Spend as much time on this section as necessary to create a powerful opening for your Guerrilla Resume. Your Objective or Summary should be 2 or 3 lines long at most.
Your goal is to start your resume with a focus on the employer and his or her needs. Tell readers what you can do for them. Then, force them to read further.
Select Accomplishments and/or Special Skills
Think of this second part of your Guerrilla Resume as an executive summary of the best, most relevant points about you. It should be so powerful and relevant that employers should not need to read any further to determine that you are the right person for the job.
In fact, according to many hiring managers I"ve talked to over the past 20 years, this section summarizing your key qualifications is the most important part of your resume. Employers who have to read hundreds of resumes are looking for shortcuts-and this section gives them one.
To make this section effective, it"s vital that you target your reader. You need to understand who your reader is because different people read resumes looking for different things. For example: * Recruiters Recruiters look for "hot" marketable skills because they want to make money marketing you. If your skill set is not in high demand, they won"t call unless you are an exact fit for a job order they have. look for "hot" marketable skills because they want to make money marketing you. If your skill set is not in high demand, they won"t call unless you are an exact fit for a job order they have.* Human resources folks Human resources folks look for an exact skill fit with a job first, then your stability, then your personality type. look for an exact skill fit with a job first, then your stability, then your personality type.* Hiring managers Hiring managers look for skill sets first, then how flexible you are, and finally what they think your ability to learn on the job is. look for skill sets first, then how flexible you are, and finally what they think your ability to learn on the job is.
How long should this section be? About 3 to 5 bullet points in length-not much more. If you need a dozen bullet points to "summarize" your experience, you"re not really summarizing, are you? And it"s always an odd number-3 or 5 are best. (Why? Go ask an advertising copywriter.)
What t.i.tle should you give this section, Select Accomplishments or Special Skills?
In general, people who produce revenue, such as sales or marketing folks, will have an easier time talking about accomplishments. accomplishments. Other folks, such as people in IT, customer service, accounting, and so on, have Other folks, such as people in IT, customer service, accounting, and so on, have skills skills to highlight. to highlight.
There are exceptions, of course, so feel free to break this rule. In fact, if you have a strong mix of specific achievements and skills, you can include both both a a Select Accomplishments Select Accomplishments and a and a Special Skills Special Skills section in your Guerrilla Resume. section in your Guerrilla Resume.
Here are 3 rules to help focus your accomplishments: 1. The accomplishment must be important to someone, ideally the organization itself, or its customers.2. The result should have had a favorable impact, that is, enhanced their bottom line or increased their visibility/viability and ideally both.3. The accomplishment must specifically ill.u.s.trate your competence as it relates to the position for which you are applying, highlighting your skills, experience, and personal qualities.
Now let"s take a look at your current resume from an employer"s perspective. Here are examples of both kinds of sections:
SPECIAL SKILLS.
Operating Systems: Windows NT/XP/Vista, UNIX on Sun SPARC and MS-DOS. Windows NT/XP/Vista, UNIX on Sun SPARC and MS-DOS.
Programming Languages: C, C++, HTML, and Java. C, C++, HTML, and Java. Software: Software: Microsoft FrontPage, Image Composer and Word; Lotus 1-2-3 and mSQL. Microsoft FrontPage, Image Composer and Word; Lotus 1-2-3 and mSQL.
SPECIAL SKILLS.
Execution: regularly delivering to fixed time schedules against all odds. regularly delivering to fixed time schedules against all odds.
Experimentation: relentless probing for new R&D and product approaches. relentless probing for new R&D and product approaches.
Management: optimizing people and finances to meet objectives with customers. optimizing people and finances to meet objectives with customers.
SELECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Developed a Global Strike Team Global Strike Team to rapidly engage customers in the FP1000. to rapidly engage customers in the FP1000.
