I recently sent the following email to someone who had applied for a recruiter position with us.  “It is impossible to tell from your resume the dates of your employment.  Please list, starting with the most recent position, dates for each position/employer during the past 12 years and the reason for leaving each position.  Are you presently employed?  What is your educational background? 

PS. Most of us in search and HR positions do not like the functional approach of your resume.  For starters I would not have needed to ask the above questions if you had done a chronological resume.  By the way, in that regard, you should list the accomplishments for each position.”

Since most recruiters and HR people involved in recruitment look at scores if not hundreds of resumes for each open position most would not have taken the time that I did to ask the above.  Instead, we would assume that this a person who has held a lot of positions, is old, doesn’t have much of an educational background and/or his/her accomplishments are either very old or concentrated in one or two positions.

To create a much better resume use the chronological approach.  Put desired position(s) after you’ve put your name, address, phone number and email.  The next thing to do is starting with the most recent position - list the employer, position and dates and then specifically and succinctly list your responsibilities and accomplishments.  In this regard, I recently received a resume from a salesperson that had lots of accomplishments listed but none of them were specific to what he had done in the territory in terms of increasing the volume.  Obviously, in a sales position this is one of the most significant things that we want to know.

Another candidate recently sent me a new resume saying that he had been advised not to list dates.  That’s fine but again the assumption is that this is an older candidate.  Since this is the second time I’ve mentioned age we all understand you can not legally make a decision because of someone’s age if that is in regard to an older employee.  There is no such protection for the younger worker.  While few if any in recruitment are going to fall into that trap, they are going to find other reasons.  The reality is that unfortunately age is often a negative.  One of the comments we hear frequently from a client is that, “we don’t need a retread.”  I draw a distinction between a retread and an older candidate. 

In regard to the company, even if it’s General Motors, there are many divisions within General Motors.  Therefore, another element that I think needs to be succinctly stated is what did the particular company or division that you were with do.  The reason for this is that many search firms, like ourselves, primarily concentrate within an industry niche.  Clients are hiring us because they want us to deliver candidates who have backgrounds within the interior furnishings and building products industry to speed up the ramp up time.  Therefore, we need to know whether the person has had experience in that industry.  So if we don’t know we’ll often just move on because we have a lot of other candidates that we know for sure do have such experience.

With education I advise you to be specific.  Again if you don’t mention it the assumption is you haven’t had any just as my question to the recruiter candidate indicated.  Also remember that education includes training and there’s nothing wrong in the absence of formal academic training to succinctly state learning that you have had on the job.  Do not try to hide the fact that you didn’t get a degree.  Obviously the way most do this is to say “I attended the University of ___”. 

If you are a recent graduate highlight your education further up on the resume and give some specific and notable accomplishments in regard to that education.  Internships are often very impressive for recent graduates.  Summer jobs can be impressive but quite frankly life guard and camp counselor don’t do much for most of us.

In terms of work experience and educational experience the older that experience is the less you should say about it.  Personally I’m really not very interested in work experience and accomplishments beyond the past 12 years.  If you’ve been at it for more than that go ahead and list the company, the title and the dates and just say something to the effect, “Accomplishments for each position are available if you are interested.”

In regard to the length of a resume I strongly encourage you to limit it to one page.  I have a bio which in essence is the same as a resume or C.V. that is one page.  I have been with four companies for my 30 plus year career and held about 15 different positions.  This plus two degrees, a concurrent position as an elected member of the Georgia House of Representatives for the past 12 years with various responsibilities/awards, interests and personal information are all on that one page.  If you want a copy, email jbrown@comp-search.com and I’ll forward it.  It’s the old adage, “I don’t have time to write you a short letter so I’ll write you a long one.”

The resume should not have any grammatical or spelling mistakes and should feature a print that is easily read and easily scanned; avoid the cutesy.

Don’t get hung up on making yours the perfect resume and therefore not being able to apply for jobs while you’re waiting for perfection.  The above should take no more than an hour to two hours to do to get something moving.

You can go to www.careertrip.com and click on Career Help to find other articles about resumes that go into much more depth.