Résumé and Job Search Help

While I don’t always trust Wikipedia, I do like their definition of the word brand: a brand is a name, sign, symbol, slogan or anything that is used to identify and distinguish a specific product, service, or business. It’s become a very popular term used in the world of résumés. Basically what it means is you want your résumé to distiguish you from all of the other job seekers out there. To do that, you’ll need to identify your brand. This includes more than just your experience and education, this described the very essence of what you have to offer.

Your branding statement answers the questions: who are you? why are you special? what makes you stand out above the crowd? It should capture all of this and your career history in a few brief, succint statements.

Objective statements were focused on what the employee wants, branding statements (sometimes called: professional profile or professional summary) are focused on what the employee has to offer.

Branding essentially communicates value, and that there is something unique about you and what you have to offer. You can create a brand for yourself a few different ways.

First, the appearance of your résumé should be unique, professional, and clean. Everytime I see a résumé developed by some auto-formating program, I cringe. That is definitely NOT a way to stand out! Each person is unique and so is each résumé. There are so many free samples online now, there is no excuse for an unattractive and difficult-to-read résumé. Along with that, your cover letter, business cards, thank you letters and entire portfolio shoul be consistent with whatever format and design you choose.

Once you determine your branding statement, everything that follows should support that statement. This statement is usually found at the very top of your résumé. It defines who you are and what you are offering. It should be written like an advertisement, every word memorable and poignant.

Here are some great ideas to get you inspired. Ask yourself…

~What sets me apart from others in my field?
~How am I different than the next person in line?
~What special things have I done?
~What is it about me personally that is noteworthy?
~What kind of problems have I solved?

Brand Yourself, a book by David Andrusia and Rick Haskins provides a method for writing a branding statement: Skills + Personality/Passion + Market needs = Branding Statement.

Here are some examples of how you could use their method:

PROGRAM MANAGER
Exceptional, forward thinking leader with keen problem-solving skills to advance any environment in a competitive market.

HEALTH CARE TECHNICIAN
Certified, with five years of specialized experience in providing compassionate and thourough care to elderly.

SPECIAL EDUCATOR
Delivering innovative and creative teaching methodologies to modify curriculum and meet the individual needs and learning styles of every student.

An objective statement is another piece of the résumé puzzle that clients often tell me they were taught in high school. Some of the ones I have seen are just silly. The only reason to even have an objective statement is if you know EXACTLY which job you have written your résumé for.

Think about it, most objective statements are written in a very general way such as, “Seeking a position which allows me to use my 10 years of experience and offers opportunity for advancement.” It doesn’t tell the hiring official anything useful and on top of that, it’s basically all about the what the seeker is looking for.

If you have an objective statement on your résumé, just delete it! Instead, design a Professional Summary or Skills Summary. This is a small paragraph in the top 1/3 of the page that briefly describes your skills, your experience and what you have to offer the employer, should you be hired for the job.

Just as your résumé should change for each job you apply to, your professional summary should change as well. You can target résumé and your professional summary for the specific job you are applying for. This is especially helpful if you have training or experience in two different fields.

So what does a professional summary look like? Well, each person should have their own version and that version should change a bit for each job they are targeting, however let me give you a very generic example:

“Retired Army veteran offering 20 years of project management and supervisory experience. Product-focused with a proven ability to reduce the bottom line and increase team cohesiveness. A conscientious leader and dedicated team member who strives for exceptional results and demonstrates success in all endeavors. ”

Now, where do you find a description of yourself and how do you come up with this 15-second commercial? This is when letters of recommendation come in handy. If you don’t have any, ask your current supervisor or coworkers to write one for you. You may never need to show anyone, but it gives you and idea of what others think of your work ethic and accomplishments. Not only that, but you can compile those letters into an portfolio to take along to an interview. How awesome would you look if you passed a portfolio around to the members of your interview panel full of accolades about you?