Unless You're a Purple Squirrel, Update Your Online Resume!

"Purple squirrel" is recruiter-speak for a candidate whose qualifications are rare and for which a recruiter can charge a higher fee to the company due to the difficulty of the search. When sourcing candidates, recruiters will look first at resumes posted in the last 1 to 2 weeks and will generally not look at older resumes, unless they are searching for that elusive purple squirrel.

Looking at it from the recruiter's perspective, you can understand why this is so. Recruiters are playing the odds, and they cannot afford to waste time contacting candidates who have already found a job or for some other reason are no longer in the job market. Time is money, and this is particularly so in the recruiting profession.

The take home on this? If you have posted your resume online, be sure to tweak or otherwise refresh it at least once a month, preferably every two weeks. Otherwise it will effectively become invisible to most recruiters, like those billboards you see on the highway that have become blocked by overgrown trees.

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How to Sabotage Your Job Search with Your Resume

An article entitled "25 Things You Should Never Include on a Resume" published a few days ago over on HR World's blog made me chuckle. Not because most of the items on the list seemed so unbelievably obvious and stupid for a job candidate to include in a resume, but because of the fact that I have actually seen most of them at one time or another in the thousands of executive resumes I have reviewed over the years. I notice that HR World's blog writers took some flack in a few of the comments on that blog entry because of the common sense nature of their advice. It's unfortunate, but I think that most of the "don'ts" mentioned seem to somehow escape the "common sense radar" of a fair number of folks out there.

About the only category I would disagree on is hobbies. Certainly you do not want to clutter your resume with irrelevant or frivolous interests. But many a door has been opened and many an interview set on the right track, prompted by the interviewer's noticing that the candidate has a similar interest to theirs (for example, avid amateur golfer) or particularly unusual or outstanding hobby or skill that is a good conversation starter (such as climbing Mt. Everest, circumnavigating the globe in your own sailboat, competing and placing in triathalon events, etc.).

The only one out of the 25 that I cannot recall having seen in a resume is blatant expression of a prejudice. So, while the items on this list may be obvious to most, clearly there are some folks out there who would do well to pay them heed. You can view the full list at HR World.

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Many Employers CANNOT View Your Windows Vista or Word 2007 Resume!

I was alerted this morning in one of my association newsletters to an issue that could have very serious consequences for executives sending their resumes to recruiters and employers as a document file, which has largely replaced physical delivery via a "hard" (printed) copy. Do you use Word 2007? Have you recently purchased a new laptop or PC? It probably came with the recently released Windows Vista operating system and Word 2007 on it. Or you may be one of those on the leading edge who has already updated your existing PC to Word 2007 and Vista. New technology is wonderful, but there is a very real caveat pointed out by one of my colleagues at The Career Management Alliance.

Be aware that any documents you may be forwarding in connection with an employment opportunity (executive resume, cover letter, etc.) that were created on Word 2007 software (which is the version bundled with Windows Vista Operating Systems) CANNOT be opened on another computer that does not have Word 2007. So, any employer that has an earlier version of Word on their systems will not be able to open them! This probably means most employers, since companies are generally reluctant to jump too quickly on the bandwagon of new software versions and also because upgrading an entire company to a new operating system or application version is no small task.

With the high volume of resume submissions received on most openings, it would not seem likely that an employer or recruiter would take the trouble to notify you of the issue and request your documents in a compatible format. Far more likely is that they will just discard your e-mail.

The solution is simple. Apparently the problem is not Vista itself but the version of Word (2007) that is used on it. If you select the Word compatibility feature in Word 2007, you can create and save your documents in Word 1997-2003 compatible format, which I would recommend until Word 2007 and Vista are more prevalent. I do not have Word 2007 on my PC, but a colleague tells me that you can address the problem similarly to how it is done on earlier versions of Word: When you save your files, do a "Save As" instead of "Save," and select Word 2003 from the dropdown menu.

