Resume Help Episode II - Return of the Layoff

[dbk]

When i read the resume, it just flows in and out.. nothing sticks to me. Too many bullets and industry jargon. I would basically have Experience, Professional Association, Education. STAR is a good tool - try to incorporate dates, numbers, $. Did you work on any projects? A lot of the bullets you listed seem like job descriptions found on monster.com GL

 

[PenguinPower]

1. I can't tell because you have it blacked out, but you need to make sure, in addition to all of your other contact information, you have the link to your LinkedIn account listed (don't have one, get one). A lot of legal counsel caution HR about looking applicants up on LinkedIn for fear of having to abide by the FCRA, but you if you link it there's usually no concern. Plus, it's nice not to have to search.
   
2. Your resume is a sales tool. You are selling yourself. Get rid of that stupid objective statement. I hate those. Use a professional headline and a succinct statement about what it is you are good at. If you don't want to do a headline, consider typing up a professional summary listing out 2-3 key highlights about what makes you awesome at what you do and sums up your key field-relevant strengths.
   
3. As others have said, you need to be more specific in your accomplishments. I don't care about following an ACR or STAR format (really, STAR is more of an interviewing technique anyway). You should describe the action, provide quantifying information and use the active voice. Do this and do this consistently. Example: "Upheld account financial audit compliance." What does that even mean? What did you do and how did that benefit the company? Rephrase to say "I do x which results in y% financial audit compliance on a z basis." Quantify or delete.
   
4. Move your skills section to the end and don't use the bullets in a vertical fashion. Bullets are fine, but you are taking up too make space and leaving too much white space. Consider a horizontal approach. The skills section is actually important in today's world of ATS as it allows you to present keywords that the system might search for but don't really have a relevant place elsewhere in your resume. Just make sure the skills are relevant to the job and you don't overdo it. Get rid of your Key Interpersonal Strengths. I don't give a rat's ass about that. Everyone says that crap.
   
5. Education: Get rid of the coursework. I don't care. This isn't an internship or your first job out of college. Delete it.
   
6. Don't limit it to one page if you have more relevant information to add. The one page limit is antiquated. Make sure to number your pages if you have more than one.
   
7. Only list your associations if they are relevant to the job you are trying to get.
   
8. Consider using two-tone color to make headlines standout and appear separate from the body of your resume.

I'm sure I could think of more things, but I'm at work. Probably should get back to it.

 

[PenguinPower]

When i read the resume, it just flows in and out.. nothing sticks to me. Too many bullets and industry jargon. I would basically have Experience, Professional Association, Education. STAR is a good tool - try to incorporate dates, numbers, $. Did you work on any projects? A lot of the bullets you listed seem like job descriptions found on monster.com GL

This reminded me of one more thing. Don't write your resume like a job descriptions. JDs are crap to begin with and most often don't adequately describe what you do or your impact on the company. DO NOT write your resume like one.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

1. I can't tell because you have it blacked out, but you need to make sure, in addition to all of your other contact information, you have the link to your LinkedIn account listed (don't have one, get one). A lot of legal counsel caution HR about looking applicants up on LinkedIn for fear of having to abide by the FCRA, but you if you link it there's usually no concern. Plus, it's nice not to have to search.
   
2. Your resume is a sales tool. You are selling yourself. Get rid of that stupid objective statement. I hate those. Use a professional headline and a succinct statement about what it is you are good at. If you don't want to do a headline, consider typing up a professional summary listing out 2-3 key highlights about what makes you awesome at what you do and sums up your key field-relevant strengths.
   
3. As others have said, you need to be more specific in your accomplishments. I don't care about following an ACR or STAR format (really, STAR is more of an interviewing technique anyway). You should describe the action, provide quantifying information and use the active voice. Do this and do this consistently. Example: "Upheld account financial audit compliance." What does that even mean? What did you do and how did that benefit the company? Rephrase to say "I do x which results in y% financial audit compliance on a z basis." Quantify or delete.
   
4. Move your skills section to the end and don't use the bullets in a vertical fashion. Bullets are fine, but you are taking up too make space and leaving too much white space. Consider a horizontal approach. The skills section is actually important in today's world of ATS as it allows you to present keywords that the system might search for but don't really have a relevant place elsewhere in your resume. Just make sure the skills are relevant to the job and you don't overdo it. Get rid of your Key Interpersonal Strengths. I don't give a rat's ass about that. Everyone says that crap.
   
5. Education: Get rid of the coursework. I don't care. This isn't an internship or your first job out of college. Delete it.
   
6. Don't limit it to one page if you have more relevant information to add. The one page limit is antiquated. Make sure to number your pages if you have more than one.
   
7. Only list your associations if they are relevant to the job you are trying to get.
   
8. Consider using two-tone color to make headlines standout and appear separate from the body of your resume.

I'm sure I could think of more things, but I'm at work. Probably should get back to it.

Thanks Pengiun

I did a good amount of your advice, however I... really... don't wanna get rid of the education! Doh! After only 1 job of experience in my life, I thought it would be worth mentioning I just have so little under my belt.

Anyhow, I tried to adopt the whole STAR way of writing, let me know if the changes I made (highlighted) are any good or not. I put the skills towards the bottom (which I'm not sure about, I've been told list of skills is one of the first things HR wants to see) - and separated them into 2 columns. Let me know how that looks as well.

Thanks brochacho :wub: I appreciate everyones feedback

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Bumper cars! It's crunch time, I gotta get this shit done and start applying this weekend. Anyone have some criticism on my changes?

 

[Ketchup]

Bumper cars! It's crunch time, I gotta get this shit done and start applying this weekend. Anyone have some criticism on my changes?

Looks good to me. Good luck.