RESUME TIPS - A FURNITURE EXECUTIVE RECRUITER’S GUIDE TO GREAT RESULTS
Here is a Resume Guide including some PRO Tips and ideas from a Recruiter’s desk. I have included some common mistakes we see with the goal of helping you avoid them!
In this article, we will highlight 5 areas to help you!
Resumes - Think like you are writing a news story
Spelling Errors - Avoid dropping a cake on the kitchen floor.
Gaps in your Career History - How to address them
Common Urban Myth- The one-page Resume
LinkedIn - Quick tip
So, let’s dig in!
1. Resumes should read like a great news story
Many opinions are out there on resume formats, the most important thing to realize is that most people reviewing your resume are busy, in fact, they are reading it fast and trying to understand if you are a fit for the job for which you are applying. When Hiring authorities review your resume, they want to know at an executive level who you worked for, what was your title, and responsibilities and if is it a match to the position they are filling.
Did you know (depending on the expert opinions we have read) you have about 6-15 seconds for someone to form an impression of you when reviewing your documents? Think about how you consume your own information today. Then think about the person receiving your information: typically a CEO, President, and or a hiring authority including HR. From my desk, these are some of the busiest people I know.
simple basics to keep in mind in the construction of a resume:
Margins
We recommend using a fairly wide-margin layout.
Font Size
We recommend using no less than #11 font size
Font Type
Use one of these relevant Font types for Resume Construction
Arial, Cambria, Calibri, Garamond, Helvetica, Sans Serif
Personally, I am not a big fan of using Times New Roman Font - I think it looks dated and too much like a template. It is used everywhere including in many templates.
Header
Name - All Caps bold
Full address is not required but at least put in the City, State you reside within
Phone | E-mail
LinkedIn profile - add a Link to your LinkedIn profile (this practice shows relevance).
Summary/Intro paragraph
(this should be targeted to the job title you are pursuing)
Skills table (optional)
(recommend keeping this to 3 lines by 4 columns max)
Chronological Work History (in outline form)
Company Name, dates (right justified) that means simply that each line finishes at the same distance from the right-hand edge of the page or column.
Title (clear and relevant title - do not embellish)
Description of role - what is your responsibility and pyramid that you direct, size of facility, # of employees directly supervised.
Bullets (2 to 3 max - reminder nobody wants to read your full job description!)
Accomplishments: Use bullets and include measurable accomplishments - “increased sales by 10% or decreased non-sale inventory by 50%.
(Page 2 of Resume)
Education
For some skill jobs, you may wish to put this below the summary at the top of the resume, however, this should be tailored to jobs where education is highlighted and required, i.e., engineering, nursing etc. you get the idea.
PRO TIP
Generally speaking, we believe Education should come at the end of a chronological resume with work history highlighted first. There are some exceptions for highly skilled jobs in Technology, Engineering, Health Care, and some Higher Ed job categories.
If you worked during college highlight the work even if it was internships and working in a family business or for a family member. This will project to an employer, yes I was in school but look at what I did on summer break and or doing the school year. Just make sure you highlight that it was an internship, however, still highlight the duties and responsibilities, and accomplishments.
Avoid the fluff
We included just one sample resume because there is a wealth of information out there including some great formats. Avoid using templates that have columns and tables like the ones found in Microsoft Word and other programs. They are hard to update and revise and do not look professional and give the appearance that you used a template.
Specifics to avoid:
Pictures
Icons & other graphics
Charts
Column formats
So many people have opinions on resumes and so often they will say things like…you have to stand out and they say a good friend advised me to add graphics, pictures, and other information. From my point of view, this really adds nothing of value and is really what I call “just fluff.” If you talk to decision-makers and resume marketing experts, they will tell you to focus on a great chronological history and convey a clear message. In fact, I have had CEOs and Hiring authorities tell me that they are put off when they see too many graphics and buzz words and it sends them the wrong message.
2. Spelling & Grammatical Errors
Nothing can get a candidate the wrong kind of unwanted scrutinies like misspelling words or grammatical errors. I wish I could say that the majority of resumes coming in are 100% in terms of spelling and grammar. The sad reality is that I continue to see so many obvious errors and overall poor construction. We will touch on the construct of the resume later in this article.
The #1 word that I see misspelled is “Manager” typically misspelled as MANGER. The reason this word is easily not corrected when the resume is constructed is obvious, the misspelling is also a word and is not caught in typical spell checking. I see so many careless punctuation errors as well and at every level, entry to C-level.
It has been a long time since most of us left college and English and writing classes behind. So why not use all that technology to get a much-needed assist and try to avoid devastating unforced errors?