Microsoft is working on the compatibility issue, and they do offer a free download of a product called Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 to address it. You may wish to visit the following page on Microsoft's site: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx

There is a demo you can view to tour the Virtual PC 2007 product. If desired, you can then download the product and install a version of Word (1998, 2000, 2003 or 2007) that will allow you to create compatible versions of your resume, cover letters, and other documents you are using in connection with your career transition.

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Does Your Cover Letter Come Across as Pompous?

An article in an E-Newsletter from NRWA (one of the professional associations I belong to as an executive resume writer) really struck a chord with me today. The fact that many job seekers compose cover letters (and resumes, for that matter) that come across as pretentious and verbose is something that I witness every single day.

Certainly a cover letter for an executive will have a more sophisticated tone than one for an entry level worker, but neither should be flowery or seem to be obviously trying to impress the reader with multi-syllable words where simple ones will do just fine. I cannot tell you how many times I've read letters and resumes that use formal HR or government-ese, with such phrases as "Responsible for such and such, to include: ..."

Good wordsmithing strives to move from the complex to the simple, rather than the reverse. Don't use 5 words where 2 will do the job. This has the added benefits of making your letter or resume a quicker read and reducing the length.

The recruiter or hiring executive reading your executive resume or cover letter will react to their overall tone. Keep it conversational and appropriately cordial, rather than stilted, pretentious, or wordy and you will likely see an immediate improvement in response. Read it aloud to see how it sounds and ensure you have not created a tongue-twisting exercise! Do you come across as an attorney droning on to make a case in court, or as a consummate salesperson enthusing your audience about the features and benefits of your product (you)?

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Free Advice for Your Job Search ... Interviewing, Resume Writing, etc.

This simply cannot be beat! If you would like some free pointers on how to write your executive resume, how to ace that interview, or just general job search techniques, you will want to visit the CareerHub blog. With a click of your mouse you may download any one or all of the free PDF eBooks authored thus far by the group of leading career experts who are contributors to this blog. More are expected to be published at intervals, so you'll want to check back frequently.

I also recommend browsing the site as a regular part of your career development research. It is brimming with insightful commentary and strategic advice you will find invaluable in your employment search.

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In What File Format Should I Send My Resume?

As I discussed strategy for his employment search with one of my executive clients today, he posed a question I frequently hear: Should I send my resume to recruiters and companies as a Word file, text document, or PDF? Coincidentally, this was also the subject of a recent thread in a career professionals forum in which I participate.

From my research on the subject, my colleagues' opinions, and surveys of hiring professionals, I would say that both text and Word formats win out over PDF files, despite the clear advantage that PDF's have in terms of WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get). A colleague in Maryland indicates that his survey of HR professionals at a recent SHRM meeting indicated a nearly unanimous opinion: 90% did not accept PDF files.

Several of my colleagues indicated that recruiters seem to prefer Word format for ease of editing and tweaking for the particular job order they are working on, which confirms my experience. A neatly formatted text document is also welcomed by most recruiters, but this does not mean doing a "save as" of your Word document to text and sending it as is! Your format will be a terrible mess and, besides making a bad impression, will be very difficult for the recruiter to manipulate. Typically, I recommend sending your executive resume in both text and Word formats when dispatching an e-mail. The text version can be placed inline (in the body of the e-mail below your message) or attached as a .txt file.

If you are sending your resume in Word format, beware that word processor files are notoriously subject to format damage when brought up on a system other than the originating one, due to differences in word processor settings, fonts, etc. That resume you so carefully and nicely fit into two pages may now carry over an awkward 2 or 3 lines on a third page. Or a comical or difficult-to-read font may be substituted for the attractive, conservative font you used.

So take care to use relatively simple but attractive formatting that will tend to translate smoothly on other systems, avoiding complex tables, columns, etc. Use fonts that are fairly universal on Windows systems (some are Verdana, Tahoma, Garamond, Futura, Palatino, New Century Schoolbook, Times New Roman, Arial). I personally balk at using Times and Arial because they are so "ho-hum," but sometimes it is necessary in order to have reasonable assurance that your resume is going to look anything like you intended it to when your recipient views it.

