Magazine
Résumé Advice vs. Today’s Reality
How résumés have changed over the years
By David G. Jensen
Anyone who is looking for a job will know what I mean when I say that job market advice is plentiful — and often conflicting. Consider résumé advice, where every friend and acquaintance will offer you feedback. One person used a one-pager, and would never recommend anything longer, while your cousin says that you can adequately describe yourself only in three or four pages. Both of them insist it was the way they wrote their résumé that got them in the door.
I don’t think that’s the case. It’s my opinion that people spend far too much time fixating on their CV or résumé. But, like it or not, the résumé is somewhat like your calling card, and since you are leaving that card in many places during your search, it’s not a bad idea to review some of the ways that résumé advice has changed. In this month’s column, I’ll compare some old-fashioned résumé advice with what actually works in today’s job market.
Career advice has indeed changed through the ages. One close relative — a retired 35-year veteran of one employer — told me, “If you want to stay on the right career track, work hard, stay loyal, and keep your mouth shut.” Do you think that this advice works well in today’s world of employment?
Not at all, and for the same reason, perhaps that old résumé advice you’ve been getting could use some updating too!
Today’s Résumés
The Usual Advice: Eliminate dates of education from your résumé and no one will know how old you are. Or, by using incomplete dates in your employment section, no one will ever know that you’ve been out of work for six months.
Today’s Reality: You won’t stop potential age-discrimination by eliminating your dates of education. Instead, you’ll simply annoy the larger number of readers who believe that full disclosure of dates is essential. I’ve always found that when you try to hide something on a résumé, you end up raising red flags. Whether you are hiding a skeleton or simply believe that your résumé looks better without dates, remember that you will lose more than a few readers who will dismiss you without a second thought.
Another, more subtle kind of ploy is to hide gaps from time taken off between jobs by showing only the years of employment, sans the month. While this will usually pass through the initial screening process, remember that most H/R interviewers will ask you about the specifics in the interview, so have an answer for any gaps in employment ready.
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The Usual Advice: Personal information like hobbies, sports or personal interests look good on your résumé and help to make you appear more interesting.
Today’s Reality: This is one of the most common areas of conflict between people who will give you advice on your résumé. There is always someone who has landed a job because he caught the manager’s interest by listing his interest in bowling, hiking, or whatever. I’d suggest that when you write your résumé it is better to stick to material that is relevant for the job at hand. Avoid anything that can get you inadvertently tossed out of consideration or that wastes valuable space.
If you write that you enjoy bowling, somewhere there will be a person who says, “I’ve never liked people who bowl.” I realize that some believe you can make a connection with readers by common interests, but these possible connections are very rare and with the limited space on a résumé or CV, you can find a much better use for those lines.
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The Usual Advice: A one-page résumé is always preferred over multiple pages or a CV format.
Today’s Reality: Brief is great, but so is getting the reader’s interest. And if you have to cram 15 years of experience into a one-page résumé, you’ll end up being employable only if the company is enamored with your current job title. Instead, the emphasis should be on brevity combined with an adequate portrayal of your accomplishments. If you are strictly in a management or business role, one or two pages is fine. But engineers and scientists can go beyond this without a problem.
The average scientific CV in our office is somewhere between three and five pages, depending upon years of experience. A researcher with two years of work and a five-page résumé sticks out like a sore thumb. On the other hand, a senior scientist with a decade of work as well as publications and patents should use every one of those three-to-five pages.
The reverse is true with senior executives. Have you ever noticed that company presidents have smaller type on their business cards than anyone else in the organization? Similarly, when you reach this far up on the corporate ladder, you can shrink your résumé down to a one-pager. Your exploits will be the stuff of legends, anyway.
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The Usual Advice: Your number of interviews will vary in direct proportion to the number of résumés you have mailed, or to the number of online applications you have submitted.
Today’s Reality: The shotgun approach doesn’t work very well. Your résumé, if distributed widely and to those who will redistribute it for you, can end up looking like spam. I remember suggesting the name of a well-qualified manufacturing manager to a client on a difficult search. It went nowhere at the time because three recruiters had already sent that résumé speculatively before the company had even retained a recruiter.
Your slogan for résumé distribution should be “Wisely over widely.” Many networking contacts start out with someone E-mailing a résumé as the door-opener. In reality, the résumé should be the final step in the networking process, not the first. Even though headhunters love résumés, the best approach is to write or call with a general introduction, and to send the résumé only when you feel that you’ve made a connection. And always insist that recruiter calls you before submitting your credentials to a company.
Unless you are unemployed, use job search sites for their posted ads, and avoid posting your résumé or CV.
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The Usual Advice: The best way to get your résumé noticed is to go to the websites of employers and fill in their online applications.
Today’s Reality: What matters most is reaching the hiring manager, and not being shuffled around in the Human Resources department. While I am not suggesting that you should avoid online applications for jobs that fit you, I’d recommend that you add to that effort by networking your way into the company as well. The process in place at most employers for the receipt of the online application leaves much to be desired.
There is still a great value in a good-looking résumé or CV, printed on nice paper which arrives via the mail addressed to the hiring manager. The U.S. Postal Service “Priority Mail” envelopes, supplied free of charge at the post office, make a great impact for your introductory letter and résumé submittal if you’d like to stand out and have something physically sitting on that manager’s desk when she arrives in the morning. The cost is less than $5.
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The Usual Advice: The polite “To Whom it May Concern” is the best way to address your cover letters.
Today’s Reality: The days of drafting one cover letter that works for all applications are gone. People actually read cover letters, while they skim résumés and CV’s. Putting a name on that letter can make all the difference in the way it is received. Whether it is to an H/R recruiter or the head of the department where an opening exists, your material should be customized to fit the company’s needs and addressed to one specific individual.
