1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,650 Hi, this is Stephanie Maas, partner with Thinking Ahead Search. 2 00:00:05,130 --> 00:00:07,950 Today I wanna talk to you a little bit about resume writing. 3 00:00:08,550 --> 00:00:18,840 I am a firm believer that you need to treat your resume like your social security number, and that you only give it out when absolutely necessary. 4 00:00:19,460 --> 00:00:29,689 Earlier this week I was on the phone with a candidate who is currently employed, but becoming unhappy in their current situation and had asked me to confidentially help them look into a couple of different opportunities. 5 00:00:30,330 --> 00:00:32,790 So we talked about, Hey, what have you done on your own? 6 00:00:33,270 --> 00:00:39,540 And he mentioned that a little while back he'd given his resume to another recruiter who had been shopping it around town. 7 00:00:39,810 --> 00:00:41,040 I was dumbfounded. 8 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:45,210 This is the absolute worst way to do a search. 9 00:00:45,330 --> 00:00:53,790 It sends a very direct message to hiring managers of the market that you are desperate and that you don't care where you go, but you just have got to land. 10 00:00:54,210 --> 00:00:57,690 The other thing is this candidate is currently employed. 11 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:02,100 What happens if the message gets back to their manager that they're out looking? 12 00:01:02,250 --> 00:01:04,500 It puts his current job at risk. 13 00:01:04,710 --> 00:01:12,660 If you are in a situation, whether you're active or a passive candidate, but you're open to hearing about different things, we have LinkedIn. 14 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:14,730 People can see your profile. 15 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:19,650 You can write an executive summary, but when a resume hits a desk, it is a message. 16 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:25,530 This person is looking, looking to leave their current organization and are interested in working with you. 17 00:01:25,764 --> 00:01:29,935 So candidates, please guard your resume with your life. 18 00:01:30,145 --> 00:01:36,414 If you send it out, make sure it's only going to organizations that you know you are interested in working with. 19 00:01:36,595 --> 00:01:42,955 It goes to hiring managers who have a position that you know you're interested in and qualified for. 20 00:01:43,329 --> 00:01:53,500 Otherwise, you can send an executive summary, you can refer 'em to a profile that you might have online, but otherwise it doesn't get sent out and you need to protect it with your life. 21 00:01:54,039 --> 00:02:00,940 And one of the most common questions I get is when people start to get into a mode of where they start thinking about getting their resume together. 22 00:02:01,479 --> 00:02:08,890 I often get asked, Hey, is this a DIY or should I get some professional help? 23 00:02:08,890 --> 00:02:10,419 I'm putting together my resume. 24 00:02:10,785 --> 00:02:12,945 And here's some general guidelines on that. 25 00:02:13,245 --> 00:02:26,955 If you have been keeping your resume up to date over the last several years, maybe updating it every two or three years, or every four or five years, it may be for internal promotions, it may be, Hey, I made a move in the last five years. 26 00:02:27,165 --> 00:02:31,845 Or it might be just, Hey, for my own, my own records I updated at the end of every year. 27 00:02:32,175 --> 00:02:39,675 Chances are if you are thinking about taking that resume out to the open market, this is a DIY job. 28 00:02:39,965 --> 00:02:41,315 It's a do it yourself. 29 00:02:41,825 --> 00:02:55,835 However, if you find yourself in the camp that you haven't put together a resume in 5, 10, 15, 20 years, or if it's something like, Hey, I don't even think I have a resume anymore. 30 00:02:55,835 --> 00:03:03,515 It's been so long, that's probably not a job for a recruiter or even you to try and start from scratch. 