Mar 21, 2013 - A resume is a marketing tool with ... Software product manager: ..... Developed extensive email marketing
Resumes and Cover Letters that Pop! March 21, 2013
Kathryn Ullrich Director of Alumni Career Services UCLA Anderson School of Management
www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
Only 6.25 second resume scan!
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Agenda • Resume purposes • Resume formats • Resume tips and examples – Content and presentation
• Cover letters
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A resume is a marketing tool with 3 distinct audiences
1. Keyword Scan
2. Recruiter Scan
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3. Interview Read
www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
1. Keyword Scan
2. Recruiter Scan
3. Interview Read
Keywords SPECIFIC to the Job Spec • Employee benefits manager: Employee benefit plans, CEBS, health care benefits, benefit policy, FMLA
• Software product manager:
PRD, MRD, beta customer, credit card processing, pharmaceutical supply chain, international tax, Gartner magic quadrant
• Finance manager:
CFA, CIA, M&A, IPO, revenue recognition, inventory turns, energy/aerospace/etc., regression analysis, statistical analysis www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
1. Keyword Scan
2. Recruiter Scan
3. Interview Read
6.25 seconds - what do recruiters scan?
Plus 20% scan for keywords www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu Source: TheLadders
What do recruiters see on your resume?
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Resume Formats • Student vs Alumni • Chronological vs Functional
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Student Format
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Alumni Format • Summary at the top using Brand – “Brand Manager in Entertainment Industry” instead of the word “Summary”
• Experience – Remove superfluous internships that don’t support your brand story and add jumpiness
• Education – Remove extra bullets previously needed for career shifting – Include only relevant honors, leadership
• Additional – Licenses/certifications, languages, work authorization, hobbies, technologies if relevant www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
Alumni Format Example
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Functional Resume • Highlight functional skills • Impression of “Hiding something” • 99% of recruiters do NOT like – Only used for significant career shift, in which case you are not targeting recruiters but people you know.
Use a Chronological Resume ! www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
Functional Resume
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Usewww.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu a Chronological Resume Instead !
Common Errors with Headings I. Headings inconsistent with job spec II. Results don’t fit under the headings
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Headers Example
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1. Keyword Scan
2. Recruiter Scan
3. Interview Read
Resume Tips CONTENT
PRESENTATION
Keywords
1 page/10 years of work
Not process nor responsibilities
1 resume for each targeted role
Accomplishments (PAR/SAR)
“Word diet” • Most resumes can remove 30% of words and say the same thing
Vivid, relevant verbs, active voice
Leverage format & white space Minimize jumpiness and gaps
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Accomplishment Statements that identify RESULTS • Increased sales, profitability • Improved productivity, efficiency, quality, performance • Created/implemented a new program, product, system, plan, solution • Awarded formal company recognition
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Use PARs (SARs) to create powerful accomplishment statements
• Problem/Project/Performance Objective (or Situation) • Action(s) taken • Results achieved
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PAR Examples – Which is better? • Responsible for leading team of engineers on $10M system development project. OR • Led 12 person cross-functional team on launch of $10M innovative software development project. Delivered ahead of schedule at cost savings of 30%. OR • Developed $10M innovative software project ahead of schedule for 30% cost savings. • Led cross-functional team of 12. www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
PAR Examples – Which is better? • Led M&A team on two acquisitions. OR • Led M&A team on two acquisitions that directed the due diligence, purchase, and integration of two key acquisitions which added $48 million in annual revenue and doubled company size. OR • Led M&A team on two social media acquisitions which added $48 million in annual revenue and doubled company size. www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
PAR Examples – Which is better? • Launched three laser products targeting doctors, dentists and chiropractors. OR • Launched three products resulting in #1 in market share and 50% company growth. OR • Launched three laser products resulting in…. OR • Launched three products targeting doctors, dentists, and medical professionals resulting in… www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
Index Card Approach to PAR/SARs ACCOMPLISHMENT • Situation
• Skills this shows • Experience
• Action • Results
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• Managers • Team • Partners • Customers
Vivid, Active, Powerful Verbs Administered Advised Allocated Analyzed Appraised Approved Arranged Assessed Assigned Attained Audited Authored Awarded Balanced Budgeted Built Calculated Chaired Closed Coached Collected
Communicated Compiled Computed Conceptualized Contracted Consolidated Coordinated Created Delegated Demonstrated Designed Developed Devised Diagnosed Directed Drafted Enabled Engineered Established Evaluated Executed
Facilitated Forecasted Formulated Founded Generated Grew Guided Hired Identified Implemented Improved Increased Influenced Initiated Innovated Inspected Instituted Instructed Interpreted Interviewed Introduced
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Invented Investigated Led Maintained Managed Marketed Mentored Moderated Monitored Motivated Negotiated Operated Organized Originated Overhauled Oversaw Performed Persuaded Planned Prepared Presented
Prioritized Processed Produced Programmed Projected Promoted Publicized Purchased Referred Recommended Recorded Recruited Represented Researched Reviewed Revitalized Set Scheduled Sold Solved Specified
Started Strengthened Stimulated Supervised Systematized Turned around Upgraded Validated Won Wrote And more….