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Is Your Executive Resume Keyword Optimized?

As an executive I am sure you wisely put substantial effort into ensuring your resume powerfully articulates your value proposition to potential employers. But do you realize how critical it is that your executive resume properly leverages the power of keywords to ensure that the document you so carefully crafted is actually seen by those potential employers?

I recently attended a seminar on "Unlocking the Mystery of Employer Keyword Searches" sponsored by the National Resume Writers Association for its executive resume writer membership. Offered in that seminar was a wealth of information and insights into how employers search for candidates, the proper use of keywords in the executive resume, the importance of the candidate "relevancy factor," and what things look like from the "back-end" of an employer search.

Firstly, it was discussed that the primary ways employers search for candidates through back-end systems are via their own website, job boards, and resume databases. It was revealed that 85% of companies use technology in candidate search now, up from 20% in 1997. Smaller companies with less than 100 employees typically cannot afford memberships on the mega-boards like monster.com, careerbuilder.com, etc.where annual fees can run upwards of $5,000, so they opt to use the lower-volume, niche boards. Hint: Posting your resume on industry-specific or job-function-based job boards can be a good strategy to reach the universe of smaller companies.

Adding to the importance of keyword relevancy is the fact that with the advent of job boards as a resource for candidates, executive recruiters began a mad dash to post their job assignments on these boards. They soon found they needed an efficient way to sort, catalog, and store the hundreds of resumes that flooded in as a result. So automated systems such as early pioneer ResuMix began to scan resumes, many of which went directly into databases without human intervention. And what did those scans look for? Keywords, of course. Usually nouns, sometimes verbs, and rarely soft words or phrases such as "proactive," "team builder," "results-oriented" that may be important for a human reader later but NOT to the automated system.

What are some of the parameters on which an automated search is based?

* The date the resume was submitted. The search will usually go back 90 days AT MOST. It's considered best to tweak and replace your resume on each site every 30 to 60 days.

* Recent employers... It is not surprising that companies would have an interest in recruiting candidates from their competitors.

* Job titles... but only if fairly generic, since the exact title can differ so much from one company to the next.

* Geographic location of the candidate.

The search typically scans the actual resume a person submitted, NOT the information on a filled-out online form with a few exceptions:

* Salary ... When an online form has requested this, people who have listed their salary and salary requirements will come up first.

* Career level... again, if included on online form.

Here's how the "relevancy factor" comes into play. The sheer number of keywords your resume contains and their frequency is key. The executive resume needs to be "rich" in keywords, while taking care not to overdo it.

The keywords must be relevant to the text in which they occur, and there is no value in seeding the document with keyword lists that are obviously not supported by the content of the resume. Some newer systems actually "read" in context to determine relevancy. For instance, if the keyword occurs in the middle of a sentence it is considered better than in a list. Core Competencies sections are fine for emphasis, but you'll also want to weave these words and phrases into the body of your text. Keyword lists are not necessary if the resume is written correctly.

Once ranked by keyword richness, how recently that resume was posted or updated is the next ranking criterion.

If there are "required" qualifications like a certain degree that you do not possess, your resume will still generally come up, but it will be listed after those that do show that qualification. Note: Many systems search for the full names of degrees rather than their abbreviations, so it may be best to write it out (e.g., Bachelor of Science versus BS degree).

Finally, a couple of important DO's:

* Pay attention to how the employer or recruiter states he or she wants to receive the resume -- follow directions! You may be eliminated if you do not.

* Include your name on the file name of the resume document! You do not want yours to be one of 500 resumes with the title of "myresume.doc" in your recipient's inbox!

Typos Hazardous for Your Career Health

Typos in your executive resume could be fatal to your candidacy for a position, according to a recent survey cited in the newsletter of the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals. Here are the sobering statistics:

Nearly half (47%) of executives polled by online job search firm OfficeTeam say that just one typo in a resume is cause to not consider a candidate for a position with their company.

Another 37% said that two typos would automatically send the resume to the trash can.

Only 6% would consider job candidates with 4 or more typos in their resumes.

Enough said.

