by Gene Columbus - Mar 26, 2010
What I'm going to talk to you about is the resume and resume writing. A lot of people may have talked to you about writing resumes, but I'm going to go down to the very basic fundamentals. How many of you guys go to restaurants? The reason that I ask is because those of us who read resumes have been trained to read your resume the same way we read a menu in a restaurant.
The Menu
As you go through it, there are incredible similarities between a menu in a restaurant and a resume'. In a sense, the resume is your menu of what you have to offer, and those of us who are reading it are reading it the same way, because we have a need. We're hungry. We go to a restaurant. We don't start and read from the beginning, line by line, we scan it.
They scan the resume with their eyes. Because of that I am recommending a format that is set up much the same way as a menu in a restaurant. The fact is, that we don't start at the top of the resume. We don't look at your name. What we have is an opening. We have a need, like at a restaurant. We're hungry, and we're going to look at the beef, the chicken, the sea food, the pasta, and the salad.
In other words we're going to look first at experience, and if the experience relates to the position we have open, then the chance is are we are going to move down the resume and continue. If it doesn't relate, for instance if I'm looking for someone who is going to be in the computer industry but I have someone who has all these operations experience but says zero about computers, do I continue? Of course not. However if you're managing an area where there's a good deal of computer management involved, and it's listed. It's because you've taken the time to adjust your resume and show that you can fill the need.
My restaurant is catering, in addition to regular customers, to those who have diabetes. So if I go to that restaurant and somebody has fixed that resume so that it addresses my needs, it is more likely that I'm going to talk to them.
Entrees
When I get your resume, I don't look at who you are, I look for your entrees, ie. your experiences. I do look at the chicken, the beef, the sea food, and the pasta. In my case, for many years, the beef, Walt Disney World... uh, that's the whole cow. I look at that beef, Walt Disney World, but it was Magic Kingdom Entertainment. I break it down into my roll in that. Just like on the restaurant menu, it comes with fillet mignon, magic kingdom, obviously with baked potatoes, steamed vegetables and other stuff.
In other words, in descending order of importance, because we read from left to right. We want to put as much to the left because as they're scanning, their eyes are going to scan down the left side of the page and there will be things that will draw them over to read on.
Prices
I don't know if you've been to a restaurant where they list the prices of everything down the left hand side. It's highly unlikely that people are going to go shopping in a restaurant for what they are going to pay for a meal. The same thing holds true with the dates. It's important that you have them, but they should be right justified - down the right side of the page.
There's that template the Microsoft has out there that has all of the dates down the left side. Now that is a great template if you're a person who worked at McDonalds, then went to Wendy's, then went to wherever. It shows the sequence. For any kind of professional, you're not looking for a job, you're seeking a position. As such, put those dates to the right. They are important to have, but they are not the most important. What you did is more important than when you did it.
Beverages
Ok, we looked at the beef, chicken, sea food, pasta, and salad. Then we check out the beverages. They are offering a fillet mignon but here's a restaurant that is offering soft drinks, coffee, tea, and milk. Fillet mignon at Perkins? Now is it your expectation that you will get just a fine piece of meat? Probably not.
If only limited training and education is all you have, the expectation for that experience is not that high. However experience out weighs education. Somebody just out of college with a graduate degree compared to somebody with ten years of experience, I'm going to take someone with experience. They are going to hit the ground running. So don't let it be a deterrent.
Do you have a full bar? Some college or a degree of some sort, and an AA degree? If that's all you have, it's a degree. Some people are a little embarrassed to put it on there, but it's a degree for Pete's sake. Any of those things, and any kind of specialized training. I look around here and I would guess that there are decades of specialized training within this very room. So put that in there because that is what will bump you over.
Appetizers
First we look at your experience, then we look at your education. Now we go up and check out the appetizer. There is a lot of controversy as to whether you should do this. My feeling on the objective is, when you are applying for a major company like Disney, or big corporations, I think it's helpful to put an objective. However, it's not what's in it for you, it's what's in it for them. It's kind of telling them what you can do, to bring value to them. It's not first person, because the resume is first person. So you don't use "I", "my", or "me."
You are seeking a challenging position utilizing the skills you have developed over 14 years within this field, to bring value to this particular organization that has that opening. You are connecting and you are telling them the job you want.
I can't tell you the number of times someone has come in and said "Well, what do you have?" That doesn't help me. Don't put the burden on us, put it on the paper.
Desserts
Now we've looked at your experience, education, and the appetizer. That starts your relationship with that hiring manager. Before I go any further, since I'm not a restaurant snob. Before I order the meal, I check out the deserts. If I like the cheese cake, I may skip the baked potato, so I'll have room for that. On your resume we check out the desert, your special skills. What are special skills? It is what other people may not be able to do.
How many of you speak more than three languages? Would that be a special? Obviously, but if you are bilingual, that is great. But are you conversational? Well I took high school Spanish, so I'll put high school Spanish, although I don't speak Spanish. I ask him a question in Spanish, and I see him like a deer caught in the headlights. If you're not able to converse in the language, don't put it on there, because it's subject to somebody asking the question.
The desert, your special skills, rounds you out. They tell us about all of those other things that you do that are what is unique and special about you.
After Dinner Coffee
Under that I say put the coffee. You have fancy coffees. Now coffee is supposed to keep you awake at night, because it has to. It's your volunteer work. You put that in there. If you can't get people to pay for your services, you give it away so you can network. Work with people who have a passion for the same thing as you. Those are the people who are doing it because they love to help.
There seems to be a connection there. Getting involved in the community means a few hours of being with people in the community who could help you get connected.
Some Guidelines
That's your menu, but I have some notes here.
- No less than 10 point type. 11 point type is ideal.
- Don't get into the fancy fonts. Keep it simple.
- Include every contact number you have.
- Your answering machine must have a very professional message about leaving your name and number.
- E-mail addresses should be professional. You can set up a good email address at gmail.com for free.
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