Top 6 Common Résumé Misnomers

Maybe you have already purchased achronological obituaries.
professionally written résumé, butBy and large, flashy résumés have
you have some doubts about the document younot really proven to be anymore effective than
received. Unfortunately, thetraditional obits. Both can seriously hurt a
résumé-writing industry gets a badcandidate's chances.
rap sometimes simply because there is a lot ofSo does this mean you can't use color or get
misinformation out there. And, truthfully,creative with a two-column masterpiece?
sometimes résumé writers don'tNo, but a solid résumé must
do the best job of explaining their strategy to theaccomplish 3 things: (1) Utilize strong writing skills
client. Not to mention, all the different opinionswith solid action verbs, (2) organize the candidate's
that seem to prevail out there, from our friends,information in such a way that a clear picture of
online resources, recruiters, coworker, etc.the candidate is revealed (scope of knowledge
In an attempt to rectify that, I have listed hereand responsibility), and (3) be attractive without
some of the main areas of confusion and the realbeing offensive.
deal behind them:We all like things that look nice, but color isn't
1. There are a lot of rules to writing awhat sells a candidate. Let the "wow" factor be in
résumé.the strategy employed and the quality of the
WRONG!writing.
Writing a résumé is part scienceOn the other side of things, however, don't be so
and part art. Although there are some generalrigid that you force the writer to prepare a
guidelines, honestly, there is a lot of wiggle roomcookie-cutter résumé (Times New
too. Often people get all caught up in worryingRoman, 10-pt, with lots of bullets!!). You'll just end
about the fine points that they miss the overallup with something nondescript, that looks like it
target and strategy. Big mistake! There is no onecame from a Word résumé
path to landing an interview, and you don't wanttemplate, and is not much better than anyone
to either confine your résumé towith decent grammar skills could produce.
one way of thinking (i.e., yours) or work with a5. The résumé should be full of
writer who only has one way of doing things.buzzwords.
2. The main goal of the résumé isSORT OF
to get you a job.In today's world of OCR scanning and online
WRONG!databases, job seekers are more aware than
A résumé is a tool that you useever before that not having key terms
to present your background to a specificembedded in their résumé could
audience, which will help you to secure interviews.mean missing out on opportunities.
Nothing more. The only thing that gets you a jobHowever, the problem with this issue is that
is you.résumés can quickly become
Think of it this way. If you build a box out ofnothing more than lists of terms and phrases.
wood, when it is finished, you don't say "the sawThey don't really say much about the candidate
made it." Instead, you say that "I made it using aother than that he or she claims to know what
good saw." The same is true for thethese terms and phrases mean (or at least should
résumé. It is important to get aknow what they mean). And if you are not
good one, but it is equally as important to use itcareful, you end up with nothing that really
well.distinguishes you.
3. A résumé is all about the job6. Every accomplishment listed should be backed
seeker.up by a metric.
DEFINITELY WRONG!THAT WOULD BE GREAT IF IT WERE REALLY
Here is where the résuméPOSSIBLE.
writer-client relationship can go south fast. ClientsThis theory has been floated and tossed around
typically want documents that appeal to them,so much in the résumé writing
thinking that if it appeals to them, it will appeal toindustry that you can certainly find a wide variety
an employer. However, that is not necessarilyof opinions on the subject. The bottom line,
true. Although résumé writershowever, is that not all accomplishments
want their clients to be happy with what theyrealistically can be quantified. There is no doubt
see, they mostly want theirthat numbers are a key ingredient to any
résumés to be effective, to meetrésumé, but setting some kind of
that goal we outlined in #3. Therefore, to serve"rule" that you must have a number to go with
the client the best, the writer is really thinkingevery bullet point or something like that is kind of
about the potential employer, the reader of theridiculous.
résumé.Furthermore, although hiring managers definitely
That is why writing your ownlike to see quantifiable results, let's face it,
résumé can be a disaster.numbers can be fudged and the data can be
Sometimes we think because we have been in atwisted so much that they say anything you
hiring position before that we best know how towant them to.
market ourselves on paper. After all, we knowOur position at No Stone Unturned is that
what we liked to see. The problem is that it isnumbers should be used effectively and not just
very difficult to look at yourself objectively andfor the sake of using numbers. Hit 'em with a
to think of you as a hiring manager would.good, solid punch, but don't keep hitting 'em...too
4. Résumés should be colorful andmany percentages, too many dollar signs, and
flashy OR résumés should bepretty soon you've lost the effect of the punch...
traditional and conservative.NOTE: The same can be said for bullet lists. The
REALLY? SAYS WHO?idea of a bulleted list is to show emphasis. A
Somewhere along the line, rumors have seriouslyrésumé that is nothing more than
distorted people's perceptions of what aa long list of bullets doesn't emphasize anything.
résumé should look like. Many jobJust like you don't want a big block of text, you
seekers (and even some résuméalso don't want one bulleted list after another. So
writers) lean one way or another. They eithersave your best for the bullets!
want graphics, color, and flash, or they want