Resumes and Cover Letters

WRITTEN BY DAVID MARWICK, KEMPMILLJOBASSIST ON 28 DECEMBER 2017 one standard resume and use it to apply for diverse jobs, you’re wasting your time. Instead, it is now widely accepted that you must carefully customize your resume for each vacancy. At a Job Assist workshop in 2013 (available at http://JobAssist.org/resources/resumes/), we presented an actual announcement for a nursing job and illustrated how a hypothetical candidate could analyze her suitability for the position and craft the appropriate resume for her application. You can follow a similar four-step process to determine your suitability for a job and customize your resume, thereby increasing your chances of getting an interview — the next stage of your job search. Sample Qualifications Matrix Required Qualifications Your Applicable Education and Experience B.S., Nursing B.S., Nursing, Montgomery College Maryland State license 223344 4 years’ nursing experience 4 years’ nursing experience at Holy Cross Hospital, including 1 year in Pediatrics and 2 years in Maternity Desired Qualifications Your Applicable Education and Experience 2 years’ supervisory experience 1.5 years’ supervisory experience in Maternity Experience with dialysis None Step one: Find a job you’re interested in and well-qualified to do. This should be obvious, but many people submit resumes for jobs even if they are not well-qualified. Uploading your resume to a job-search site and clicking “Send Resume” on any job that closely matches your interests without knowing anything about the company or the details of the job is not a good strategy. In response to the large number — and frequent unsuitability — of applications, employers increasingly use applicant tracking systems (ATS). These systems sift through many resumes to find the few that best meet the employers’ criteria. Step two: Analyze the job’s requirements and your relevant education and experience. To help applicants do this, we developed the Qualifications Matrix, a pretentious name for a simple, two-column table you can see in the accompanying illustration. In the left column, you list the job’s requirements, distinguishing required qualifications from desired (but not required) qualifications. In the right column, you list anything in your education and experience that meets these requirements and would help convince an employer that you are qualified for the job. Step three: Decide if you should apply. After completing the matrix, decide if you should complete a resume and apply for the job. The rule of thumb is that if you have solid credentials in two-thirds to three-quarters of the requirements, it is worthwhile to apply. Employers sometimes “shoot for the moon,” listing an unrealistically large number of requirements. They may not find anyone who is strong in every area and may end up hiring someone who has solid credentials in six of eight areas. But when they put together a vacancy announcement, they may have little incentive not to ask for everything on their wish list. Moreover, you may have some wiggle room on requirements, depending on whether your resume is evaluated by a person or a machine. For example, the employer may want two years of supervisory experience, but you only have one and a half years. If a human evaluates your resume, one and a half years may be close enough, but if an ATS evaluates your resume, there is less likely to be wiggle room. Step four: Incorporate the results into a customized resume and apply. Simple enough. Good luck! For Further Reading Online: “How Do I Get Employers to Stop Labeling Me as ‘Overqualified?’” by Alex Durand (12.2017) “Why Aren’t Big Job Boards Working for Me?,” by Nick Corcodilos (10.31.17) “The Importance of Applicant Tracking Systems: An Interview With Talent Tech Labs,” by Ryan Craig (4.28.17)

WRITTEN BY DAVID MARWICK FOR KEMPMILLJOBASSIST ON 07 APRIL 2017 Let’s say you saw a job opening last week that appealed to you and you submitted your resume. It’s safe to assume that you’re not the only person who applied. Perhaps 10 — or 500 — other people also applied. Therefore, it is critical that your resume stands out. To do so, it’s important to demonstrate the contributions that made you stand out in your previous and current jobs. What you accomplished in the past can help the employer assess what you can contribute in the future. Here are two ways to think about defining your those contributions. First, in every job, there is a way to distinguish the top performers from the rest. How can you demonstrate that you were a top performer? Second, if an employer is interviewing you and other people with similar resumes, how would you convince that employer to hire you over the other candidates? In some cases, your contributions are easy to define and quantify; for example, increasing sales or reduced costs. In other cases, your contributions may be harder to define, much less quantify; for example, strengthening a company’s brand or improving relations with a key client. Defining Your Accomplishments Ira Ziff and Robyn Barsky’s web site (see below for the URL) recommends putting the accomplishments in your resume through two filters: a results filter (What did you accomplish?) and an importance filter (Who cares?). For the results filter, ask yourself whether you accomplished any of the following or similar results. Did you: Contribute to decreasing costs? Contribute to increasing sales or profits? Contribute to an increase in market share? Contribute to an improvement in customer/client satisfaction? Enhance a company’s brand’s image or reputation? Strengthen the operational capacity of a team or an organization? Help transform a system/process, team, or project? Support management and/or better decision making? Change expectations and/or perceptions about something? Mitigate any risks for a department, employer, or client? Uncover or reveal vulnerabilities in a process, product, or service? Help resolve a problem? Then, ask yourself why this result was important and who benefited from it (for example, your team, division, or company). This is the importance filter. CAR Statements An excellent way to explain your contributions is through “CAR statements.” CAR stands for Challenge (what challenge were you facing?), Action (what action did you take?), and Result (what result did you achieve?). (Such statements may also be called CCAR statements — Context, Challenge, Action, and Result — or STAR statements — Situation, Task, Action, and Result). Here are examples from three fields: Nursing: Improved HCAPS scores from 6 percent to 14 percent over six months by piloting hourly nursing protocols and establishing new patient pain management standards. In this example, the Challenge was low HCAPS scores (6 percent). The Actions were (a) piloting hourly nursing protocols and (b) establishing new patient pain- management standards. The Result was a notable improvement (to 14 percent) in HCAPS scores over a short period of time. Marketing: Developed reading program and marketing partnership with Fortune 50 retailer, enabling the firm to gain significant goodwill and resulting in sales of 16,000 tickets. In this example, the implicit Challenge was developing ways to (a) generate goodwill for the firm and (b) sell tickets. The Action was developing a reading program and marketing partnership. The Results were (a) goodwill for the firm and (b) the sale of 16,000 tickets. Finance: Reduced proportion of overdue balances from 20 percent to 12 percent over nine months by using Excel to analyze characteristics of late payers and develop new approaches for such firms. In this example, the Challenge was a high proportion (20 percent) of overdue balances. The Actions were (a) analyzing the characteristics of late payers and (b) developing new approaches for them. The Result was a significant reduction (to 12 percent) in the proportion of overdue balances. CAR statements are not only the backbone of a strong resume. They can also be powerful selling points in an interview. For further reading: Material on defining your “so what?” may be found at Ira Ziff and Robyn Barsky’s web site. Go to www.GetWhatYouSet.com, then click on “resume + pitch.” Sample resumes for various professions may be found at http://chameleonresumes.com/executive-resume-samples/ Dan Butcher, “8 Tricks for Showcasing Accomplishments on Your Resume,” June 1, 2016, www.news.efinancialcareers.com David Marwick is KempMillJobAssist’s workshop coordinator. He studied economics at George Washington University and worked as an economist for George Washington University and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.