Delivered triple digit growth triple digit growth numbers 5 times since 2000. Ignited sales for a U.S. multinational, closing $ numbers 5 times since 2000. Ignited sales for a U.S. multinational, closing $6 million in year one. in year one.
SELECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Sold a 2-year global software contract to XYZ Company valued at over $10,000,000.
Developed a Global Strike Team to engage senior level management at 17 Level 1 financial inst.i.tutions, including Client A, Client B, and Client C.
Initiated leveraged worldwide partnership/relationships with Client (London), Client (Geneva), and Client (Hamburg) Client (OPQ) in 2006.
GUERRILLA TIP.
Attention Recent Graduates If you don"t have much work experience, be sure to make the most of any university and part-time jobs you"ve held. You can include a bullet point or two that summarizes the best of your experience, no matter what you did-so long as you make those accomplishments relevant to the job you seek. You can then go into details later, in the Experience section.
Have a look at the example below, from a resume that won a job for one new graduate. It combines university and off-campus work experience:
Select Accomplishments Helped improve company performance by surveying customers, then a.n.a.lyzing results with coworkers. Used data and staff discussions to increase service levels (Applebee"s). by surveying customers, then a.n.a.lyzing results with coworkers. Used data and staff discussions to increase service levels (Applebee"s).
Experienced writer. Led research project to study how expectations determine outcomes. Required superior skills in communication and a.n.a.lysis. Surveyed more than 230 students, then conducted telephone follow-up to interpret data (University of NY). Led research project to study how expectations determine outcomes. Required superior skills in communication and a.n.a.lysis. Surveyed more than 230 students, then conducted telephone follow-up to interpret data (University of NY).
Proven training skills. Experience orienting, supervising, and clarifying goals for up to 25 employees (Applebee"s). Experience orienting, supervising, and clarifying goals for up to 25 employees (Applebee"s).
Experience Section
You can also call this Employment History, if you"d like. Again, the name you choose is not as important as the details that follow.
The purpose of this third section of your Guerrilla Resume is to show employers what you have been doing since school. They will have already been intrigued by your opening Objective/Summary and the Skills/Accomplishments section that follows, so by the time they get to this Experience section, their mind will largely be made up.
Here you should follow a consistent, easy-to-read format. You can present a description of each job you"ve held in 1 of 2 ways, depending on what information is more relevant. Choose only one of the following formats and use it consistently. Don"t alternate between the two, as you"ll simply confuse the reader.
If your past job t.i.tles are more relevant to the job you seek next, lead with them, like this:
Lan/Wan Administrator: U.S. Marine Corps, Camp Lejeune, NC (1993-1999).
However, if you"ve worked for impressive companies and want to lead with those names, you can do so like this:
IBM, Vice President of Research and Development, San Jose, CA (2006-2007). Vice President of Research and Development, San Jose, CA (2006-2007).
For each job you"ve had, include your t.i.tle, company name, city, state, and the years you worked there. There"s really no need to include the months because this takes up valuable s.p.a.ce and may highlight any gaps in your employment.
GUERRILLA TIP.
Attention Recent Graduates If you lack experience since graduation, you can include a brief explanation of what you"ve been doing since then. You can also include any jobs you had while in school in your Experience section, so long as you make them relevant by stressing desirable working traits that can"t be taught, such as reliability, attention to detail, work ethic, and so on.
Look at the example wording that follows from a resume that won a job for one new graduate:
EXPERIENCE.
Following graduation, began extensive online research of information technology job market and leading firms. Also created Web pages; samples available upon request (2006-present).
Detail Specialist: University Car Wash, Huntsville, AL (2004- 2005).
Provided detailing services and superior customer service. Employed while full-time student.
Followed up with commercial and individual customers to ensure high levels of satisfaction.
Proactively sought out new tasks to make best use of available time.
Maintained good working relationship with all 5 managers and 17 colleagues.
While there are exceptions to these rules, this format gives you a lot of flexibility to describe your experience in an effective manner.