What NOT... Part 4 Continuity

Relevance, Breadth & Depth, Continuity

Continuity didn't kill the cat it was curiosity.  Lack of continuity, however did kill Bob's interview chances.

While how to improve your resume articles and blogs regularly focus on the importance of content, key words, and results continuity often is an afterthought even assumed.  Everyone knows a resume's format should be consistent, words spelled correctly, and proper grammar used, right?  Actually, no. Many job seeker's resumes are laden with the simplest errors; errors that most managers won't look past.

With little to no additional information to draw from, managers see an applicant's resume as a direct reflection of who they are and have to offer.  If incongruous fonts and never ending bullet points dominate, I guarantee there will be no focus on individual accomplishments.

I've worked with such managers and vividly remember when thee perfect candidate, I'm talking Madeleine Albright of Media Managers, was rejected for one teenie weenie misspelling.

WWMD?

Keep in mind, I'm sharing what I've found the most  important resume continuity advise and already have covered others under Relevance and Breadth and Depth.  Let's get started!

Formatting
Consider a resume as a very expensive piece of real estate.  What's built on it matters and should be well planned and strategically placed.  Personally, I wouldn't put a bunch of plastic pink flamingos in my yard if I owned a multimillion dollar home (okay, maybe a few), but I would have a perfectly manicured lawn, immaculately pruned shrubs, and more flowers then any botanical garden.

Resume writers commonly refer to the perfectly manicured lawn as white space.  White space essentially means a resume shouldn't be overly text heavy (not too many pink flamingos).  There should be space between words, lines, and paragraphs to improve legibility and allow experience and accomplishments to stand out.  I recently read an article with a great tip on checking resume formatting. Simply, reduce page size to 70 percent and formatting errors will be easy to identify. 

Yard Art

Fonts
"...  I mean it was so small, I had to put on my readers!"  I've heard managers and recruiters say in exasperation.  What was the winter of their discontent - small font.  Make sure fonts are big enough to read.  As a rule of thumb, font should be no smaller than 11 or 12. My favorites are Times Roman and Arial.  Also, it's critical that the same font is used throughout. 

Contact Information 
In comparison to other resume content, the first and last name should stand out.  This is the only place font should be significantly bigger.  I can't remember the last time anyone received a rejection or offer letter by snail mail, so drop the address.  The only circumstance I recommend it be included is when a cell phone number isn't local.  An email address is a must and Gmail is preferred.  If and only if someone's Linkedin profile is fully complete and congruent with the resume should a public profile url be included.

Bullet Points
In our I-only-read-the-captions culture, no one wants to consume a never ending block of text, especially a busy hiring manager.  Don't however, think that using bullet points automatically gives permission to over elaborate.  A bullet point should remain a descriptive yet concise and results oriented statement about experience and accomplishments.

It's time to play...  ACTION VERB BINGO!!!

Action Verbs
Just as movie critics love a great action flick, hiring managers appreciate a good action verb.  Lead, maintain, create, RANT, prepare, and implement are a few excellent examples.  When I find the time to incorporate my blogging efforts into my resume, I may (or not) outline them as such:

• RANT weekly on a variety of professional and career topics including job search, networking, and resume to a (highly impressive number) followership
• Develop new and engaging content that inspires and immediately propels job seekers into their next professional adventure
• Respond to positively brilliant and completely moronic reader's comments on a daily basis

Also, make sure tenses are appropriately used.  If it's a responsibility in a current role, it should be present tense and if in a past role, past tense.  If there's still any confusion, refer to the infinite number of online grammar resources, or call a high school English teacher.

Old Experience  
I call this the ten year rule:  positions over ten years ago should not be predominately positioned on a resume.  When giving this advice, I quickly can identify those who have an experience superiority complex.  They believe that their experience is just too important, so they must include it.  I promise, hiring managers don't give the same credence to jobs done years ago, as they do recent experience.  I once heard a manager looking to fill an account director role say, "I'm not interested in someone who has agency experience eight years ago!  Technology has changed too much since then!"

Like milk,  professional experience
has an expiration date!

For those not ready to part with their early years, I recommend creating a section to include all experience greater than ten years. This way, a hiring manager will better understand a candidate's career progression without having to wade through often voluminous amounts of information.  For those worried about "having too much experience," and I agree this concern is valid, dates shouldn't be included.  See the examples below:

OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Really Big Retail, Inc
Retail Operations Consultant

Sales are Us
Sales Representative

Pear Union
Merchandising Specialist

Proofreading
Short and sweet:  to avoid any resume errors, reviewing a resume multiple times is a must!  Of course, the writer shouldn't be the only one to critique the continuity.  Have a fresh pair of eyes, perhaps a high school English teacher, take a look.

Public Service Announcement
One last piece of advice and it's important!  Resumes should be updated as accomplishments are achieved and job duties changed or expanded.  This way, the latest content will already be included if and when an updated version is needed.  It's much easier to continually refresh a resume then start over completely.

Now, about those flamingos...

"Hey Herb, what does 'there goes the neighborhood' mean?"