"Fluff" Words Are Needed in Your Executive Resume - Judiciously Used

An article appeared recently on CNN.com listing "25 words that hurt your resume." Included were such words and phrases as:

Aggressive, Ambitious, Competent, Creative, Detail-oriented, Determined, Efficient, Experienced, Flexible, Goal-oriented, Hard-working, Independent, Innovative, Knowledgeable, Logical, Motivated, Meticulous, People person, Professional, Reliable, Resourceful, Self-motivated, Successful, Team player, Well-organized

I have upon many occasions reviewed ineffective executive resumes replete with such phrases, to the virtual exclusion of any substantial accomplishments or "hard skills." While certainly it is important to avoid over-use of such phrases (especially in lieu of accomplishments), it is important to bear in mind that most employers and many job listings actually include such phrases, so they are obviously of importance to potential employers.

The key is to match the employers' terminology and demonstrate concretely how you have shown these qualities. And remember that key word searches may well be conducted based on some of these "fluff" terms as well. Thrown into a resume on their own without supporting evidence, these are indeed "empty" words. Matched with actual accomplishments showing that the candidate truly does have these qualities, they can become very powerful indeed.

Are Plain Text Resumes Still Necessary?

My clients sometimes ask if it is any longer necessary to have a text, ASCII, or "e-resume" version, considering the continued advancements in Internet and computer technology.

While the sites to which we submit resumes sport fancy input forms, the underlying technology has as a rule remained unchanged when it comes to submitting information via those forms. In other words, if you were to copy and paste your nicely formatted Word resume into the form, it is highly unlikely that your format would be reasonably preserved, and characters such as bullets, graphics, and other special characters would not be converted correctly. Without embedding a very complex application into the blank or box, anything put into it will automatically be simplified to plain text.

So my answer for now is: Yes, you still need a text version of your executive resume for use when you visit executive job boards and recruiting firm sites.

Unbelievable: There's a Published Guide to Lying on Your Resume

I thought I'd seen just about everything and that nothing could shock me anymore about the deteriorating morals in our society, but I was wrong. I was outraged upon receiving an alert this week regarding a press release put out by a former recruiter who not only openly advocates lying on your resume, but has published a book and a website to show you how to do it.

This blatantly unethical person seems to think that "everyone else is doing it" (that sounds like the typical child's argument, doesn't it?) and since employers are not completely up front in all aspects of hiring, lying about your qualifications on your resume is OK. I quote from his website (his grammatical errors and typos have not been corrected):

"Can this be considered lying? Perhaps, but don't you deserve a shot a job you know you can do.... What about your prospective employer’s honesty? How open and honest are they to their employees and future employees? Anyone who’s read the newspaper or watched the evening news has witnessed the lack of integrity that runs rampant in today’s corporate world. In my experience very few employers will fully reveal any unpleasant details affecting the positions they advertise... It seems very hypocritical for a prospective employer to insist on applicants being entirely honest while they regularly conceal relevant job details."

The fact that this person is a former executive recruiter really does take the cake. One wonders how many unqualified LIARS he placed with unwitting employers! I can't imagine WHY he's no longer a recruiter. Could it be because he got booted out of the profession?

Much as I would love to publicly name and put this unsavory person up for condemnation, I will not dignify or aid him in any way, certainly not by linking to or naming his website or publicizing his name. If you have an interest in what he is purveying, you are welcome to do a search engine inquiry on the subject. Any executives doing so need not contact me regarding assistance with their employment search. If you'd like a powerful, HONEST executive resume that will effectively market your qualifications, I will be happy to assist.

Does Your Resume Reveal More About You Than You Thought?

Would you be comfortable knowing that companies and recruiters who receive your resume are viewing your previous markups and comments on the document? All those comments and redlines/markups that you thought you'd removed from your Word document are very likely still there for viewing by anyone who cares to, with the execution of a simple menu command.

