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 At Bluegrass Recruiting, we want you to realize your full potential! That is to say, we want you to secure employment that leverages your skills, education and experience in such a way that you (a) are able to make meaningful contributions in a timely manner; (b) have a clear promotion track that offers the potential for personal and professional growth; and (c) are able to earn remuneration commensurate with the value you deliver.
If this is your career objective as well, then we would like to share with you relevant information that will assist you in the attainment of same. Assuming that you are an accomplished professional with tangible results, career progression and verifiable references, there are two crucial weapons that must be in your search arsenal for which there can be no acceptable substitutes: (1) a Power Resume, and (2) the use of highly effective interviewing strategies.
This discussion, of course, centers on the Power Resume. (For information on highly effective interviewing strategies, please refer to the web page entitled “Interviewing Skills”.) A Power Resume is a resume that commands attention, inspires confidence and distinguishes you from every other applicant by proving that you are the clear and obvious choice for the specified position. It is a resume that... |
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translates your accomplishments into their quantitative equivalent (using percentages, quantities and dollar amounts) for the purpose of documenting your professional value proposition.
Having demonstrated your value and worth at each of your prior positions, you are now ready to begin to differentiate yourself from all of the other job candidates. As opposed to simply documenting the end result, your resume should include validation bridges between projects, tasks and challenges and the results achieved. By first describing a specific task or challenge and then documenting the tactics and strategies employed to achieve the stated results, you establish credibility in the eyes of the Hiring Executive.
Furthermore, by virtue of having this essential information in your resume, the Hiring Executive is able to gain a contextual understanding of not only what occurred—but the processes, methodologies and/or approaches utilized to effect positive change. More importantly, this information when combined with other pertinent information and facts from other projects and tasks creates a compelling storyline that proves that you have the subject matter expertise to make a prospective employer more competitive, efficient and/or profitable.
To further expound upon the foregoing theme, please find below the specific criteria that comprise a Power Resume. As you peruse the criteria, please keep in mind that there are time-tested strategies that you can employ to address isolated deficiencies should it be necessary for you to do so. Presented in no particular order, a Power Resume should:
1) demonstrate that you are in the top 20% of your peer group with respect to your ability to deliver meaningful and measurable results albeit strategic, operational and/or financial;
2) articulate in quantitative terms how your experience, expertise, strategies and skills produced new efficiencies, achieved new synergies, increased gross revenues, bolstered gross margins, lowered operating expenses and/or enhanced bottom-line profitability;
3) document that your contributions, successes and accomplishments benefited more than just your department, practice or division and provided a meaningful impact at the corporate level albeit regional, national or international in scope;
4) show that your career path has been, and continues to be, a relatively consistent upward progression of increasing responsibilities accompanied by commensurable increases in compensation;
5) capture and hold the attention of a Hiring Executive by having the resume read like a compelling short-story complete with an introduction, beginning, middle and end;
6) be written in a manner that enables you, the applicant, to use it and refer to it as a script during the interviewing process;
7) prove that you are a team player who relates to and interfaces well with individuals at all levels and that you have a genuine interest in mentoring others who could benefit from your knowledge and experience;
8) address any short-comings or deficiencies by focusing on the positive aspects and monetary benefits associated with the experience—with a special emphasis on quantitative economic returns;
9) contain essential keywords and phrases (a) appropriate for your function, expertise and skill set and (b) pertinent to the practice area and industry sector; and
10) be professional in its format and presentation so as to communicate your most relevant and important information at a glance, and, at the same time, be easily scanned for database inclusion.
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At first, this may sound like over-kill. That is not surprising. We estimate that only 2% of all resumes submitted for our consideration satisfy the ten criteria delineated above. We also estimate that 95% of the resumes that include this information survive the first resume screening and that 75% of those individuals receive interview requests from prospective employers. Contrast those percentages with applicants-at-large of which 3% are estimated to survive the initial resume screening process.
