Blog Post: Resume Suggestions

I recently read a great blog from my colleague Kerry Sanderson.  In her blog she suggested that job seekers have a “Master Resume”.  I think this a great idea and I think what Kerry is suggesting is that in one document you have ALL of you work history and accomplishments available so that you can adapt what your resume looks likes for each position you are applying for.

Kerry received a great comment, well question really about giving an example of what this might look like.   Well here is what I think…I think the point of Kerry's blog is that the Master Resume is all the work you have ever done and is available for you to select the relevant information needed for the specific positions you are applying for.  Kerry suggests putting everything down for each position.  Create statements and paragraphs describing your role and include accomplishments as well as bullet points of your skills needed for the position.  You don’t have to worry about space because this won’t be a resume you actually submit to a posting, rather a place you will go to gather the appropriate data needed to create a resume specific to the job posting.

Here’s an example of what I think Kerry is suggesting:

ABC COMPANY, Phoenix, AZ                                                  June 2000 – January 2009
Human Resource Specialist
Responsible for recruiting, interviewing and hiring all positions for customer service operations.  (Roughly 850 employee’s total).  Develop recruiting sources though various communities based organizations, job fairs and advertising. Work directly with Senior HR Manager, HR Manager, HR Staff and operations management on special projects including PR & Marketing (Radio, TV and Print), Employee Relations, Benefit Eligibility Tracking, New Hire Orientation and perception of HR department “Customer Service”.    With current marketing strategy that was implemented in 2008 we have successfully increased applicant traffic and interviewed over 1400 potential applicants.   We were able to hire and train 40% of the applicants since April. Other special projects include Onsite Job Fair Coordination, assisted in Employee Benefit Fair coordination, Employee Appreciation Events and Company Sponsored Charity Events including Team Captain for annual American Cancer Society fundraiser, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.

o    ADP Software
o    Benefit Administration
o    Advertising
o    Contract Negotiation
o    Training
o    Training/Development
o    Detail Oriented
o    Auditing Employee Files
o    Labor Relations
o    SHRM Member

Technology has changed the way you apply for positions and with technology also comes the idea that the rules we once knew 10 years ago when creating a resume no longer exist.  Let's face it, there are no rules to resumes and if you ask 5 HR people what they like you will get five different answers!

Today the most important thing you can do is 1. Understand there are no hard rules with regards to resumes and 2. Know your work history and adapt your resume and information to reflect the position you are applying for. 

As you can see from the example I gave above you might not put all of that information in your resume but having it all down on paper in one place, you can pull the information needed to create a resume for the position you are applying for.

Here are some ideas I think are good to consider when creating a resume from your "Master Resume": 

• If a job posting has lots of bullet points then maybe the person writing the job description is looking for direct and to the point resumes.  Consider using bullet points in your resume.
• If job posting is built around paragraphs then its possible your resume might be better suited in a paragraph format.

Another thing to consider when applying for a position is consider looking at the way you apply to the position as you how you would act or function in the position itself.  If you are an admin applying to a position that is looking for someone who is detail oriented you will for sure want to have read ALL of the instructions in the job posting and follow them as wells as make sure you are not applying with a resume that has typos.  Along the same lines if you are applying to a Sales position and you never follow up with the company or you don’t send a thank you note after your interview, what does that say about your sales skills?  Is the employer going to think you will treat their customers the same way?