In a recent article published on CNet entitled "Beware Your Trail of Digital Fingerprints" by Tom Zeller, he states, "It pays to mind your metadata... According to some technologists, including Dennis M. Kennedy, a lawyer and consultant based in St. Louis, (denniskennedy.com), metadata might include other bits of information like notes and questions rendered as "comments" within a document ("need to be more specific here," for example, or in the case of my editors, "eh??"), or the deletions and insertions logged by such features as "track changes" in Microsoft Word."

A high-profile example of hidden document information gaffes is the recent release of the U.N.'s long-awaited report on Syria's suspected involvement in the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister. Recipients could track editing changes that included deletion of names of several high-ranking officials allegedly involved in the plot.

In Microsoft Word, you can set your document view to "final showing markup," but you also need to set Word's Security options to "Warn before printing, saving, or sending a file that contains tracked changes or comments." On your reviewing tool bar, be sure your dropdown menu for "show" has all boxes checked (comments, insertions/deletions, formatting) and then "accept all changes." (Just telling Word to not show these items and create a Final document still leaves these items easily available.) Then go to the next drop-down menu to the right of the "Accept Change" menu on your Reviewing tool bar and click "Delete All Comments in Document." Don't forget to check "Properties" of your document to make sure that info about authorship etc. contained there is something you wouldn't mind your recipient seeing. To do this, go to the "File" menu, "Properties," and edit the information found there.

Microsoft Word's Help menu states the following: "Hidden text, revised text, comments, or field codes can remain in a document even though you don’t see such information or expect it to be in the final version. If you entered personal information, such as your name or e-mail address, when you registered your software, some Microsoft Office documents store that information as part of the document. Information contained in custom fields that you add to the document, such as an "author" or "owner" field, is not automatically removed. You must edit or remove the custom field to remove that information."

Information security concerns with Word documents are why to be extra safe (and also for quality/editing control) I hand-enter all client changes to an executive resume on the original document I created that has no comments or track changes added. But regardless of whether you think there are no comments or tracked changes, I strongly recommend following the above procedures before sending your document file out.

You may wish to check out another option I have heard good things about from colleagues, a free program called Doc Scrubber by Javacool software. It will automatically scrub the document of all and save the file in a different name (ending scrubbed) so you know it's clean.

Do Recruiters Really Read Resumes?

Conventional wisdom has it that most resumes get an initial read of about 10-20 seconds as the reviewer is sorting through the stack, separating them into "circular file" and "investigate further" categories. Once past that initial sorting, though, what happens next? A professional forum I participate in has an ongoing thread on this topic, and the input from recruiters is worth noting.

One former internal recruiter indicated that she accumulated resumes for review once or twice a week. She then went at them with highlighter in hand and her job order book on the desk, reading objectives or titles and separating the resumes into piles. One pile was those that matched her current job orders, the other was for return to the recruiter pool.

She then skimmed each resume, starting with screen-out factors such as education and special certifications, and looked for specific experience directly related to the position. The ones that survived that screening went into a pile for more thorough review - sooner if there was a matching job order in hand/later if she knew a matching job order was coming up at some point in the future.

She did NOT read every word until and if she was ready to call someone for an interview.

A second former recruiter said that if the resume didn't pass the 10-second test (catch his interest in 10 seconds or less), it went in the circular file. This former recruiter, now in the resume distribution profession, also noted that when sending out your resume, results are very dependent on the market for a particular set of skills on a particular day. In other words, assuming your resume passes that 10-second test, a lot depends on the luck of the draw.

Inaccuracies on Your Executive Resume May Come Back to Haunt You!

The New York Times > Sports > Baseball
"Medical Adviser Says He Regrets Resume Errors
By DUFF WILSON

Published: March 31, 2005

Elliot J. Pellman, the medical adviser to the commissioners of professional baseball and football and the Jets' team doctor, said in a statement yesterday that he regretted what he called discrepancies in his educational and professional credentials and would correct them."

Laurie's Comments:

This is yet another in a series of recent incidents that have proven extremely embarrassing if not catastrophic to the careers of high-profile professionals and executives. Multiple survey results have shown that 50% or more of resumes examined contained inaccuracies, while anecdotal testimony of hiring managers indicates figures as high as 80%.

