Common Resume Mistakes Hurt Candidates

Posted on January 30, 2013 by John G. Self

In a tight job market, it is fascinating how many senior level and aspiring executives shoot themselves in the career foot with mediocre or bad resumes, or with a resume that contains major mistakes.

There is no shortage of books, columns and blogs that provide guidance in resume development, outlining the rules of what you should, or should not do. But judging by 200 resumes of executives that I have reviewed over the past three months in connection with research for a career management book I am writing, our advice is being ignored, or that the ample career management knowledge base is one of the best kept secrets in MBA programs.

Some of the errors reflect carelessness. Those are easily fixed. Others are structurally flawed and need to be reworked. But the vast majority of the resumes do not do their intended job, as a first interview, to get the candidate to the next level of the recruitment process.

It has always amazed me how many people just list on their resume the name of their employer, their title and term of employment. They do not explain who the employer is or what services they provide. Finally, the candidates frequently use dot points to explain their scope of responsibility while failing to list any of their accomplishments, or explain the value they could bring to a prospective employer. They wonder why they were eliminated so early in a search.

In competitive senior executive searches, virtually every candidate is qualified. The vast majority has a master’s degree and, in healthcare, increasing numbers hold a Fellowship in the American College of Healthcare Executives, a certification that shows they have the requisite current knowledge. The resume, therefore, should be that part of your personal career brand which helps distinguish you from everyone else. That is why candidates should/must list the significant accomplishments that reflect their success and value contribution. Moreover, as a general rule, recruiters focus on candidates whose resumes clearly demonstrate that they have produced positive results. Candidates should never assume that their advancement to positions of more responsibility is sufficient evidence of success.

Here are a few examples of the most common problems I noticed when reviewing the 200 resumes:

No address. I saw a LinkedIn site where discussion participants argued that address was irrelevant since where the candidate currently lives should not be a factor. It is. Why be hardheaded, or try to make some point, and not be included in future consideration?
Formatting problems. Once you get your resume in perfect shape, convert it from an Apple Pages, Word Perfect or Microsoft Word format to a PDF document. Be sure you do not have blank pages in the middle or tacked on to the end of the resume because you left a pesky page break in the document by mistake. Be sure your name and page number is at the top of each page.

Too much information in too few pages with a typeface that requires a magnifying glass. More than 25 executives with 20+ years of experience tried to cram their professional life and accomplishments into two pages because of some two-page resume rule that does not exist. The length of a resume should be proportional to the length of a candidate’s career and the number and quality of their accomplishments. Early careerists loaded their resumes with extraneous information to make it seem like they were more experienced than they really were. If you have a 2.5 page resume and you are using a 9 or 10 point typeface, you might try increasing it to 12 point so we can actually read what you wrote without blowing up the size of the page by 200 percent.

References were attached. As a common sense rule of career brand management, DO NOT send a recruiter or employer your references until requested to do so unless, of course, you really do not care if someone inadvertently discloses your confidential search.

There are a lot of career management consultants in the market. If you pay someone for advice, and if what they tell you to do doesn’t have that certain ring of common sense, or it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

For a free copy of John Self’s resume guide, click here.

Career Management, Not Luck

Posted on July 31, 2012 by John G. Self

By Cygnus921 (Own work) CC-BY-SA-3.0 or via Wikipedia Commons

I have had a wonderful career, uniquely varied, filled with multiple successes, some disappointments, but mostly great reward and satisfaction.

I was on the start-up team and served as the first director of Hermann Hospital’s acclaimed Life Flight program in Houston. I played a major role in setting up the next 13 programs nationally. I helped build one of the largest not-for-profit network of community hospitals in the mid-1980s. I have built two successful search firms and recruited in six countries on four continents. In the US, I have been involved in numerous high-profile executive searches. In 2010, I was honored with the Regent’s Award as Senior Healthcare Leader of the Year for North Texas.

I do not have a master’s degree, fellowship, or certifications from any of the professional associations.

