Results tagged “professional+profile” from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips Blog

This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:

Ashley writes:

Dr. Hansen, I have gotten several different opinions on my resume, with some saying it’s good, and others saying I should have a functional resume. I have been to my college’s career services and other professors. So I am not really sure which is best for me. Should a new college grad have a functional resume? Should my resume be limited to one page? Please let me know what you think.

The Career Doctor responds:

Several things jump at me when I look at your resume. All job-seekers should remember that a resume is a strategic marketing document that must have two key elements: design and content.

First, let’s discuss design. Every design aspect must be consistent on your resume — same style of headings, same margins… a coherent and appealing look. One of my pet peeves deals with margins… I hate unusually narrow margins. There’s a rule of “thumb” with resumes — margins must be big enough for my (big) thumbs to hold on to it and not cover any content.

Resumes must also be designed with some flair, and job-seekers often accomplish this style through varying typography, font size, and font selection. Your name and major headings should be larger, perhaps in a different font. And be sure to include as much contact information as possible.

Second, let’s talk content. I would recommend you — and all job-seekers — use one of the “hotter” elements in resume writing — the “Qualifications Summary,” also sometimes referred to as “Professional Profile.” This section is what I like to refer to as the executive summary of your resume — it may change depending on what type of job you are seeking — but it should be the key 3-5 accomplishments that make you better than anyone else for the job you are seeking.

And as you write about your experience, remember to focus on accomplishments, keywords, and action verbs. Whenever possible, quantify your accomplishments.

As for resume length, the current rule is a resume is as long as it needs to be based on your experience, and college grads with lots of experience can have two-page resumes.

Get more information on resumes and resume-writing in this section of Quintessential Careers: Resume and CV Resources for Job-Seekers.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.

This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:

Marcey writes:

I’ve heard that writing a summary of qualifications or summary of skills section on the resume is important, but I can find almost no in-depth, informative information on why this is so or how to do it. The sources I have been able to find seem to have contradictory information — bullets vs. paragraph, etc. Can you provide some information and some clarification?

The Career Doctor responds:

First, remember that there are very few agreed-upon rules of resume writing. Just about everyone has a pet thing they love or hate related to resumes. Thus, your best bet is to follow the generally agreed-upon rules of resume development — and these are the rules I talk about in this column and on my Website.

The qualifications summary — sometimes also referred to as your professional profile or summary of accomplishments — has become a pretty widely accepted element for resumes. I love them because it sharpens the focus of the resume and gives the reader a quick overview of your most important qualities. I think of the qualifications summary as the executive summary of your resume. And when employers only have 10 seconds (or less) to make a decision about your resume, a well-written qualifications summary can be your edge.

The qualifications summary should include the three or four attributes that make you unique and best qualified for the job you seek- your key selling points.

I personally prefer a bulleted list in the qualifications summary because the bullets make it much easier (and faster) to read. However, it is not wrong to have it as a short and concise paragraph.

Finally, you can use a job objective and qualifications summary together to give your resume an even sharper focus.

Read more of my suggestions for resumes in key elements and rules of resumes, published on Quintessential Careers.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.

You may wish to present a Qualifications Summary or Profile section on your resume. In addition to Profile and Qualifications Summary, these resume-topping sections go by numerous names: Career Summary, Summary, Executive Summary, Professional Profile, Qualifications, Strengths, Skills, Key Skills, Skills Summary, Summary of Qualifications, Background Summary, Professional Summary, Highlights of Qualifications. All of these headings are acceptable, but our favorite is Professional Profile.

Twenty-five years ago, a Profile or Summary section was somewhat unusual on a resume. Career experts trace the use of summaries or profiles to include information about candidates’ qualities beyond their credentials to the publication of the late Yana Parker’s The Damn Good Resume Guide in 1983. For the last 20-plus years, resume writers have routinely included these sections; however, the age of electronic submissions has now caused the pendulum to swing the other way.

On one hand, electronic submission means that hiring decision-makers are inundated and overwhelmed with resumes and have less time than ever before to peruse each document. That means that many of them do not read Profile or Summary sections.

On the other hand, the age of electronic submissions has increased the importance of keywords so that candidates can be found in database searches. Even some of the hiring decision-makers who don’t read Profiles and Summaries advise including them as a way to ensure sufficient keywords in the resume.

A vocal contingent of decision-makers, especially among recruiters, strongly advocate for a Summary section — but one that is quite succinct — a short paragraph or single bullet point. They want to see in a nutshell who you are and what you can contribute.

For a detailed discussion of these sections, including guidelines for crafting them and samples, see Chapter 3 of our e-book, The Quintessential Guide to Words to Get Hired By: Your Professional Profile: Bullet Points that Describe Your Strengths in a Nutshell.

And use our Resume Professional Profile/Qualifications Summary Worksheet to help you develop bullet points for this very important resume section.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.

More than 80 percent of resumes are searched for job-specific keywords. Therefore, if you apply for a job with a company that searches databases for keywords, and your resume doesn’t have the keywords the company seeks for the person who fills that job, you are pretty much dead in the water.

Summary/profile resume sections can be important for front-loading your resume with these all-important keywords. (Lack of front-loaded keywords decreases ability to match resume to potential jobs quickly at critical first- and second-level scanning. Many job-seekers would likely benefit from a section of industry-specific keywords, labelled with a heading such as Areas of Expertise, Core Competencies, or Key Proficiencies.

To read more about keywords, see our article Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume’s Effectiveness.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.