For the next several months, we'll be working on some real nuts-and-bolts job search tactics.  Last month, we looked at career directions.  So, presuming you've got one already, I thought we should start at the beginning - producing an effective resume.  But before we get to writing the resume, let's look at what makes it effective.

What's the Point?

In my previous Human Resources career, I reviewed literally thousands of resumes and interviewed hundreds of people.  What I know from all this is that many people miss the point of a resume.  The point of a resume is to get you an interview.  That's it...period. 

As I've said here before, interviewers screen resumes into three piles: yes, no, and maybe. Yes's get interviews; no's get ignored (or a rejection letter is the company plays by older rules); and maybe's get interviews if there aren't enough good yes's. The question is what you should do to get yourself into the right pile.

The answer is to make it easy for the software or person screening your resume to find what is being looked for.  You'd expect an automated screening tool searching for particular keywords in your resume to take less than a second.  It may be harder to realize that an actual person doesn't take that much longer. 

It's well-known in HR that an experienced screener only takes 20 to 30 seconds to scan a resume.   Yes, even after you've spent hours, maybe days, putting that masterpiece together. While you may recoil in horror about this, the trick is to make the key information jump out so that you end up in the yes pile.

Key Information

There are only a few necessary categories, and I'll go into each of them as we go along.  First of all, your personal information.  This means your name, address (including email address) and phone number. Sometimes people omit this critical information and I've always found telepathy ineffective as a means of communication.  But be careful about how you invite potential employers to contact you. 

If you are presently employed, you should not offer your work phone number or your work email address as contact points on a resume. This is tacky and potentially stupid.  Any halfway sane potential employer will recognize the importance of contacting you outside of work hours. Confidentiality is implicit in the search process

Don't jeopardize your current position by inviting initial contacts at work.  Imagine this dialogue between your company's receptionist and someone else: "Hello, may I please speak with Austin Powersurge?"  "Who's calling?"  "Roberta Recruiter"  "And what is this in reference to?"  "I'd like to talk to him about the resume he sent us."  "Please hold while I transfer you …"

To your supervisor, maybe, who is going to hear about this instantly.  Don't kid yourself. This happens a lot.  Use an answering machine or message service on your home line.  And even if you don't have Internet access anywhere but at work, get yourself an address from Yahoo or Hotmail and use that for a reply address.  Nothing says unreliability to an employer like an email address at your current employer's domain.  If you'd skip out on your current job, you will at a new one too.

Objective: the Job You're Looking For

Over time, there's been a lot of discussion about whether you should put an objective on your resume or not.  I think you should, and it should be the job you're applying for.  Even if you aren't responding to an advertisement or a known opening, you should be applying for a specific job.  Whether it's for Technical Director or Trainee, it's up to you to tell the person reading the resume what job you want.

"Well", says you, "If I narrow it down to one specific job, I might miss out on some other opening.  What about that?"   "Well", says I, "Yes, you might miss out on some other opening, but you'll miss out on the one you could be targeting, too."   Because it isn't the responsibility of the person screening the resume to figure out what you'd be good for.  Remember that 30-second rule?  This is where it comes into play.

You can have as many resumes as you can imagine, each with a different objective.  Each one could be exactly the same, with a different objective, but it's more effective to tailor the information you present and the way you present it to support the objective at the top of the resume.   Yes, it is more work.  But less work in the long run than the one-size-fits-all approach.

Capabilities

This is the most critical area of your resume, and quite honestly, the only one some reviewers will look at.  In this section, you'll list the operating systems, programming languages, platforms, software programs, and tools that you know.  You should lead off with the ones in which you are strongest.  You get no points for good intentions, so don't include anything you're planning to learn, but haven't yet.  If you've been certified for anything, include it here.

Professional Experience: the Magic Bullet

Literally.  Bullet points are magic when it comes to getting important information to jump out in your "Professional Experience" category. Rather than writing some lengthy narrative about your regular day-to-day responsibilities, list your accomplishments at each IT job you've had.  Metrics are hugely valuable, as in "designed and installed first company-wide intranet" or "reduced help desk backlog by 25%". 

Don't go into detail in the resume about how you did this.  The goal of the resume is to get you an interview and a little mystery is a good thing here.  If you tell the reader everything he/she wants to know on the resume, there's nothing to ask about in the interview.  (But be ready to back up your claims with real data.  There's nothing more uncomfortable than being in an interview when you have exaggerated your abilities and the interviewer has figured it out.)  Always leave ‘em wanting more.

And don't repeat your bullet points for multiple jobs.  Even though one help desk position is very much like the next, emphasize different areas of responsibility or accomplishments over your career.  You'll want to show a pattern of growth in your skill levels and capabilities.  Remember though, last (current) job first with dates of employment (month and year) back for at least the last ten years.

Less is More

This last piece of advice is obviously for people who've been in the workforce for a while.  If you've only been out of college for a few years, no one expects this kind of history.  What I'm getting at is that your experience as a barista at Starbucks isn't likely to help you much in your quest to be an NT Engineer.  Work experience always counts for something, but put it in a section entitled "Other Experience." 

Don't, under any circumstances, leave out the "Other Experience" category, if you haven't had much IT work.  Maybe the reviewer worked at a summer camp too when he was younger.  You can never predict whether someone may have shared an experience you've had. That can be what separates you from everyone else with the same qualifications and gets you into the yes pile.

Education

Always include your college degree(s), technical credentials and certifications on any resume.  If you've had significant professional experience in IT, place the information at the end of the resume.  But, if you're a recent grad, with little or no real experience, move your education to the top of the resume and list some of your coursework that could be appropriate to the job at hand. 

Other Information

There's nothing wrong with listing volunteer activities, hobbies or other potentially valuable skills, such as the ability to speak other languages.  As I mentioned above, you never know when this just may be the hook you need to get the interview.  But, do not disclose additional personal information.  Your age, marital and family status, and religion are no one's business but your own.  We are all protected against discrimination on the basis of any of these factors, but it is difficult to prove that discrimination takes place.  Protect yourself by not volunteering this data.

More

Please, please don't send me your resume for a critique.  I'm afraid I don't have enough time to do justice to them. I'll take specific questions though, if you want to write to me at jamie@jobcircle.com. Next month, I'll follow up with the next step in the process, Ingenious Interviewing.

Enjoy this article?  Read more of JobCircle.com's Career Coach articles.

Jamie Fabian spent more than 15 years as a human resources executive before changing careers to become a senior project manager for a growing IT consulting company.  Now in management consulting for a large Pharma company, Jamie would like to be seen as a hybrid of Tom Peters, Tom Jackson, and Tom Wolfe, but spends too much time working, driving carpool and watching mindless TV to write more than this column.  You can contact Jamie with questions and comments at jamie@jobcircle.com.