Vivid, powerful verb examples • Which verb is most important? – NOT: “Led team of 4 in analyzing financial statements.”
• Take ownership of result – NOT: “Member of team that created…"
• Don’t lessen impact – NOT: “Grew revenue by 20% for one product in division” – NOT: “Created, designed, and implemented…”
• Use more impactful verbs – NOT: “Chosen for award… www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
“Word Diet” recipe for success • Remove denseness (30% of words!) • Remove unnecessary words: – a, the, “the company”, “for the division”
• Remove generalities/high level: – “work for a growth oriented company” – “work for large or small company” – CFO who writes “presented to board”
• Use shorter words: – use vs utilize, in vs encompassing
• Write concisely; every word has a purpose www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
Leverage Formatting and White Space • Leverage Bold, ALL CAPS, Underline, Italics for emphasis with companies/titles – – – –
• • • •
Don’t go overboard Watch too many First Letter Capitalizations Watch symbols such as -- / & Italics are not easily scanned
Left justified One space after period Consistency is important. Create actual white space using 1.2-2+ line bullets
• Watch adding paragraph spacing without creating impact of white space www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
BEFORE
AFTER – with white space creating emphasis
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Before
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Word Diet Examples • Perform numerous financial reporting duties including writing the annual financial report, preparing complex accounting entries related to investments, endowments and publicly traded bonds and overseeing all treasury functions for most non-state cash funds. Have management oversight of personnel and all operational aspects for various functions such as banking, cashiering, cash management and investment analysis. BETTER • Manage financial reporting of investments, endowments and publicly-traded bonds. • Oversee all treasury functions including banking, cashiering, cash management and investment analysis.
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Word Diet Examples • Formulated and created a cash flow tracking and forecasting tool to more efficiently invest cash in fixed income that has generated 25% more unrestricted investment income for the Foundation. BETTER • Created cash flow tracking and forecasting tool that has generated 25% more unrestricted investment income. www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
Word Diet Examples • Managed the sale of several small brands and final dissolution of the company due to a rapid drop in business during the Fall 2008 financial crisis. Managed corporate wind-down working with bankruptcy attorneys and officials in Hong Kong and laying off all U.S. employees. Last employee of the corporation. BETTER • Managed asset sales, corporate bankruptcy, and wind-down as last employee on payroll. www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
Tactics for dealing with jumpiness and gaps • Remove months • Combine consulting engagements under a DBA business name – “Mad Dog Social Media” – “Precision Financial Analysts”
• Remove irrelevant internships/field study • Consider dropping short jumps from resume – but don’t lie about it • Credibly explain the gap – “I took 2 years off to care for my aging parents and I just started my job search.” www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
Before
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After
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Cover Letter • Necessary – but often not read • Reduce denseness • Recommended format: – 1-2 sentence introduction including referral and desired industry, function and title – 3 bullets of relevant experience that demonstrate why reader should open resume – 1 sentence close www.alumni.anderson.ucla.edu
Cover Letter - Example Hi Eric, Joe Bruin suggested I reach out to you about the current opening for Associate Director of Marketing and Analytics at UCLA Anderson. You may remember me from Anderson Class of 2006. I’ve been in marketing for 10 years including at Disney and Startup.com and have relevant experience to help UCLA Anderson connect with alumni: - Developed extensive email marketing calendar and increased sales leads 40% - Wrote marketing copy and published weekly e-newsletter and daily blog updates for 50,000 subscribers - Initiated social media efforts on LinkedIn and Facebook resulting in over 100K friends/likes in first month - Created marketing analytics dashboard that dramatically improved marketing ROI I’ll follow up with you next week to make sure you’ve received this email and my on-line application. I look forward to talking with you. Sincerely, Joan Bruin ’06
[email protected] 310-555-1212
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Questions UCLA Anderson Kathryn Ullrich http://alumni.anderson.ucla.edu/career
[email protected] 310-825-8216 Setting up an Advising Appointment: - Visit http://alumni.anderson.ucla.edu/career - Follow quick links to Career Coaching/Schedule (or Browse Jobs) - Sign in with your Anderson ID - Sign in to MyCareer (first time users Create an Account)
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