I have been reading and writing resumes for candidates and global clients for over 3 decades and they seem to be more  challenging even for the best writers in today’s highly competitive electronic era. Hopefully the following tips will be helpful.

 Resumes are visual tools not your autobiography. It is incumbent upon the writer to make it easy  for the readers many of whom are already overwhelmed recruiters. I don’t  believe the eye-catching gimmicks are effective to selling you and your skills: they often don’t capture the substance or give specific examples of what is unique about you and your experience. Our eyes have been  trained to scan to identify basics about a candidate and  their work life experience. Resumes were designed to give enough information on 1-2 pages to lure the reader to want to conduct a telephone screen or in person interview.

Writing a compelling resume takes work ; though it’s all about you and you know the stuff cold it is not necessarily an easy process. Deciding what to include and prioritizing the information requires thought and a certain emotional detachment from our history.

A well written resume helps you to better present yourself  in an interview as it’s the same mental inventory review process.

I am a big fan of a summary: I see it as a short generic overview of your broad gauged skills and experience that will be clarified in the chronology. Goals and objective can be too narrow or broad. The summary is the place up front and center  to note special skills such as a foreign language  that is unique to your brand, especially if it’s in demand such as Spanish or Chinese.  I am  not a fan of multiple resumes however the summary is the place you can tweak your experience: for instance it might be the place where one could emphasize a specialty within a specialty such as luxury within the  Jewelry category .

Each  job section allows you to describe your actual experience in more specific terms unique to your employer and or circumstances such as : Installed an XYZ system automating the ABC process,  or Established an IT library of generic systems designed to reduce redundancies by  programmers.

The further back in your job history that you go  less  text is necessary as we make the leap that whatever you did back then is what enabled to do what you do today. However an earlier assignment that you opened 50 new facilities in 3 countries; definitely note worthy.

Beware of electronic  resume writers whose systems don’t allow for you to express your job nuances and therefore won’t be able to capture what distinguishes you from your competitors.

I start ending my weekend with the ritual of the reading the NY Times. It’s a great way to ease into the most mellow  day of the week for me that used to be celebrated around grandma’s table laden with way too much coffee and cake.

In today’s newly reformatted magazine section I am flattered to see that  Mark Bittman recognized me for cooking  a few basic soups without following a recipe yesterday! I loved reading the  ”The Memory Champion”  as I staunchly defend mine and it’s ability to connect the dots; the best portable device ever.

Bill Keller’s piece ”How to Lose a Country” which  speaks to how to stand down gracefully and make way for history; raises the issue that corporations need to create succession plans that allow the “up and comers” to break glass ceilings in many cases still held up by Baby Boomers from the ’70′s.

Admittedly I start with the Obits ( followed by the Wedding, Book sections and then settle in with the puzzle before I catch up on the week in review). Not to be morbid but a way of learning from the  amazingly  always in alphabetical order mini-bios of  all kinds of predecessors with interesting histories. I am certain that in its day they were written to keep distant family, friends and banks  informed. Wouldn’t it be great if we wrote our obit’s early in our lives as a goal setting method rather than a past tense history of our achievements and how we want to be remembered.

 Resumes can be altered. Obituaries are written in cement so to speak.

 The teachings of many inspirational gurus tell us to live out of the future; in other words plan in a positive way to create what’s possible vs. living out of the people and circumstances that tell us “oh, you’ll never, or it can’t be done “. Many of my clients tell me they simply can’t  imagine next steps and that dreaming is worthless or  their goal is to make a lot of money …what ever that means.

If your stuck for words to describe yourself and your future learn from the language of obits . At 21 I already knew that I was an FIT grad with a business degree, had designed and manufactured a cookbook , was  conversational in French and German/Yiddish and had picked up some Spanish on my trip to Spain and Portugal. My career  included management responsibilities in operations, systems and finance for a growing regional department store (now a divsion of Federated), a Manager of a booming main floor shoe department and an Assistant Buyer- Large Size Designer Evening Wear promoted into Human Resources for a privately held specialty chain (since bought and sold by The Limited) that was rapidly expanding nationally. Fortunately recruited to voluntarily assist a Career Coach whose clients were twenty something year old women returning to the labor market armed with degrees and the  mantra: “I’m only a housewife”.