If those statistics don’t get your attention, then you may want to re-read the prior paragraph. Having caught your breath, the first thing you need to realize is that you are not in this alone. Quite frankly, we would not have brought this information to your attention if there weren’t several tools available to help place you in the top 2% (where 95% of the resumes survive the first screening).
But, before we delve into the specifics about how best to document your achievements, we want to stress the importance of being honest in your representations. In today’s Information Age, verifying an applicant’s accomplish-ments and credentials can be done quickly and for very little cost. Having invested the time and effort to position yourself for success, the last thing you want to do is compromise your integrity and lose credibility in a marketplace where your reputation is all that you have.
Besides, even if your resume does not currently measure up to the standard referenced above, there are still several viable options available to you. For example, in the majority of cases, a gap in employment or a layoff due to industry consolidation, a business bankruptcy or corporate downsizing (or some other less than ideal scenario) can be addressed in such a way that it minimizes its impact on your otherwise impressive career. The key takeaway being that there can be no substitute for honesty, preparation, perserverance and a positive mental attitude as a participant in the highly competitive job search process.
Conversely, if you have incurred numerous setbacks in your career—then it may make sense for you to stay where you are for the time being. In such situations, we recommend that you treat your current employer as if they were a new employer and find innovative and meaningful ways to contribute. Then, having effected positive change over the course of six-to-eighteen months, you will be in a position to document and articulate your accomplishments to prospective employers. Again, we’re not making anything up here. You must have tangible results, career progression and verifiable references in order to realize your true market potential.
Now, assuming for the moment that you have a track record of accomplishments and several promotions to your credit, there are three options available to assist you in the preparation of a Power Resume (one of which is free). The options to which we refer all relate to different resources offered by, and available through, Mr. Robert Meier at JobClinc.org. To those of you who are not familiar with Mr. Meier, he is one of America’s premier career coaches and resume architects.
The first option to assist you with the preparation of a Power Resume is to provide you with twelve sample resumes, each representing a different career path, from which to pattern your resume. Specifically, we would like to draw your attention to the overall layout and format with a special emphasis on the documentation of professional challenges, actions taken, results achieved and awards realized. Please note that the aforestated resumes are for reference purposes only and should not be plagiarized. Said resumes are available for download compliments of JobClinic at the following link: www.jobclinic.org/Resumes.html
The second option pertains to those individuals who could benefit from a “how to” guide complete with relevant recommendations and practical tips with respect to the entire resume writing process. For these individuals, we highly recommend Mr. Meier’s book entitled “The World’s Greatest Resumes” (183-pages). The last time we checked, the book was available on Amazon.com for $11.95 plus shipping and handling. It is without a doubt an exceptional resource and rates—in our opinion—as one of the best resume writing reference books available today.
The third option is a turn-key package available from Mr. Meier entitled “Job In A Box Career Kit”. The kit includes not only “The World’s Greatest Resumes” but a series of interviewing CDs designed to teach you how to direct attention to your strengths and accomplishments, effortlessly build dialog and how to maintain composure during intense interrogative-style interviews. For those who are interested, the “Job In A Box Career Kit” is available from JobClinic.org for $59.95 plus shipping and handling at the following link: http://www.jobclinic.org/Products.html
For those of you who are wondering, neither Bluegrass Recruiting nor any of its employees or shareholders are being compensated for endorsing Mr. Meier’s products and services. We simply believe in the efficacy of his methods and techniques and, as such, recommend his products and services to those individuals who seek professional assistance in presenting their experience and credentials in the best possible light. Finally, it is important to note that Mr. Meier does not use the term ‘Power Resume’ when describing his particular style of resume writing even though the final resume product qualifies for what we, at Bluegrass Recruiting, would describe as a results-driven Power Resume.
We trust that this information has been helpful. If you have not yet read the web expose entitled “Interviewing Skills”, we strongly advise that you do so. To access the web page entitled “Interviewing Skills”, simply click on the link at the bottom of this page.
Wishing you the very best in all your pursuits and endeavors,
The Management & Staff of Bluegrass Recruiting
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