Inaccuracies can range from creative embellishment or exaggeration to blatant lies. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found in a survey late last summer that 3 out of 5 HR professionals identify discrepancies in resumes after conducting background checks, in a study reprinted on AICPA's CPA Career Center.

Consequences of discovery of inaccuracies on a resume include summary dismissal and loss of all earned benefits such as retirement, pensions, or stock options. This can and has on a variety of occasions included employees of 20 years or more, even those in academia or government who otherwise enjoyed exceptional job security under the umbrella of tenure.

Presentation of credentials on the executive resume, executive bio, and official employment applications is a situation in which an executive's integrity is routinely put to the test. Amid the plethora of corporate scandals in recent years that have put integrity at the forefront of public scrutiny, it is now more than ever inadvisable to be found wanting in this area.

My position on this is as it has always been: It is dishonest to exaggerate or lie on a resume, and clients who knowingly attempt to materially misrepresent their qualifications or accomplishments will find themselves looking for another executive resume writer. Not only is honesty the best policy and healthy for your career, it is also the only ethical course of action.

Urban Legends of Resume Writing

The Ladders.com

"URBAN LEGENDS OF RESUME WRITING
by Mark Bartz

Pop quiz, folks! Are these true or false?
Open your cover letters with an explanation of what
you bring to the table -- not what you want from
the employer.
Put all your contact information on your resume,
including street address and zip code.
It should be exactly one page long.
Off-the-shelf resume writing software will help you
get a great resume.
The Cubs will be the 2005 World Series Champions.
So what do you think? In a way, it's a trick question
-- it's not that they're100% false (forgive me, Cubs
fans!), but none are absolutely - or even mostly-
true. These notions have lingered on for years, like
the Loch Ness Monsteror Bigfoot, despite all evidence
to the contrary."

Laurie's Comments:

In order to read this entire article, you'll need to subscribe to The Ladders premium service (not a bad idea - I've received substantial positive feedback on the site as a resource for $100K+ jobs).

Mr. Bartz interviewed various recruiters and HR professionals regarding some persistent myths about resume writing. First among them was opening your cover letter with an explanation of what you bring to the table. This is fine for "cold calls," but when you are applying for a specific position opening, SAY SO, and do it right up front.

Secondly, in today's job search world where resumes are often posted where virtually anyone could access them or dispersed to people you do not know, including your street address may not be such a good idea. Including your street number and name could potentially expose you to security or identity theft. The author also points out that by not including your address, you can avoid the "Dear John" letter regarding a position for which you interviewed, by basically forcing them to notify you by telephone. (I'm not quite sure this is entirely true, since I suspect in many cases you would just hear nothing at all. Business etiquette seems to have gone out the window long ago with regard to this.)

The third myth Bartz cites is that a resume should be exactly one page long. For an executive resume to cover 15-20 years of complex and highly accomplished experience in a single page is rather ludicrous when you think about it.

Myth number 4 is that off-the-shelf resume-writing software will help you create a great resume. He says, "Call us anytime and we'll talk to you in detail about how awful this software is, and why candidates who use it typically don't get good responses." The generic, cookie-cutter resume produced by such programs will utterly fail to "brand" you or convey your unique value. Whether you write your resume yourself or use the services of a professional executive resume writer, I urge you to avoid jeopardizing your employment search success through use of one of these programs!

Do You REALLY Want Recruiters Reading the "Markup" Comments on Your Resume?

Bite of Advice: Un-"markup" your resume before sending it off!

"If you use “Markup” in Word to track changes and edits to your resume or cover letter, but sure to remove all the comments before emailing a softcopy of your resume to potential employers."

Laurie's Comments:
From the blog of a Microsoft technical recruiter, this is a real cautionary tale! Executive resumes naturally tend to go through a series of edits and fine-tuning to get everything just right. Unless you want to risk your recipient seeing all of your changes and comments, you'll want to be sure that all comments, change-tracking, etc. are removed from your document before you send your file to a recruiter or target company!