Like the PLAID of my logo our lives criss cross many opportunities to learn and accumulate experience and data that can be applied to a wide range of specialty or generalist roles sure to impact any organization. It’s up to us to present the  information in a professionally compelling  resume and or cover letter .

Enlist the help of a professional Resume Writer and Coach at Paulamarks.com

When I was developing my site I wanted to include a list of words I invented or adapted as so many organizations have had to in order to solidify their brand identity. It’s my hobby if you will to create “buzz” words utilizing the many languages that I encounter as a global business person and world traveler; understanding two languages from childhood.

As a seasoned recruiter and career coach words are my inventory. Asking the right questions and interpreting the data is critical to assessing talent. Writing a resume, job description and or candidate assessment  requires easy access to  vast amounts of words to suit each person and their industry expertise at the same time keeping the text compelling. 

I believe all companies, brands and people can “Paulerize” terms or expressions  that will capture their business intentions. I selected Hire Resources Inc. for my company name as a result of an employee contest I ran (Thanks, Greg!) when inventing dot-com names was the rage. Ironically it turns out to be the perfect name for me and my skills. Armed with a wide range of knowledge and abilities focused on people  and process I provide consulting services to organizations that go well beyond retained search/  ”uncovering” talent and coaching employees for workplace enhancement.

Let me know how I can help your new business development or brand extensions.

Enjoy the following, for a full list go to paulamarks.com:

GAFINKAFISH™: the empty words that have no impact on the listener/interviewer/resume reader/blind date (words for bottom feeders)

SKRAMFFUNK™: the place in cyberspace where poorly written resumes go

RESADVISER: a visionary who advises others on resumes and presentations

PARENTAMENTOR: a person old and wise enough to parent and add objective value (person may or may not be a parent)

PRE-LINQUEDINCUS: a species of woman who has been successfully collecting data in her brain for 60 years without electronic interference

GUGGLE-A-MOOGLE: the confluence of an unnamed Eastern European river and the Ganges where a warm milk, honey and butter mixture (cinnamon optional) was concocted to relieve whatever ails you; the reason Paula credits her mother, Goody, with founding Google

Yesterday I learned that a candidate for a search that I was conducting for the US President of a European Luxury Home Textile company landed a similar position with a French apparel company.

First let me say Congratulations to Brad!

In the  conversation I suggested to Brad that he send an email to the principles at my client informing them of his new job. Brad seemed a bit surprised at my suggestion. I told him that as the Head of the US business overseeing marketing he is the CMO and  it’s his/her job to get the word out. In these times of growing entrepeneurialship it is incumbent on us the individuals and the CEO’s of our own lives to continue our networking efforts under the Paula Marks belief of  “You Never Know”.

A short concise note saying something such as : 

Dear Jean Luc,

I am pleased to let you know that I have been appointed to (Title) of the (company) effective (date). Similar to the responsibilities we discussed about your company I am charged with XYZ. I appreciated the time you and Mr.X spent with me during the interview process. I look forward to staying in touch; since I will once again be a globe-trotter for new  business development perhaps we can meet over a cappuccino in one of the many major airports we traverse. As we are in non- competitive product areas I am open to  sharing and  exchanging ideas about our respective goals and objectives.

Best wishes for continued success.

Sincerely

Brad T PresidentUS

I am happy to report Brad immediately understood the concept and realized the current and projected benefits of “staying in touch”.

Who have you overlooked in your NETREACHING efforts?

Born and bred in “The Big Apple” the answer seems simple at the moment it’s Mayor Mike. However in my 61 years of residing in the Bronx,Queens and Manhattan I know it’s much more complex than that. As Hilary Clinton wrote it takes a village. We are  composed of people from all over the US and the world.We speak multiple languages and hundreds of dialects.Our city is made up of lots of little neighborhoods many known by their unique specialty known as districts such as the Fur, Jewelry and Meat packing Districts. Many formed by the immigrant population that settled the area and later continued to  attract  more people and businesses . Some sections grew as a result of their proximity to a port or around a particular ethnic settlement such as Harlem, China Town,Little Italy and the Lower East side whose once large Eastern European Jewish settlements have significantly dwindled.

New York is a sky-high large city with a small footprint of committed people in all kinds of jobs that make the city run. There are Sanitation and Transit workers, Police, Teachers and Taxi Drivers who support the large populations in all 5 boroughs; Wall St. Finance types, Bankers and Retailers,Doctors and Lawyers and all the staff that support their businesses.

