cards for you - and most will charge at least $50 or so to get your materials together - it's nevertheless a good idea to have someone you trust at least read through your documents before sending them off. Ideally, this should be someone who knows your abilities fairly well, and can tell you where you need to toot your own horn a bit louder, or where your attempts to do so may just sound like unfounding bragging (sorry to say, that's always glaringly apparent to a prospective employer, and most won't take it well). Every little bit helps! Remember, steel sharpens steel; even if you don't like what they have to say, at least explaining why you don't like it will clarify your understanding and purpose, and make the end result that much better.