Résumés

A résumé is a document presented by a job applicant to a prospective employer outlining and summarizing that person's qualifications for employment. A résumé generally includes data on education, previous work experience, and personal information. Well-crafted résumés are concise and composed in such a way as to maximize the applicant's attractiveness as a potential employee. A résumé is generally accompanied by a cover letter which introduces the applicant and the résumé to the employer. The purpose of a résumé is to obtain an interview, not to land a job. This is an important distinction. Whether or not a person is hired is largely determined by what transpires during the job interview, not by the résumé. A résumé is extremely important, however, because it provides the employer with a first impression of the job applicant. From this first impression a decision will be made as to whether or not an interview will be granted.

RÉSUMÉ APPEARANCE AND CONTENT

Résumés are read from two perspectives: the appearance of the physical document itself and the content of the résumé. Résumé appearance concerns the presence (or absence) of typographical errors, poor grammar usage, sloppy sentence structure, garish colors, unconventional typefaces, paper stains, etc.

The content of the résumé, as indicated earlier, is the actual information included in the document. The content of most résumés falls into four broad categories: education, previous work experience, personal data, and social data. The first two are self-explanatory. Personal data includes such things as address and telephone number. Social data includes things like marital status, club memberships, military status, references, etc.

Handbooks that provide detailed advice on compiling résumés are available in most bookstores and libraries. These guides generally agree on the types of information to include on a résumé but sometimes differ on the format and hierarchical arrangement of the résumé. Some authors feel that educational information should be presented first while others feel previous work experience should be foremost. Other authors of such handbooks offer advice on tailoring a résumé to fit one's particular employment situation (looking for an entry-level position, re-entering the job market, or changing fields or vocations). Most of these handbooks, however, have one thing in common: they generally lack empirical data on what a prospective employer is looking for in a résumé. References in these handbooks to this aspect of the applicant, résumé, and employer scenario are often anecdotal.

EMPLOYERS AND RÉSUMÉS

When reading résumés, employers are usually looking for the facts. Functional résumés (résumés with no dates) are often viewed as indicators of excessive job movement or attempts to hide large gaps in one's career. Nebulous phraseology such as "exposure to" sometimes indicate a lack of depth of work experience, as does excess space devoted to education, personal, and social data. Obviously, recent college or high school graduates and other people relatively new to the work force often have little choice but to highlight such information and the discerning employer will take this factor into account.

Many small business consultants urge their clients to study résumés closely, citing the unfortunate frequency with which some applicants include outright lies. A Massachusetts-based management consultant, for instance, told Nation's Business writer Peter Weaver that a résumé should only be used as a starting point for launching a thorough examination of an applicant's business, professional, and interpersonal skills. "Hiring someone based on false claims in a résumé not only weakens a firm's work force but also can lead to costly legal action," said Weaver, who noted that many businesses are held legally responsible for the actions of all employees—even those who may have been placed in positions on the basis of fraudulent information.

Some employers have turned to automated résumé banks or reference checking firms to help them fill their workforce needs. Banks will, for a fee, mail out copies of résumés to prospective employers. Using technical terminology and job-related phrases a computer will match the résumés it stores in its data bank with job descriptions supplied by its clients. Résumé banks, however, are not professional recruiters; the latter are compensated for their services in terms of a percentage of a recruit's salary. Résumé banks charge a sliding fee for their services.

ELECTRONIC RÉSUMÉS

An online article posted on the Web site of a job search service, Quintessential Careers, offers the following statistics that together highlight the reason why a print résumé, although still important, can no longer be the only résumé tool in a job-seeker's kit. "More than 80 percent of employers are now placing resumes directly into searchable databases and an equal percentage of employers prefer to receive resumes by e-mail. Eighty percent of Fortune 500 companies post jobs on their own Web sites—and expect job-seekers to respond electronically."

Some job applicants have found that the trend toward e-mailed résumés makes it more difficult for them to differentiate themselves in the eyes of prospective employers. As a result, many people have begun adding graphics and interactive elements to their electronic résumés. In fact, several Web sites exist to help users create résumés online. While including graphics and interactive elements can sometimes help applicants for some creative and technology-oriented positions, hiring executives emphasize that these features cannot make up for a lack of experience and achievements.

Job applicants who decide to create an electronic résumé and send it to potential employers via e-mail should keep a few factors in mind. First, it is generally considered bad form to use a current employer's e-mail system to send out résumés. Second, job applicants should make sure that their e-mail user name is professional and appropriate before sending out résumés. Third, applicants should consider using a standard ASCII format with a predictable layout and plain fonts, since fancy text may not be readable on some potential employers' computer systems. It may be helpful to send a test résumé to yourself and to several friends in order to check how the document appears on several systems. Fourth, experts recommend including a name, phone number, and e-mail address at the top of every page so the sender's identity will not get lost if the résumé is printed out or entered into a database. Finally, job applicants should be careful to include keywords referring to their job interests and experience in case hiring companies scan in résumés and search them to find candidates for later job openings.

POSTING A RÉSUMÉ ON AN ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD

One of the reasons it is important to have an electronic résumé for job seekers in today's market is because they can be used to participate in online job bulletin boards. Some of the most popular such services are Monster.com, CareerBuilders, HotJobs.com to name the largest. Industry specific job posting services offer to assist both job seekers and employers looking for the right candidates. These electronic job posting sites are a useful tool but any job-seeker should use them as but one avenue through which to search for employment. According the CareerJournal article, "only 7 percent of 2,500 job hunters who receive outplacement counseling found new positions through the Internet, compared to 35 percent who were hired through networking."

However résumé s are used, the key to their success is their ability to communicate the most essential information about a candidate that will tweak the interest of prospective employers who have a position that will make a good fit for the job-seeker.

see also Employee Hiring; Recruiting

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hansen, Katharine. "The Top 10 Things You Need to Know about E-Resumes and Posting Your Resume Online." Quintessential Careers. Available from http://www.quintcareers.com/e-resumes.html. Retrieved on 18 May 2006.

Jackson, Tom. "Mastering the Electronic Job Search Monster." CareerJouranl.com. Available from http://www.careerjournal.com/jobhunting/strategies/20030422-jackson.html. Retrieved on 18 May 2006.

Narain, R. Kamna. "Changing Face of Résumés." Business Journal. 15 September 2000.

Ream, Richard. "Rules for Electronic Résumés." Information Today. September 2000.

U.S. Small Business Administration. Roberts, Gary, Gary Seldon, and Carlotta Roberts. Human Resources Management. n.d.

Weaver, Peter. "Ignoring a Résumé Can Prove Costly." Nation's Business. September 1997.

                                Hillstrom, Northern Lights

                               updated by Magee, ECDI