New York was one of the major entry points to the United States for decades it as though we were the initial screen for a recruiting process to building a society. The best networking opportunities happen in New York, whether it be at a coffee shop or the random seating at a theater or on a bus, train or plane. Perhaps you strike up a conversation with a person at the library or taking a class at many of the educational institutions in and around New York for credit or a particular hobby or interest.

The opportunities in New York are staggering and always changing. I believe each and every one of us runs New York and has the chance to make a contribution.

 You run New York and I run New York…we make it tick and we make it run, it runs on human energy, spirit  and enthusiasm the belief that we drive the future for ourselves on a daily basis and for future generations.

This is certainly the era when more is not better. Using well targeted words and being thrifty with the use of self aggrandizing phrases  such as HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL, MOTIVATED, ENTHUSIASTIC don’t really tell the reader what you can do or what skills and experience you can bring to their organization. It also may mean that you don’t fully understand what impact your role had in the company you work for and or that you are not able to articulate what you did.

Many retained search companies rewrite resumes for candidates. I am opposed to the practice of rewriting a candidates resume as so many search firms do. I believe an employer is entitled to know how good your writing skills are as a potential executive in their organization. The search persons  writing skills have nothing to do with the candidates writing skills and their abilities . Writing is a critical part of managing staff and leading businesses and if we can’t get it right about  our own history how we will be able to express ourselves in business writing and processes.

Being THRIFTY with our language and the time we spend communicating is sorely needed for clear communication particularly in this era of sound bytes. Words or filler such as like er um y’know I mean basically is a drag on a conversation and for sure the listeners time and concentration. Most people are not listening or paying attention and or interupting and talking at us. We live in a time when attention deficit is being driven by so the many forms of communication that  are being spewed at us all at one time.

IKEA has built a reputation on providing attractive timely goods with special value and so can you.

Throughout my career as a retained search executive and career coach I have had the pleasure and privilege of working with many diverse people from a wide range of industries including retailing,manufacturing,cosmetics,transportation,consumer products,consulting, pharma and media to name a few. I have seen most of these individuals rise throughout their careers and make changes along the way as the opportunities grew throughout the decades. Many of these executives didn’t need to network but did as they liked helping others, many didn’t as they didn’t see the value for themselves or others until one day they were unemployed and they realized they would need to do some fancy footwork to make up for lost time. It’s possible to catch up but it then requires a tremendous amount of time and effort and can cause a delay in what was a fluid career.

Learn the techniques of networking and the strategies of a campaign that will keep you in the loop at all times.

Though networking is as old as time many of us need to relearn the system and make adjustments accordingly.In the current economy we have been forced to think as entrepreneurs it  not only takes time to learn new tricks it also requires re-tuning our brains to see things differently to adapt to the new paradigm. There is also the unsaid comment of ” what do you see everyone as money?” Somehow making money in a big structured setting seems to be AOK but when it is done “one on one” when ever the opportunity presents itself is looked upon as bad or slimy.

Networking is really seeing the patterns of life in geometric and organic shapes,sometimes it feel like we are a jar of marbles or we’re playing a game of musical chairs. However with musical chairs one chair is always eliminated and there is always one person left standing; networking if done properly and with intentionality and  reciprocity will often result in more chairs not less.

People are a great resource of information as Facebook clearly demonstrates we  have many links through a wide range of different communities throughout our lives. If you are as lucky as I am to have friends from 1954 having traveled with people from kindergarten through high school and college the possibilities are endless.

Are you a plaid or a stripe or a combo in how you encounter people? Do relate to sand, salt and pepper or marbles? Just think about how the surface of your life is always in motion and if we take the time to consider all the people and places where we encounter people and the unlikely ways of increasing our networking we will. For me networking is the core of my business; being in retained executive search is how I primarily earn my living but more importantly being able to easily access content about a person to help them to connect is my true purpose in life. I am a fountain of  INFORMATION;  fortunate enough to be able to take in a great amounts of data, store, sort it and remember it all is the skill or talent; one we can all learn for the greater good. I look at myself as a farmer, always tilling the soil, taking advantage of nature always rotating the crops providing for us just when we need them to.