1. VIDEOS TO WATCH

No videos for this module.

2. BETTER EMAIL ADDRESSES

Before diving into this module's project, let's talk about client email addresses.

Our role as resume writers goes beyond the writing of resumes.

We are assigned to give our clients the best possible professional outcomes in their job search and careers.

This means there will be times when we MUST bring to a client's attention just how unprofessional their email address is because it can hurt their job search. And job seekers can be oblivious to such things. 

So, what should you be on the lookout for?

Bad email addresses can be long, unprofessional, unbranded, and/or contain irrelevant added words or numbers.

Take these examples into consideration:

• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• [email protected]

The email provider could be perceived as unprofessional (or dated) too. 

Those using AOL, Hotmail, and Yahoo! email addresses come to mind. 

It's our responsibility as resume writers to ensure clients don't sabotage their success. 

When you must have the “your email could be costing you job interviews” talk with a client, here’s a bit of text you can use to help drive the conversation: 

“John, I noticed that you’re using a less than optimal email address. Have you considered changing it to improve your job search a bit more? You can keep your current email address, but I'm worried that with the level of position you're pursuing that email address may not come off in the best light. Thankfully, selecting a new one is quick, easy, and free. Gmail is always a great go-to email service provider. Or, Outlook.com offers free email services too. If you're open to securing a new email address, look for something tight and straightforward. For example, going with your first and last name would be the best option; e.g., [email protected]. A great second options would be switching your first and last name around to [email protected]. Some email providers allow you to use a hyphen between names if needed (e.g., [email protected]).”

Here are some quick "email no-nos" to help guide clients with selecting a better email address:

1. Avoid numbers, especially when they reveal the client’s zip code, age, or birth date
2. Avoid funny, silly, or inappropriate words 
3. Avoid adding unnecessary words, acronyms, or text
4. Avoid using personal descriptors, such as family, mom, or dad

3. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE 10-YEAR RULE

How far back should your resumes go?

In the resume industry, we for years have talked about the ideal 10-year mark, which means we ideally cover about 10 years of work history when writing resumes. 

This has been our go-to rule for many years.

However, in recent years, a more important rule has surfaced. And, this is the recency and relevancy rule. 

You satisfy this rule in part by focusing your writing on the skills and achievements that your clients have that are recent and relevant. 

Employers are busier than ever, despite the promise of ATS technology, which is why you MUST write MOST about what your client has done in his/her RECENT positions that satisfy their “now” goal. 

This is all well and good when the client is pursuing another similar position. 

But, what if the client is changing careers? 

Let’s take a Purchasing Supervisor for a machine manufacturer as an example. With a crisp hospitality certification in hand, she shifts her focus to hospitality management. 

To keep the resume focused on relevancy, we recognize and understand the importance of her supervisory skills acquired from her purchasing role. 

That's easy.

Yet, we also recognize that the manufacturing industry is less desirable to her new job focus. 

With this in mind, our resume writing strategy would be to AVOID WRITING about industry bits, such as manufacturing, machine work, equipment buys, and production. 

Once we recognize the job details to stay away from, we look for recent and relevant (transferrable) skills to WRITE ABOUT/EMPHASIZE that are important to hospitality employers (the client's current job focus). 

For example, she has experience with:

• Managing staff and dealing with high turn-over staff environments
• Auditing and controlling departmental finances/costing
• Implementing new standard operating procedures (SOPs) to drive operational efficiencies
• Hiring and onboarding new hires and conducting annual performance reviews
• Purchasing products and services while supporting building maintenance and safety

Essentially, we “dial the content” of her recent job in such a way that it expands upon what's most recent and relevant to new employers and scales back or eliminates details that the next employer won't want to know or care about. 

That makes sense, right?

4. USING SKILLS SECTIONS 

Not all resume writers use skills sections, but those who do, understand how powerful they can be at times. 

For example, a skills section allows you to insert relevant keywords and tasks that your client may or may not have. A recent college grad with his sights set on a data analyst position could add the following to his resume:

Adding these skills helps make the candidate more appealing to hiring managers while introducing matching keywords to help with ATS screening.  

The best places to find keywords for a skills section are within job descriptions at Indeed, LinkedIn, etc. 

Be careful, however. 

Avoid blatantly claiming too many keywords from an employer’s job description. Rather, use a mixture of same and similar word combinations to avoid plagiarizing another writer’s content. 

5. TRANSFERRABLE SKILLS - WORKING WITH CAREER CHANGERS

There are times when client projects can be challenging. A career change resume is an excellent example of this. 

How do you write a resume for the new job target when there are limited or no relevant skills in the client’s background? This can be a hurdle whether you’re a new or seasoned resume writer. 

The best approach is to identify transferrable skills in the client's work history that will translate well from the old to the new career.

For example, consider accounting, customer service, general management, human resources, information technology, purchasing, sales, marketing, and project management. 

Many job roles have overlapping skills; therefore, there are almost always transferable skills to be found. For example, a Waitress, Office Manager, and Marketing Executive use sales, financial, and customer service skills, while a Director of Leasing, an Attorney, and a Boat Salesman deal with human resources and general management. 

Focusing on core skills that can be present across an array of job titles enables you to highlight relevant skills and experience, despite any drastic job title change (e.g., Pastor to Purchasing Manager). 

Once you write the resume, you'll need to include less applicable skills too. However, steer the content by emphasizing what’s relevant to ideal hiring companies now.  

One example of approaching this is considering a customer service rep who wants to pursue an outside sales position.

Although this person has never held a sales title, she has many relevant and sales-adjacent skills.

These skills include:

• Scheduled Follow-up Calls With Customers
• Performed Customer Support
• Handled Certain Client Projects
• Processed Client Communications
• Reported on Inside Sales Activities
• Promoted New Product/Service Launches
• Supported the Company’s Exceptional Customer Program 

We cheated a bit with the above example because we picked someone who already makes SOME sales as part of her role. 

So, let’s consider a more drastic career change: a Pastor wanting to transition to a Purchasing Manager role. That's extreme, right? 🙂

Many churches are small, so it’s common for Pastors to manage purchasing budgets, research and secure vendors/suppliers, negotiate new contracts (e.g., A/V equipment), monitor office supply levels, and so on. Buying for churches is very similar to buying for a business, just on a different scale. 

6. ADDING ADJECTIVES TO SWEETEN YOUR CONTENT

Until now, we've talked to you about different ways to boost the quality of your content.

For example, we covered the use of:

• Action Verbs
• Keyword Synonyms
• SAR Writing Style
• Recent & Relevant Content

Now, we want to cover the use of more adjectives in your content.

Simply put, adjectives are words that modify nouns.

Some people believe that adjectives "add color" to content. 😉

Here are a few examples of adjectives:

• Innovative
• Balanced
• Adaptable
• Robust
• Sophisticated
• Diligent
• Durable
• Holistic

Peruse this list because going forward in this program, you'll be expected to add more adjectives to your content. To help you accomplish this, we've put together this list of adjectives with example sentences on how they can be used.

[DOWNLOAD] LIST OF ADJECTIVES FOR RESUMES