Ask the Career Coach - April Edition
I hear I need a modern resume. What is that?
When people used a typewriter to write a resume, the format was simple. It consisted of these areas: Contact Information, Objective Statement, Work History (which included your job duties), Education, and Reference sections. You were to keep it to one page—end of the story.
A modern resume is different. It not only needs to be readable for the recruitment team but also by the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software. Therefore, you have to approach writing a modern resume differently.
Length
If you have a short work history, a one-page resume is fine. If you need to have two pages to illustrate your work history, then use two pages. Just do not overdo it with your length. No recruiter wants to read five pages. Keep an eye on relevant information, but also make it concise.
Format
A modern resume is clean looking with plenty of white space to make for easy reading. You can use headings, subheadings, lines, and bullet points to organize your information better. Use easy to read fonts, as it is likely to be read on a computer screen as well as printed out. Remember that graphics, charts, and icons may be visually appealing, but an ATS system cannot read the information.
Professional Summary Instead of Objective Statements
The problem with objective statements is it is all about the job seekers and what s/he wants to do. Alternatively, a professional summary tells the reader what you can do and how that is of value to the employer. It is a version of your elevator speech.
Skills Section
Do not make the recruiter try to figure out your skills, name them. Having a stand-alone skills section helps the reader understand the essential technical and soft skills that you possess.
It Is Not What You Do but How You Do It
No one wants to read a list of job duties. That does not tell the recruiter anything about how you performed. Instead, you want to focus on accomplishments. Metrics (percentages, dollars, or time) are a great way to show that what you accomplished was noteworthy. Showing your successes is very powerful and gives you an advantage over your competition.
Keywords Are Important
Having relevant words and phrases in your resume that match the job posting is essential. These “keywords” are used by ATS’s to distinguish applicants. The more matches you have, the higher the relevance score. That score can help determine whether a human being reads your resume.
No Reference Section
This section is no longer needed. Some employers no longer contact references. If the employer does this, it will be at the end of the interviewing process, and you will have an opportunity to provide names and contact information at that time. Do not put “References Available Upon Request’ on your resume.
Lastly, a modern resume is customized for each job. You will edit your resume only to have the information applicable to the specific role. A one-size-fits-all approach to your resume is a recipe for failure.
It seems that my peers get contacted by recruiters on LinkedIn, but I don’t. What am I doing wrong?
The key to being contacted on LinkedIn is visibility. You want to come up during a recruiter’s search and pique the person’s interest in wanting to contact you to learn more.
Increase your chances that your profile will come up during a recruiter’s search for relevant candidates for an open position. To do this, make sure that your profile has the information that a recruiter would look for in a search.
Maximize Your Profile Headline
You can utilize up to 120 characters in your headline. Most people only use the LinkedIn headline default, your present position, and the company name. To maximize the impact of your headline, instead, think about what you do beyond your job title. If you are an Accountant, what type of accounting do you do? Do you have your CPA? What industries do you know best? Add this information to your headline. If your company is not well known, think about dropping it all together from your headline.
You Have Minimal Information in the About Section
LinkedIn gives you a limit of 2,600 characters to use for your About section, and most people use just a fraction of that number. The About section is a great place to tell your story-what you do, how you do it and why you do it. Write an engaging narrative about your roles, your accomplishments, your skills, and how you approach your work. Doing this will grab the attention of a recruiter.
Not Bothering to Fill Out Your Experience Section
A tell-tale sign of the effort you have put into your LinkedIn profile (or lack thereof) is evident in your Experience section. Many people just put in the job title, dates of employment, and company and just leave it at that. Or, they provide only a list of their job duties. Use this section to show what you have accomplished at each place of work. Not sure how to write your accomplishments? Check out this blog post, where I detail how to think about your work and to pick out those accomplishments that best represent your work. Stand out from the competition by highlighting why you are good at what you do.
The Skills Area Is a Great Place to Highlight What You Offer a New Employer
The Skills area is searched on by recruiters. Often, a recruiter will add preferred skills into their search query to find relevant people on LinkedIn. A vital place to demonstrate that you have these skills is by adding them to the Skills area. You can add 50 separate skills in this area, as well as to determine the top three that show up on your profile. Make sure you use this area to your advantage.
Lastly, though a recruiter will not search on this, having a good profile picture is especially important. Not having one visible may prompt a recruiter to pass on you, even if you were to come highly ranked on a search. Recruiters like certainty and no profile picture could indicate that the profile is a fake or that you have something to hide. Also, make sure you have a good quality profile picture. Make sure your face can be seen with decent lighting and in front of a neutral background. This blog post has more tips about how to ensure you have a good profile photo on LinkedIn.
Do I Need to do the “Social Media Thing” to Find a New Job?
You can decide not to do the “social media thing”, but your job search might be much harder. Many people use social media to stay in touch with family, friends, and acquaintances. You can certainly do this through a phone call. Still, many people find staying in touch easier through social media, and it's the ability to allow people to post information and view it in a news feed. One of the beauties of social media is to get a message out to your network quickly and efficiently. Letting people in your network know that you are on a job search means that tens, if not hundreds of people may be on the lookout for opportunities that could be a good fit for you.
Of all the social media, LinkedIn is best suited for someone that is looking for a job. Setting up a profile allows recruiters to find you in a search when looking for candidates to fill a position (see above for area of importance on your LinkedIn profile. Additionally, you can use LinkedIn to build a network of like-minded professionals as well as people in different roles and different industries. These people can also help you with your job search. They can introduce you to other opportunities that your immediate network may not know. They can introduce you to decision-makers who can open the door for you to get an interview.
So, if you decide that you do not want to engage with any social media platforms, know what you could be missing. It is a critical part of what I would consider a successful job search strategy.
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