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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you will be able to do the following:
1. List eight key steps to finding the ideal opportunity in today’s job market
2. Explain the process of planning your résumé, including how to choose the
best résumé organization
3. Describe the tasks involved in writing your résumé and list the major
sections of a traditional résumé

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you will be able to do the following:
4. Characterize the completing step for résumés, including the six most
common formats in which you can produce a résumé

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As you craft your personal job search strategy, keep these two guidelines in
mind:
Get organized. Your job search could last many months and involve multiple
contacts with dozens of companies. You need to keep all the details straight to
make sure you don’t miss opportunities or make mistakes such as losing
someone’s email address or forgetting an appointment.
Start now and stick to it. Even if you are a year or more away from
graduation, now is not too early to get started with some of the essential
research and planning tasks. If you wait until the last minute, you will miss
opportunities and you won’t be as prepared as the candidates you’ll be
competing against.
Look for stepping-stone opportunities. Particularly in today’s slow job
market, you
might not find the opportunity you’re looking for right away. You might need
to take a
job that doesn’t meet your expectations while you keep looking to get on the
right track.
But view every job as an opportunity to learn workplace skills and fine-tune
your sense

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of how you’d like to spend your career.

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In today’s job market consider paying attention to the following steps to help
land the ideal opportunity:
•Write your story: Explore possibilities, identify your passion.
•Think like an employer: Consider the steps can you take to present yourself
as the best candidate.
•Do your research: Be creative, consider contacting current customers.
•Define your potential: Explain how well your attributes and experience will
translate to the challenges of a specific position.
•Find opportunities: Focus your efforts on the companies you want to work
for instead of going through the traditional sources.
•Build your network: Go on and offline to make new business contacts.
•Seek career counsel: Go to your career center, job fairs, etc.
•Avoid mistakes: Polish your cover letter and résumé, make a good first
impression.

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Figure 15.1 Writing the Story of You
Writing the “story of you” is a helpful way to think through where you’ve been
in your life and career so far,
where you are now, and where you would like to go from here.
Remember that this is a private document
designed to help you clarify your thoughts and plans, although you probably
will find ways to adapt some of
what you’ve written to various job-search documents, including your résumé.

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To distinguish yourself from all the other people looking for work, you need to
start with a well-written résumé. Some job searchers are intimidated by the
prospect of writing a résumé, but a résumé is really just another specialized
business message. Follow the three-step writing process, and it will be easier
than you think:
Planning résumés. First, analyze the situation, recognizing that the purpose
of your résumé is to get an interview, not to get a job. As you gather
information, research target industries to learn what they look for in new hires,
learn about various jobs and what to expect, and learn about the hiring
managers, if possible. In order to choose the best medium, start with a
traditional, paper résumé, then develop scannable, plain text, HTML, and PDF
versions, as needed. Choose a model of organization that highlights your
strengths and downplays your shortcomings; use the chronological approach,
unless you have a good reason not to.
Writing résumés. Adapt to your audience by planning to catch a recruiter’s
eye within seconds. In order to do so, translate your education and experience
into attributes that employers value. Write clearly and succinctly as you
compose your message by using language that is appropriate to the companies
and industries you are targeting; moreover, use a professional tone.
Completing résumés. After writing your first draft, revise your résumé to
make sure it is clear, concise, and correct. Next, produce your résumé, giving it

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an attractive, professional appearance. Proofread the final product for typos, spelling
errors, and other mechanical problems. Finally, distribute your résumé following the
specific instructions of each employer or job search website.

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A résumé is a structured, written summary of a person’s education,
employment background, and job qualifications. Before you begin writing a
résumé, make sure you understand its true function—as an advertisement
intended to stimulate an employer’s interest in meeting you and learning more
about you. A successful résumé persuades a prospective employer to invite you
to interview with the company. Thus, your purpose in writing your résumé is to
create interest—not to tell readers every little detail.

Learn as much as you can about the individuals who may be reading your
résumé. Many professionals and managers are bloggers, Twitter users, and
LinkedIn members, for example, so you can learn more about them online
even if you’ve never met them. Any bit of information can help you craft a
more effective message.

