Pongo Resume

If you happened to catch Good Morning America on Wednesday, you know that hundreds of job seekers braved the bone-chilling cold of a pre-dawn New England winter morning to attend GMA's Great American Job Fair and Career Camp in Boston.  The event paired recruiters from a mix of Fortune 500 companies, medium-sized businesses, non-profit organizations, and government agencies with men and women looking for work in a wide range of disciplines.

I was invited to critique resumes at the job fair. For more than four hours, I came face to face with some of the pain caused by today’s recession, as I consulted with a steady stream of job seekers concerned about the "health" of their resumes.

After seeing dozens of resumes in that short space of time, here are three lessons I came away with:

• Always Have a Professional Summary or Objective at the Top of Your Resume. Some of the resumes I reviewed didn’t have either; a few that did were vague. If you’re unemployed, I can’t overstress how important this is: To land a new job, you need to be as specific as possible with your summary or objective. Know what you want and be very aware of the value you bring to an employer. As I advised those whose resumes I critiqued: Write a personal “mission statement” or 30-second “elevator pitch.” Once you’ve got it nailed down, edit it to about half its length and use it as a “boilerplate” summary or objective. Then, adjust the wording to fit each job you apply for.
• Volunteer Experience Counts. This came as a revelation to a handful of the people I met. If you’re looking for a different line of work, maybe in a different industry, think about anything you’ve done as a volunteer in your community, for a charity, or with a professional group or association. For instance, if you would like a sales position, but have little to no work experience in sales, it can make a difference if you did fundraising as a volunteer. How much you did or did not get paid is irrelevant if you have the skills.
• Accomplishments over Duties. There were many resumes that listed the job seeker’s duties rather than what they accomplished or how they made a difference in their previous roles. If you generated more revenue for an employer, saved money, or made a process more efficient, say so, with numbers (e.g., “Generated $4 million in new revenue by recruiting 10 new clients.”) and list them above your duties and responsibilities. Other improvements might include streamlining an awkward process, improving customer satisfaction, reducing accidents, or any other result that helped the business.

Jobs are hard to come by in a recession. So, look for any way you can gain an edge over other candidates. Your resume is – first and foremost – a marketing document and you are the product. Make it easy to for employers to see that you are the product they need. With the added competition a recession generates, that's a cold, hard truth for an equally cold winter day.

What other lessons would you add to this list? Please add them below in a comment.

RELATED LINKS
You Can (and Should) Put Volunteer Work on a Resume
Resume Objective or Summary: You Need One, But Which?
Good and Bad Resumes: Want to See the Difference?

If you are unemployed because you've been laid off, you will no doubt have a gap at the top of your work history. Here are two great ways to fill in that gap. A putty knife and some resume spackle, if you will...

You've got some time on your hands so, along the lines you mentioned, go do some volunteer work. I'm laid off right now, and I need to do something to keep me from going insane and getting more depressed than I usually am. So, I spend five hours a day doing my intense job search, and then I head to a no-kill animal shelter and volunteer there for three hours a day. Not only does it make me feel useful, but it also looks great on a resume and can lessen the gap. Besides, in many cases being around dogs can be much more rewarding than being around humans anyway. Plus, they're always happy to see you.

Or, one sure-fire way to impress a potential employer and fill in that gap is to take some classes and gain a needed skill. That shows employers that you are willing to make an investment in yourself to get that edge you need.

Being unemployed in this economy is more than difficult and can really challenge one's resolve. It's easy to throw in the towel and just give up, but if you can muster up some creativity, you can patch that hole in your resume.

I don't know why this seems like such a huge forehead slammer "DUH" (shouldda had a v8)but this is the first time it has occurred to me or maybe that I've connected the thought of using downtime during a layoff to volunteer. AND it's also great networking depending on your industry!

I would feel much better explaining my gap at the top of my resume by being able to show a strength, showing initiative, and that fierce self-starter in! How great to say, here is how I dealt with my layoff: "I had to stay engaged in something productive so I sought out volunteer work that has meaning to me!" And it will keep me from going CRAZY!

Of course the noble thing would be non-profit work like an animal shelter, etc. but there is also the idea of internships - sure, you're essentially working for free but oh! the experience, networking, and what a way to bridge over to a new industry.

Thank you Banjo Bob, Guantanimo Bill and most especially Pongo. I just made a short list that I can act on tomorrow!! WOOHOO!

To Banjo Bob, Guantanamo Billy, and Jes:

Thanks for the feedback - and for getting the message. Anything you can do to motivate yourself and keep your spirits up - while also helping your career, even in the tiniest of ways - will be seen as a positive in the job market.

I agree with everything you stated in this article. But I do have one question. Of the positions, there have been no quantifiable accomplishments. Most of what I have done is duties. What can I do to make my resume stand out? Thank you for any help you can give me.

@ a job seeker -- Thanks for writing. Here's what I suggest you do: Think of each duty, then think about ways in which you may have been the "go to" person for specific tasks. Was there something you did that no one else in the company could do - or do as well as you do? What have your employers *depended* on you for that appeared to make you indispensable - or hard to find someone else to do as effectively?

Hope this helps! ~ Rick

My query is to Rick Saia: Where would you reccomend to put the 'volunteer' resume section in case when volunteering is the latest occupation - on the top of the resume or at the end, after working experience/education ? Many thanks

@ Nina -- If the volunteer experience is relevant to the job you're seeking, then I would position it at the top of your resume. Lumped together with your professional experience, I would simply place it all under the heading "Experience."

Otherwise, if the skills from the volunteer job have little to no bearing on the job, I'd lean toward putting it after Professional Experience, or after Experience and Education.

Thanks for writing! ~ Rick

very useful and thank you as usual