UMTSA 邁阿密大學台灣同學會

[Empress]

Five years ago, job applicants had the upper hand when searching for positions because openings were abundant. Candidates often sent in vague, generalized resumes, relying on human resource professionals to decide which position would best fit them.

Given the economy now, however, human resource staffs no longer are willing to be career counselors or mind readers.

"(Employers) have said to me, 'If you don't know what you want to be when you grow up, I'm not going to decide for you,'" said Nicole Spaight, branch manager for the Milwaukee office of Spherion Corp., a staffing agency based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Although today's plentiful labor supply has given employers the upper hand, it also has put added pressure on human resource staffs who need to glean from the multitude of resumes that cross their desk each day a few outstanding prospective candidates.

Staffing experts emphasize that employers now expect applicants to tailor their resumes to a specific position and make the case for how they'll benefit the company.

"Five years ago you could get away with just providing your experience," Spaight said. "Now employers are looking to see what accomplishments you have had and what you could do for them."

More companies are using resume scanner software that searches for certain keywords, which also ties into the demand for more specific resumes.

"In the HR department, you've got 10 seconds before a person stops reading your resume," said John Henkel, president at MRI Racine, an affiliate of Management Recruiters International Inc., a Cleveland, Ohio, search and recruitment organization. "If people are not putting critical key words in resumes, they are getting lost in these companies' databases."

Individualize resumes
It is often easier for people to market themselves in person vs. on paper, experts say, but the current job market puts the onus on candidates to articulate through their resume -- in as clear and concise a manner as possible -- what value they would add.

Experts say it's critical to put the extra time into individualizing resumes for each job possibility vs. sending out a resume "template."

"You have a sheet or two to describe who you are," said Tammy Rosenberg, vice president of sales at Milwaukee-based P.A. Staffing Service Inc. "Our goal is to entice that person to say, 'I want to learn more about them."

"Our mothers brought us up to not brag about ourselves, but a resume is a marketing document," said Michele Haffner, owner of Advanced Resume Services, a resume writing and career coaching business in Glendale. "There is so much competition now that it is so important to highlight the value we bring."

Companies also are looking for quantifiable information, not simply dates, job titles or generic skill sets.

"Past performance predicts future performance," said Wendy Terwelp, president of Opportunity Knocks L.L.C., a professional career coaching firm in Mequon. "If you are a team player, you better have a backup statement. If you are an accomplished sales professional, show me how."

Providing numbers to highlight successes -- such as how much money an employee saved a company or how much they increased sales -- makes things more tangible, said Carolyn Roethel, Milwaukee branch manager for Troy, Mich.-based Kelly Services.

In detailing past experiences, job applicants should use active, descriptive words that give employers a clear sense of their employment history and achievements. That history should only include up to the last 20 years, however, said Doris Appelbaum, owner of Appelbaum's Resume Professionals Inc., a resume writing and career counseling company in Glendale.

The information also needs to be relevant to the position for which they are applying, Terwelp said.

"You are not getting paid per column inch," she said.

Longer resume OK
The one-page resume is no longer the steadfast rule, experts say. Two to three pages "can include the whole story," says Tom Kmieciak, head of Spherion Corp.'s Staffing Group for Chicago and Milwaukee.

The resume might be shorter, however, if someone is making a career change, Terwelp adds, because previous job experience might not reflect the skills needed for the position they're pursuing.

Bullet points are favored by recruiters over paragraphs, because that format immediately highlights critical information.

Marital status, age, and religious or political affiliations should not be stated on a resume, but listing hobbies, outside activities and positions in non-job-related organizations might help an applicant's resume stand out, Terwelp said.

One of her clients was an information technology professional who served as a rock climbing instructor prior to obtaining his IT degree. He sent out two resumes listing that hobby and received two job offers because he had provided another side to his standard IT professional profile.

Yet applicants should be careful not to include something that might be perceived as a negative or particularly dangerous hobby, such as skydiving, Appelbaum said.

In marketing their capabilities, applicants must not oversell themselves or embellish their accomplishments or employment history.

References will be checked either by the company or by "resume police" -- outside investigative firms that are hired to conduct background checks on job applicants, Terwelp said.

2003 American City Business Journals Inc.