Writing a Great Resume

People ask me fairly often to help them optimize their resumes for them. I've realized over the years that there are some common "tricks" to writing a great resume...

Given the number of people out of work these days, I thought I'd share a few of them with you...I've been a "hiring manager" in various roles for years, so I hope this adds to the credibility of my observations!

1. Use Active Verbs. Tell me what you DID, not what you were responsible for in your past roles. As a hiring manager, I'm MOST interested in the contribution that you made. So, if you were "responsible for answering phones," I'd be more impressed by seeing that you "Created a warm and welcoming environment for a heavy volume of callers, evidenced by frequent unsolicited feedback." Or, if you were "responsible for counting money in a cash drawer at the end of a shift, " I'd be more intrigued to hear that you "Identified multiple inefficiencies in end-of-shift cash drawer reconciliation process, reducing a previous discrepancy average of $450 to less than $10/shift." See the difference? Created. Led. Identified. Envisioned. Ensured. Active verbs.

2. C.A.R. Context, Action, Result. For any item that you include in your resume, provide me with some CONTEXT -- what was the environment or situation you were working in? Then, you must include the ACTION that you took (this is where the active verbs come in); and finally, the RESULT you were able to achieve. In the two previous examples:
Context: heavy volume of callers; big discrepancy in cash drawer reconciliation
Action: Created a welcoming greeting; Identified the problem and found a sustainable fix
Result: Frequent unsolicited feedback; significant reduction in average cash discrepancy
You see that they don't have to be written "in order", but often, when I'm teaching this concept, I ask folks to write them out in order, and then we turn them into a more succinct sentence or phrase.

3. Brag...a little...but be truthful. It's hard for some of us to talk about ourselves. But, if you want someone to hire you, they need to know what you can do for them! Your resume should highlight your unique contributions. It should answer the question: What would NOT have happened at this company/in this department/etc. if I would not have been there? If you were part of a team, you can say that, but cite what YOUR contribution was to the team.

4. Focus. Lately, I see a LOT of people who just want "a job." I get it...Times are hard, and if you're out of work, there is a lot of pressure to just get "something." But, hiring managers don't want generalists...they want to know why you are perfect for their job...they have LOTS of people to choose from right now. So, you may need different versions of your resume that highlight different contributions that are more relevant for the role you are applying for.

5. Details. Check your spelling. Check your grammar. Make sure that the document looks nice (margins line up, don't use 4 different fonts/font sizes, etc). Have a trusted, grammatically correct friend look it over for you! Honestly, if a resume hits my desk and it has typos, grammar errors, someone uses the same word too frequently, or it looks "messy,", I toss it out. Harsh, but true. I don't have to settle for any employee...especially not these days!

There are lots of other tips and tricks, but these 5 will certainly make a noticeable improvement in your resume. If you have other tricks or hints, I'd love to hear them!

Oh, how I'm missed you...

Sometimes things just get out of control, you know?

I was doing so well there for awhile...

Had (made) some margin in my schedule....

Prioritized spending quite time with God....

Journaled/blogged my thoughts and various things I felt like God was revealing to me...

Then, as I tend to do, I let life take over and take control...

So, I've missed you all...I've been reading your blogs, but haven't done much on mine.

And, I'm not sure I've been giving God enough space to talk as much as I should...as much as He might want to talk to me.

Sometimes when the kids are talking all at once to me, and I just want to share something with them, or hug them, or look at them and they are squirming around and screaming and whining about something...I stop...and wonder...

Is this what God sees when He's trying to talk to me? Trying to hug me? Trying to show me or tell me in some way that He loves me?

Of course, I know the answer to those silly rhetorical questions. And, I realized I'm a whiner sometimes, and a squirm-er most times...

So, I'm trying to slow down and listen...But, I will share this little update...

I read Isaiah 58 a few weeks ago. I read it over and over and over and over again. Found myself getting pumped up, moved, excited, convicted, called. And then, for a few weeks, distracted.

Tim read it this week during his message at VWS....and I saw in my bible how I had underlined the whole darn chapter...

and I realized...

He's trying to say something to me...

and I need to slow down a bit, fix my eyes on Him, and listen for awhile.

So, here's to re-prioritizing...again...and remembering that I have to make an effort to make time to listen...

Overwhelmed

I've been thinking a lot about being overwhelmed. I really over-use the word "overwhelmed." Lately, I've realized that I use it almost equally in two "opposite" directions -- I say I'm "overwhelmed" when I am exceptionally stressed, busy, upset; and, I use it when I'm completely awed by something amazing -- often something that God has orchestrated, created or revealed to me.

I'm going to make a brave resolution...

I'm going to reserve the word "overwhelmed" for those situations when I am truly awed by God's presence in my life -- where I feel submerged, sinking in his grace and presence...

That said, I've been overwhelmed many times in the past few weeks, ever since my SOZO experience, I've been having dreams and visions...almost too many and too much to piece it together enough to blog about, but I will soon...

I'm traveling this week...Cincinnati to Denver on Monday; Denver to San Diego on Wednesday, and home tomorrow by way of a quick layover in Salt Lake City. I've flown over the Rocky Mountains before, but this time, I was really overwhelmed by the beauty, majesty and expanse of the range. The bright sun shone on the peaks and cast shadows -- from the sky it looked at one point like a meringue covered pie, and then at another point, choppy, white peaked waves. As I was staring out the window at this glorious example of God's divine creation, I found myself crying...from the wonder of the beauty of the earth; from the gratitude for what I've been blessed to see; for the "small-ness" of me, and the bigness of God and the reality that I'll never be able to comprehend a love so big as His.

Someday, I hope I'll be able to spend a bit more time exploring the beauty of the Rocky Mountains up close. But, for now, I'm looking forward to the view from my seat at 34,000 feet tomorrow on my way home!