The chances that I could replicate my career and its success without the graduate degree and credentials today is doubtful. The opportunities are more limited and the competition for career opportunity is intense. Today it is simply not sufficient to be a great relationship builder, communicator, or rainmaker. I had talent, but in an era of new rules where hiring mistakes are increasingly expensive, employers want more.

Employers today are elevating the bar for credentials, experience and prior performance. These three are the gold currency in today’s hyper competitive job market. For each one of these important qualities that you lack, you drastically reduce your chances for landing a top job.

Here are some strategies to enhance career management:

Have an updated mission statement. Who are you, what do you stand for, what do you want to accomplish with your career? This document should drive what you do and say, as well as the career opportunities you pursue. If you do not have the academic and/or professional credentials, you must address the deficiencies within your plan. If you cannot produce a compelling personal vision statement, how can you motivate and lead others?
Keep a career journal. Not only will this help you maintain an accurate account of employment dates, names of supervisors and compensation increases, but you can also record your significant accomplishments. Moreover, it is a tool for regulated thought—the practice of reviewing decisions from a different perspective. It is the process of thinking about what you could have done differently or better with your decision making and execution. Athletes and musicians, for example, practice. Regulated thought is a form of “practice” to improve your decision-making skills. Think of it as replaying the game film of, for example, a meeting where you executed on an important decision.
Cultivate an effective professional network. Size is important, but bigger is not necessarily better. You want a network that adds value. If you are a hospital executive in rural Montana, being connected to a telemarketer in Lahore, India or a financial planner in Northampton, MA who wants to sell you something, is of questionable value. Link with people who can help you solve a problem, or connect the dots for the next new job that will advance your career. This is a career-long endeavor.
Be active in professional associations—nationally and locally. Continuing education and professional development are essential to remaining relevant. Be open to new ideas because the transformation of healthcare will produce a tidal wave of new ideas and innovations. Volunteer for committees or even the board. This is a key part to building a network and enhancing your brand and can position you to achieve a credential.
Share your ideas on LinkedIn and other business and social media sites. Your posts should add value to your brand, which includes everything you write, post or say. If you enjoy writing, then blog. The blogoshere is crowded, but consistently delivered fresh ideas have a way of moving to the top. And this takes us back to having an up-to-date mission statement which should drive the boat for career management. If your posts and comments are not consistent with that statement, you may be drifting into image muddle.

Above all else, pay it forward. When someone helps you with your career, turn around and help those coming up behind you. Surprisingly, this is not a common practice in business today but is one way you can distinguish yourself in the market.

A Note To Recent College Graduates

Posted on June 26, 2012 by John G. Self

The Graduates (Sakeeb Sabakka)

In case you haven’t noticed, unemployment among recent college graduates is at record levels. In an April dispatch referenced in The Atlantic, the Associated Press reported that more than half of America’s recent college graduates are either unemployed or working in a job that doesn’t require a bachelor’s degree.

Given the typical college students lack of work experience, the resume writing process can be an extremely difficult one. There are do’s and don’ts and a host of so-called resume “doctors” to guide you for a fee.

However, most issues regarding resumes can be resolved by using common sense. Although I will admit, after looking at thousands of resumes over the years, quite a few people are suffering from a profound state of poverty in that department.

One area where common sense should easily apply but rarely does: recent college graduates and their confusion about whether to list part-time and summer jobs as work experience.

The answer is YES, especially if it involves real work. Jobs as waiters, retail sales representatives, receptionist, bellman, janitor, camp counselor – anything that will show a potential boss that you know what it means to put in a good day’s work, be responsible and earn a paycheck. It doesn’t matter where you earned your degree – Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, Texas Southern, or Ferris State – not including this bit of important information is shortsighted.

Why? Employer’s want to know if you understand the real world in this new economy — what it means to work, to be responsible, and to take on tough assignments that require sacrificing leisure pursuits.

The Baltimore Sun reported in May that the unemployment report for recent college graduates under the age of 25 is 9.4 percent versus 8.2 percent for everyone else. That doesn’t count the people who have given up looking altogether.

Having real job experience is a resume asset. Do not hide it. It may mean the difference between finding a real job with an independent lifestyle or having to introduce your roommates as Mom and Dad.