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If you haven’t been building an employment portfolio thus far, you may need
to do some research on yourself. Gather all the pertinent personal history you
can think of, including the dates, duties, and accomplishments from any
previous jobs you’ve held. Compile relevant educational experience that adds
to your qualifications—formal degrees, skills certificates, academic awards, or
scholarships. Also, gather any relevant information about school or volunteer
activities that might be relevant to your job search, including offices you have
held in any club or professional organization, presentations given, and online
or print publications. You probably won’t use every piece of information you
come up with, but you’ll want to have it at your fingertips before you begin
composing your résumé.

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The most successful résumés convey specific qualities that employers seek.
They demonstrate that you think in terms of results and know how to get
things done, are well-rounded, show signs of career progress and professional
development, have personal standards of excellence, are flexible and willing to
try new things, and communicate effectively.
Although you may want to include a little information in all categories, you
will naturally want to emphasize the information that does the best job of
aligning your career objectives with the needs of your target employers—and
that does so without misrepresenting the facts.

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To focus attention on your strongest points, adapt the appropriate
organizational approach—chronological, functional, or a combination of the
two. The “right” choice depends on your background and your goals.
In a chronological résumé, the “Work Experience” section occupies the most
prominent slot. This approach is the most common way to organize a résumé.
It has three advantages: (1) employers are familiar with it, (2) it highlights
growth and career progression, and (3) it highlights continuity and stability.
This approach is especially appropriate if you have a strong employment
history and are aiming for a job that builds on your current career path.
A functional résumé emphasizes skills and accomplishments, identifying
employers and academic experience in subordinate sections. This pattern
stresses individual areas of competence, so it is useful for people who are just
entering the job market, want to redirect their careers, or have little continuous
career-related experience. The functional approach also has three advantages:
(1) without having to read through job descriptions, employers can see what
you can do for them, (2) you can emphasize earlier job experience, and (3) you
can deemphasize any lack of career progress or lengthy unemployment.
A combination résumé includes the best of the chronological and functional
approaches. Nevertheless, it is not commonly used for two reasons: it tends to
be longer, and it can be repetitious if you have to list your accomplishments
and skills in both the functional section and the chronological job descriptions.

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As you follow the three-step process to develop your résumé, keep four points
in mind. First, treat your résumé with the respect it deserves. A single mistake
or oversight can cost you interview opportunities. Second, give yourself plenty
of time. Don’t put off preparing your résumé until the last second and then try
to write it in one sitting. Third, learn from good models. You can find sample
résumés online at college websites and on job boards such as Monster and
CareerBuilder. Fourth, don’t get frustrated by the conflicting advice you’ll
read about résumés. Résumés are as much art as science, and there is more
than one way to be successful with them. Consider the alternatives and choose
the approach that makes the most sense to you, given everything you know
about successful business communication.

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Résumé fraud has reached epidemic proportions, but employers are fighting
back with more rigorous screening techniques. Applicants with integrity know
they don’t need to stoop to lying. If you are tempted to stretch the truth, bear
in mind that professional recruiters have seen every trick in the book, and
frustrated employers are working aggressively to uncover the truth.

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Your résumé needs to make a positive impression in a matter of seconds, so be
sure to adopt a “you” attitude and think about your résumé from the
employer’s perspective.
No matter which format you choose or what information you include, the
single most important concept to keep in mind as you write is to translate your
past accomplishments into perceived future potential. In other words,
employers are certainly interested in what you have done in the past, but they
are more interested in what you can do for them in the future.
Keep in mind that you may need to “translate” your skills and experiences into
the terminology of the hiring organization. Moreover, educational
achievements in other countries might not align with the standard U.S.
definitions of high schools, community colleges, technical and trade schools,
and universities.
Regardless of your background, it is up to you to combine your experiences
into a straightforward message that communicates what you can do for your
potential employer.