31 00:03:03,725 --> 00:03:07,864 That is probably gonna be best served by getting some professional help. 32 00:03:08,250 --> 00:03:18,480 When you do work with a professional resume writing service, most of them, not all, but most of them tend to operate in kind of a a generalist mentality. 33 00:03:18,690 --> 00:03:26,940 And where they can be really good with you is if you have nothing or if it's really outdated, they can help you with language. 34 00:03:26,970 --> 00:03:30,450 They'll help you remember some of your accomplishments and achievements. 35 00:03:30,750 --> 00:03:35,550 They can start at a, at a broad level and at least get things going. 36 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:37,200 For most of you that is. 37 00:03:37,385 --> 00:03:40,685 Absolutely worth your time to outsource that. 38 00:03:41,375 --> 00:03:47,015 Now, once you have a general platform, that's when it's time to bring it back home. 39 00:03:47,255 --> 00:04:03,005 That's when it's time to partner with a and a recruiter in your niche to say, Hey, this is a good place to start, but here are the tweaks and the fine points that we know have to be on there to get specific attention in your niche. 40 00:04:03,690 --> 00:04:09,239 One of the most frequently asked questions that I get, Hey, would you please take a look at my resume? 41 00:04:09,420 --> 00:04:12,270 First and foremost, absolutely all day. 42 00:04:12,450 --> 00:04:17,159 And I'm happy to do that because I know I see enough and I know what my clients see. 43 00:04:17,339 --> 00:04:19,619 I can provide this to you all day, every day. 44 00:04:20,070 --> 00:04:21,599 But here's some fundamental things. 45 00:04:21,599 --> 00:04:28,409 As you think about putting together your resume or updating your resume, here's a few rules of the road. 46 00:04:28,619 --> 00:04:31,169 First, keep in mind your resume. 47 00:04:31,525 --> 00:04:32,665 It's a snapshot. 48 00:04:32,935 --> 00:04:47,185 It's a bulleted outline of your professional experience that the idea behind it is to someone to take a quick look on average it's seven seconds and decide they wanna talk more with you. 49 00:04:47,425 --> 00:04:50,005 So the first rule of the road is keep it simple. 50 00:04:50,580 --> 00:04:53,669 Keep it short and again, keep it bulleted. 51 00:04:53,849 --> 00:04:55,859 We just want the basic information. 52 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:01,830 Second rule of the road, because it needs to be short and concise and bulleted. 53 00:05:02,429 --> 00:05:04,409 It needs to show proof. 54 00:05:04,814 --> 00:05:06,164 It's not a narrative. 55 00:05:06,554 --> 00:05:10,905 Most people that are gonna be looking at your resume, they're in your field. 56 00:05:11,145 --> 00:05:13,544 They know what your job title means. 57 00:05:13,814 --> 00:05:16,784 They know what you are responsible for. 58 00:05:17,025 --> 00:05:18,104 They don't care. 59 00:05:18,494 --> 00:05:23,775 What they want to see is proof that you're good at what you do. 60 00:05:24,074 --> 00:05:32,384 So anything quantitative that can show how good you are, that's the meat and potatoes of a resume. 61 00:05:32,715 --> 00:05:33,794 Most of us. 62 00:05:34,184 --> 00:05:44,564 We either make money for a company, we save a company money, or we are part of a process that ultimately makes or saves a company money. 63 00:05:44,864 --> 00:05:53,145 So can you articulate this in a bulleted simple form that gets people to say in seven seconds, yep. 64 00:05:53,354 --> 00:05:54,400 I wanna talk to this person. 65 00:05:55,395 --> 00:06:05,564 Now a few other things I said this is supposed to be a professional highlight, but often some of us put some things on there that are also relevant because they show our well-roundedness. 66 00:06:05,895 --> 00:06:09,585 So extracurricular activities, your involvement in the community. 67 00:06:10,075 --> 00:06:14,395 Your education, those are absolutely relevant as well. 68 00:06:14,965 --> 00:06:20,995 So again, if it's something that you've kept relatively up to date, yeah, ask your favorite recruiter. 69 00:06:20,995 --> 00:06:23,245 Hopefully it's me, and just get those small tweaks. 70 00:06:23,544 --> 00:06:29,335 If it's something you haven't lifted a finger on in quite a while, it's probably time for some professional help.