WINNING RESUMES BLOG: WHY A SELF-WRITTEN SENIOR I.T. RESUME FAILED 70 TIMES

11/12/2011

WHY A SELF-WRITTEN SENIOR I.T. RESUME FAILED 70 TIMES

Many Information Technology (IT) job seekers do NOT present themselves properly and effectively on paper. They don't bother to "sell" themselves or write a Value Statement. In today's job market, many do not bother to address the specific requirements of jobs. That is always fatal!

An outstanding V.P. of Information Technology recently sent me a resume to evaluate because it was NOT working. It was written by himself and in perfect English but he had had NO response to seventy (70) mailed resumes to date. Why? This is what I found:

First, his vague 4-line Profile describing himself as a "Dynamic professional...." What does that mean?

Then followed his Education -- two very old college degrees dated 1996 and 1989 that should be recorded at the END of any senior-level resume and NOT up front like a recent graduate.

Next came his "Experience Summary" which was mislabeled. His three columns should have been described as "Core Competencies" or "Areas of Skill and/or Expertise or Experience". Such a weak 15-line opening was a killer. His resume was probably screened out in 15 seconds by Sally the Screener.

Next, this executive presented his "Experience Highlights" which were NOT highlights at all -- 53 pretty black bullets that were all used WRONGLY because they failed to draw attention to anything in particular.

Worst of all, his outstanding accomplishments lay buried or hidden in the text!!! Not a single keyword was highlighted. All in all, his resume was crowded. The text was gray, boring and NOT scannable at all.

But this senior I.T. executive confidently assured me that he does tweak his resume -- to address the specific requirements of each and every job he applies for.

Despite this, he had had NO success at all in 70 attempts because there were too many things wrong with the resume. What other result could he possibly expect? He is still an AMATEUR resume writer who does not know how to present or MARKET his impressive accomplishments. The same applies to many, many self-written resumes. How about yours?

Albert Einstein once said that ''doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results, is insanity or madness.'' You need to realize that if you are searching for a job but you're not getting results, you need to change what you are doing or using.

Perhaps you should stop relying on your ability to write good English and learn more about marketing yourself on paper. You probably need a better and more effective job resume. Try visiting a first-class professional writer.

Job hunting in 2011 is very tough. Nowadays, getting the right professional help is the SMART thing to do. (DON'T TRY TO BECOME AN EXPERT RESUME WRITER OVERNIGHT EVEN IF YOUR BUDGET IS TIGHT