3. How to address gaps in your career history
Ok so you have had some unfortunate job turnover and you keep going into interviews and getting clobbered by the career history review. Oh, and most of it may not be your fault, you chose some bad places to work, some were toxic, some went out of business or life got in the way and you had to move.
Do not panic, but it is time to address it.
PRO TIP
Stick with your next choice company for a minimum of two years. Hold your nose and do whatever you have to do to stay the course and get your career history back on track.
It is always always a good idea to find a job when you have a job, walking away will eventually catch up to you. You will find this out the hard way when you are applying for a most admired company and wondering why they chose another candidate who is employed for the role.
From my point of view - I have seen the parentheses format work effectively to convey to a prospective employer or the resume the specifics regarding why there is a gap in your resume.
(Sabbatical - care for aging relative) or (sick spouse)
(100% voluntary)
(Reduction in Force)
(Company ceased operations)
(Company Chapter 11)
Avoid any reference to using the words toxic company or quit other or anything that could be construed as a negative.
You can expect if you use reduction in force (RIF) that you will be asked how extensive the layoffs were and whether you were offered severance or another job in another area or state.
4. Dispelling a common urban myth
You were told when you graduated from college by your academic advisor, a professional staff or a faculty member at college that employers want to see a concise one-page resume and that you absolutely must highlight your education at the top.
When I ask some postgraduate students of 5-10 even 15 years why they still have a one-page resume, they usually state something like “it’s because they are following outdated guidance from what they were told in college”.
From my point of view, a one-page resume only works right after college. As soon as you have meaningful employment and work history should become a 2-page document for the remainder of your career.
PRO TIP
Invest in a professional resume writer
If you are applying for jobs over $100K make sure to have a professional resume writer assist you in crafting a document that markets your abilities and accomplishments and tells that story. The investment of a few hundred dollars for a top Resume Writing Service (marketing professional) is well worth the total dollars you will spend. When done correctly you will get multiple copies in different formats, and this can be a living document that can move with you and be adjusted as your career progresses.
As recruitment professionals we can give advice when we see an opportunity for improvement, however, it is not considered ethical to change or enhance resume documents as an executive search professional.
When I see a poorly constructed resume, typically I’ll hear something like this from the executive…”I just did not have time to focus on the resume”.
Keep in mind that a resume writer will help you organize your time through a series of appointments on this topic.. When done right they will keep you on track and listen to you and they will do most of the work and heavy lifting. Your investment will be the appointment time and thinking back and highlighting your career and accomplishments.
5. A quick tip for LinkedIn
This comes directly from the LinkedIn Talent Blog and we agree 100% with their findings. If your resume service or writer does not include reviewing your LinkedIn profile and helping you to make it match…from my POV…find a new resume writer.
Ensure your work history on your resumé mirrors your work history on your LinkedIn profile. Avoid RED FLAGS - If these don’t match up, it's a red flag. So make sure they do.
STORYTIME
My Rookie Error
Early in my recruiting career, I sent over some resumes that I did not personally check over carefully enough with the candidate. They looked fine overall but with further review and scrutiny, there were a number of typical mistakes. Many hiring authorities and CEOs frown upon any candidate that cannot construct a proper resume.
PRO TIP
Technology is your friend
Microsoft Word has an underutilized feature that can make a world of difference in correcting obvious errors. We recommend using the REVIEW section that comes with all current versions of MS WORD. Many people also do not know about the AI read-aloud feature added that really will allow you to sit back and listen to the document being read by the computer. You can stop and make changes as you discover any obvious errors. The Editor feature for Grammar and spell check has really been improved and takes away the guesswork.
Step #1
Just use the Review section at the top of your Resume in a WORD document and have the Editor feature correct Grammar and Spelling errors until the document grades out at 100%.
Step 2
Using the same Review pane select the Read Aloud feature where a pleasant but robotic voice will read back your document to you. You will be surprised at how much more effective you can communicate with a little help from an Artificial Intelligence friend.
For e-mail and all your writing including in other platforms such as Google docs, we recommend using the GRAMMARLY APP FREE VERSION - It is a great tool, and it works in the background to make suggestions.
Grammarly: https://www.grammarly.com/ (free version)
Click here to download the full sample resume:
Bill O’Malley is President of Connector Team Recruiting a firm headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia specializing in the Furniture | Appliance and Sleep verticals. Connector Team is a full-service Search Firm offering permanent placement recruiting and interim staffing solutions.
Feel free to contact Bill at bill@connectorteamrecruiting.com.
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