The best resume advice I ever received
Friday, 20 June 2003
Most resume advice is pretty bog-standard stuff: focus on what you did, check your spelling etc. It's important to know, but it's almost all the same. This is not helpful if you want to stand out from the crowd.
The best resume advice I ever received came from a job-hunting book written by a top US head-hunter. I can't remember the name of the book or the author's name (I read it in 1995), but I can remember what it said. It advised using direct-marketing wisdom when writing your resume, and most importantly to use the golden rule of direct-marketing: "Long copy sells".
Direct-marketing typically involves selecting names and addresses from a database and sending a sales letter to those addresses. Usually, the letter is accompanied by a mail-back card, which the recipient sends if they want to order something. The mail-back aspect of this technique allows marketers to gain pretty accurate information about what works and what doesn't. They can experiment with different letters, pitches and so on. They put codes on the mail-back cards relating to the mailing that they were sent with.
Direct-marketing has been used for decades, and more data has been collected on it than probably any other marketing technique. All this data has provided marketers with a collection of golden-rules for success. The most golden of these rules is that "long copy sells" or simply: a five-page letter gives better results than a one-page letter.
This is because there are two types of recipient of direct marketing material: those who chuck it straight in the bin, and those who read it. The more information you give to those that read about your product, the more likely they are to buy that product.
So what's this got to do with job-hunting? Well, you can look at your resume as the central document in your own direct-marketing campaign. The aim of it is to sell You Ltd and get you an interview. The golden-rule of direct marketing should tell you that a one or two page resume probably isn't going to work. Instead, you should aim for four pages or more and go into detail about your skills and experience.
One of the problems with using this technique is that recruitment agents often don't read long resumes. This is easily overcome by summarising the contents on the first page.
Soon after reading this advice and making my resume longer and more detailed than the standard two pages, I noticed I was getting more interviews. Not only that, I was being interviewed for more senior positions even though my skills and experience hadn't changed.
I've actually seen the effect of short resumes at the recruitment end. People who are good candidates are declined, because they didn't provide enough information. Managers dismiss them as inexperienced or having something to hide.
So ignore the general advice and go for a long and detailed resume with a first-page summary. It worked for me.
Paul Knapp (editor@brainbox.com.au)
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I completely agree......with you Paul. My CV is structured the same way. I have everything summarised into the first page, enough to catch the eye, and then whoever wants more detailed descriptions just has to read on! Maybe I have just been lucky, but I haven't been out of work during this downturn and I'm currently earning a higher rate than I was in 1999. D. Dan, 06/19/2003 08:30:14 AM
Here hereCouldn't agree more...first page a simple skills matrix followed by a table summary of companies worked for, period of employment and position held...works everytime. The IT industry is a different beast to that of others and a more detailed resume wins hands down every time. Could I perhaps suggest that you provide an example/template in your advice section for would be job seekers out there. Paul, 06/19/2003 07:00:13 PM
templateOk Paul, I'll do that. Here is a brief template of the kind of CV that I have found affective (along with any formatting you prefer): Curriculum Vitae Personal Details Name Contact Details Nationality Interests& Hobbies Education Certifications (and aspirations!) Skills Summary or Matrix Hardware Operating Systems Software Languages Networks/Protocols Network Tools Security Methodologies Employment History (last 2 or 3 years with at least last 3 jobs in detail) Month, Year – Present -Detailed (bullet points) Month, Year – Month, Year -Detailed (bullet points) Month, Year – Month, Year -Detailed (bullet points) ****this next bit in a brief, easy to read table**** Other Roles (Further details available on request) Company -> Employment -> Title -> Experience 1 2 3 etc © 2002-2003 by ME - any business won through use of the above in any way or regurgitated form (formatted or otherwise) will result simply in you having to pay me 5% of your salary! ;-) Oh, and incidently, if you don't get any work, well I'm not resonsible for that either - and then I suggest you start considering a career change! ;-) D. Dan, 06/20/2003 05:24:02 AM
Thanks DanThanks Dan. It was a good idea. By the way. Who do I make the cheque out to if I use this and land a job? Paul Knapp, 06/20/2003 09:39:23 AM
No problem...the same bloke who couldn't find the "Email Password" link on Membox! :-) Happy job hunting! D. Dan, 06/20/2003 11:38:34 AM
Best Resume AdviceYou are absolutely correct. Resumes are direct-mail marketing pieces. Marketing is a science. The effectiveness of the "long copy sells" philosophy has been demonstrated down through the ages, and no matter what the medium! Anyone who tells you that your resume is "too wordy" wasn't a prospect for your talent anyway. The book that you were trying to remember was "Rites of Passage at $100,000" -- and it is available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Mike Young of Executive Writing Services, 07/16/2003 02:46:46 PM
Another commentI had an opportunity to read the latest edition of "Rites of Passage at $100,000" and it is a must buy. Too many people try to squeeze the print down to teeny-tiny and compress everything onto one or two pages. Deleting the Objective or Summary Section or shortening it is usually suicide -- as that is the "short read" portion of your resume. It tells the employer in a nutshell what you are seeking and what you are offering. If the employer is interested -- and if he can meet your compensation expectations, he will read your resume! I have written resumes for CEOs and board members of Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 firms -- their success confirms what this book teaches. Visit my website at www.writearesume.biz P.M. Young, 06/17/2008 02:54:44 PM
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