Career Development/Resumes/Resume Development
Contents
Tips / Hints
Use Active Verbs (past tense)
Use Quantifying Statements
Add these numbers or percentages wherever possible — to qualify and quantify your accomplishments. This could be as short as associating a number with a noun.
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| Saved money | Saved $1M |
| Responsible for an increase in sales | Generated a 20 % increase in sales |
| Developed a new software prototype | Developed a new software prototype in 28 days |
Use the “by” statement — Show “how” you did something
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| From | To |
| Saved $1M | Saved $1M by reengineering a database |
| Generated a 20 % increase in sales | Generated a 20 % increase in sales, by initiating a direct mail campaign, to a new group of customers |
| Developed a new software prototype in 28 days | Developed a new software prototype, in 28 days, by using advanced object-oriented programming techniques |
Use Encapsulating Details — Pack the statement with additional detail; showing the entirety of the results achieved.
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| Saved $1M by reengineering a database | Saved $1M in development and marketing costs, by reengineering a $25M legacy database, holding 2 million data records. |
| Generated a 20 % increase in sales, by initiating a direct mail campaign, to a new group of customers | Generated a 20 % increase in new product sales, by initiating a direct mail campaign, to a new group of high net worth customers in Canada and the US. |
| Developed a new software prototype, in 28 days, by using advanced object-oriented programming techniques | Supervised a team of senior programmers, that developed a new software prototype, in 28 days, by using advanced object-oriented programming techniques, in a 24/7 development environment in Asia & North America. |
Give info about “vertical markets” / industry sectors
This is important for all job functions, especially IT/R&D professionals. By showing which ‘vertical
markets / Industry Sectors’ you’ve had exposure to, you can significantly expand your job search options
and ‘value’ to an employer.
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| Saved $1M in development and marketing costs, by reengineering a $25M legacy database, holding 2 million data records. | Saved $1M in development and marketing costs, by reengineering a $25M legacy database, holding 2 million data records, in the financial services sector. |
| Generated a 20% increase in sales, by initiating a direct mail campaign, to a new group of customers. | Generated a 20% increase in sales, by initiating a direct mail campaign, to a new group of customers, in the forestry, mining and oil and gas industries. |
| Supervised a team of senior programmers, that developed a new software prototype, in 28 days, by using advanced object-oriented programming techniques, in a 24/7 development environment in Asia & North America. | Supervised a team of senior programmers, that developed a new software prototype for the banking industry, in 28 days, by using advanced object-oriented programming techniques, in a 24/7 development environment in Asia & North America. |
| == Summary of Differences ==
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| Active verbs | Saved money |
| Quantifying Statements | Saved $1M |
| “By” Statement | Saved $1M by reengineering a database |
| Encapsulating Details | Saved $1M in development and marketing costs, by reengineering a $25M legacy database, holding 2 million data records. |
| Vertical Markets / Industry Sectors | Saved $1M in development and marketing costs, by reengineering a $25M legacy database, holding 2 million data records, in the financial services sector. |
Bullets 1, 2, 3, 4
Bullet 1:
Summarize your job description & overall responsibility:
- Responsible for daily operations of a $10M charitable organization for the arts, with 27 employees and activities in Vancouver, Kelowna and Victoria.
Bullet 2: Identify a project / task (related to Bullet 1) where you achieved specific results:
- Initiated a pilot project to provide arts-related materials to disadvantaged children. Achieved a 25% increase in overall participation. The project was adopted by the Board of Directors, and now serves 25,000 children throughout the Lower Mainland (1997).
Bullet 3: Provide another highlight, regarding another project / task, related to Bullet 1 (i.e. reinforcing the story line)
- Coached and mentored 10 technical employees to computerize the organization over a 6-month period: to develop an Access database containing 10,000 records for direct mail purposes; an expanded website; and, 24/7 remote backups in case of disaster.
Bullet 4: Provide a wrap-up statement that incorporates your ‘leadership’ skills, and ability to work with, and promote others.
- Responsible for providing orientation training for new employees (i.e. 25 people in 2002). Topics included: customer service, corporate practices, leadership and motivation.
Info already contained in a resume…
Consider your current information as ‘clues’ or prompts for missing information. (After the other sections are complete, you will fill in the “Highlights” section.)
- You may want to reconnect with some people you worked with to clarify the information / results you wish to put on your resume.
- You may also wish to refer to your Job Description, as provided by your Hiring Manager, or Human Resources. If this is not available, then perform a keyword search on Google for your role / function and a job description (i.e. marketing assistant or executive director charity AND “job description”). Then, the task will be to see how the results correspond to your previous job — and cut and paste the appropriate sections.
Go through your resume, in its entirety adding Quantifying Statements & Encapsulating Details, and Vertical Markets / Industry Sectors information.
Other Sections:
Education / Training
List Major Degrees first, then Professional Training. You can try to put all of these entries onto one line, with the exception of the major degrees. (i.e. you don’t want to make the MBA look small!) Refer to your GPA, only if it is 3.5/4 or higher.
If you have a number of certifications, put these in a separate section. See the example at: www.icentro.com/resources
MBA (Finance), University of Washington, Seattle 1999
GPA 3.7 (with honours)
Training / Certifications
SQL Server Basic, 1997
SQL Server Advanced, 1998
Microsoft Access, 1999
Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, 2002=== Interests & Activities === Use one line per activity. Exception — if there’s an activity which you are particularly proud of / want to draw attention to, then use 2 lines. Otherwise, use the following style:
Campaign Director, CNIB, Ottawa (2002)
Developed a new strategy which raised $100K in additional funds
Member, Vancouver Board of Trade, Vancouver (2001)
Mentor, Leaders of Tomorrow, VBOT, Vancouver (2000-2002)
Instructor, Ski-for-All, Seattle (1999)== Special Situations == Multiple Jobs at the Same Company
If you had multiple jobs at one company, then use the Company Name as the header, and the jobs as the subheader, with the dates, off to the side.
Company Name, LocationDates workedVarious positions — promoted in each case
Job Title 12001
Bullet 1
Bullet 2
Bullet 3
Bullet 4
Job Title 21998
Bullet 1
Bullet 2
Bullet 3
Bullet 4
If you don’t want to draw attention to the company / jobs, you can also group them.
Company Name, Location & Dates workedDirector of IT, CFO1998 – present
Bullet 1 – As CFO, I was responsible for….
Bullet 2 – Example, results achieved
Bullet 3 – As Director of IT, I was responsible for….
Bullet 4 – Example, results achieved
For Managers, Directors & Executives:
Did you have Profit & Loss (P&L) / budgetary responsibility? Indicate how much?
Did you oversee / manage / lead others (i.e. direct reports)? How many people?
Did you lead any teams? What were they? Cross-functional?
Were you responsible for anyone being promoted?
