The first participant in the Great Résumé Makeover is a technical candidate recently laid off due to restructuring; he reported having sent out more than 50 résumés without receiving an interview.

"I sought to determine what specific duties he performed and uncover accomplishments in each position."
—Kathy Sweeney
Before & After #1
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I noticed right away there was no consistency in this résumé's format, no dates of employment, and no accomplishments tied to specific positions. An employer looking at this document would have no idea what the candidate's role was at any of the companies he worked for. Also, he had grammatical and punctuation errors.

I provided him with a new format that provided a consistent progression of positions, with wording that detailed his abilities. Based on the values of his job market (IT), I placed his technical skills in a stand-alone category near the top. I strengthened his profile using keywords that employers in his industry tend to search for. In addition, I composed his résumé to be useful for any IT individual contributor position, rather than just one area.
The nips, tucks, and knock-it-offs
•Always use a format which details each position, the responsibilities in those jobs, and achievements which are quantifiable.

•Always put dates of employment. Many human resource managers will become suspicious of a candidate who does not provide employment dates.

•If technical skills are relevant to the position you seek, include a section on your technical skills at the top of the résumé, detailing in which positions you used them.

•It is important to consider what skills are transferable in your field (in this case, IT, there are many). It is not necessary to focus on just one field or only where you have experience.

•Always check your grammar, punctuation, and spelling. It is vitally important in the field of information technology, where leaving out just one character may cause an entire program to fail. HR Managers and department heads will look more closely at a résumé in this type of field to ascertain attention to detail.
This Week's Makeover Pro:



Kathy Sweeney
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About Kathy Sweeney
Kathy Sweeney has been offering professional job search guidance for nearly 20 years. She has appeared on Good Morning Arizona and other national television and radio broadcasts, and her writing has appeared in major newspapers and trade publications nationwide. Ms. Sweeney holds several prestigious professional accreditations, including Nationally Certified Résumé Writer, Certified Professional Résumé Writer, and Credentialed Career Master. Before starting her own company, The Write Résumé (www.awriteresume.com), she had a career in personnel administration and hiring.