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The first thing an employer needs to know is who you are and where you can
be reached: your name, address, phone number, email address and the URL of
your personal webpage, e-portfolio or social media resume.
The brief introductory statement that follows your contact information can
take one of three forms. A career objective identifies either a specific job you
want or a general career you want to pursue. A qualifications summary offers a
brief overview of your key qualifications. A career summary offers a brief
recap of your career, with the goal of presenting increasing levels of
responsibility and performance.
If you are still in school, education is probably your strongest selling point.
Present your educational background in depth, choosing facts that support your
“theme.” The education section also includes off-campus training sponsored
by business or government. Education is usually given less emphasis after you
have worked in your chosen field for a year or more. Whether you list your
GPA depends on the job you want and the quality of your grades.
The work experience section focuses on your overall theme. When describing
your work experience, highlight the relationship between your previous
responsibilities and your target field. List your jobs in reverse chronological
order, with the current or last one first.
Describe volunteer activities that demonstrate your abilities. List projects that

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required leadership, organization, teamwork, and cooperation.
Experts advise you to leave personal interests off your résumé—unless including them
enhances the employer’s understanding of why you would be the best candidate for
the job. Also prepare a list of references (in the same format as your résumé), as you
will be asked for them at some point.

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The last step in the three-step writing process is no less important than the first
two. As with any other business message, you will need to revise your résumé,
produce it in an appropriate form, and proofread it for any errors before
distributing it to your target employers.

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Ask professional recruiters to list the most common mistakes they see on
résumés, and you will hear the same things over and over again. Keep your
résumé out of the recycling bin by avoiding these flaws:
• It is too long or too wordy, verbose rather than concise, relevant, and to
the point.
• It is too short or sketchy, not giving enough information for a proper
evaluation of the applicant.
• It is difficult to read, lacking white space and devices such as
indentations and boldfacing to make the reader’s job easier.
• It is amateurish, indicating the applicant has little understanding of the
world of business.
• It is poorly produced, being difficult to read or on cheap paper.
• It contains spelling and grammar errors, showing that the candidate
lacks communication skills.
• The boastful tone makes the reader doubt the applicant’s self evaluation.
• The gimmicky design departs widely from accepted standards.

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Good design is a must, and it is not difficult to achieve. Good designs feature
simplicity, order, effective use of white space, and clear typefaces. Make
subheadings easy to find and easy to read, placing them either above each
section or in the left margin. Use lists to itemize your most important
qualifications. Color is not necessary by any means, but if you add color, make
it subtle and sophisticated, such as a thin horizontal line under your name and
address. The most common way to get into trouble with résumé design is
going overboard.
Depending on the companies you apply to, you might want to produce your
résumé in as many as six forms (all are explained in the following sections):
• Printed traditional résumé
• Printed scannable résumé
• Electronic plain text file
• Microsoft Word file
• Online résumé, also called a multimedia résumé or social media résumé
• PDF file

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As you produce your résumé in various formats, you will encounter the
question of whether to include a photograph of yourself on or with your
résumé. For print or electronic documents you will be submitting to employers
or job websites, the safest advice is to avoid photos. The reason is that seeing
visual cues of the age, ethnicity, and gender of candidates early in the selection
process exposes employers to complaints of discriminatory hiring
practices.
However, photographs are acceptable and expected for social media résumés
and other online formats where you are not actively submitting a résumé to an
employer. In addition to the six main formats, some applicants create
PowerPoint presentations, videos, or infographics to supplement a
conventional résumé. Two key advantages of a PowerPoint supplement are
flexibility and multimedia capabilities. For instance, you can present a menu
of choices on the opening screen and allow viewers to click through to sections
of interest. (Note that most of the things you can accomplish with Power-
Point can be done with an online résumé, which is probably more convenient
for most readers.) A video résumé can be a compelling supplement as well, but
be aware that some employment law experts advise employers not to view
videos, at least not until after candidates have been evaluated solely on their
credentials.

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Figure 15.6 Infographic Résumé
A well-designed infographic can be an intriguing part of a job-search package.
In most cases, however, an
infographic should complement a conventional résumé, not try to replace it.
Source: Copyright © 2010 by Bjorn Austraat. Used by permission.

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Figure 15.7 Social Media Résumé
Gozaik is one of several services that allow you to create and post a social
media résumé.

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Employers view your résumé as a concrete example of your attention to
quality and detail. Your résumé doesn’t need to be good or pretty good—it
needs to be perfect. Although it may not seem fair, just one or two errors in a
job application package are enough to doom a candidate’s chances.

Your résumé is one of the most important documents you’ll ever write, so
don’t rush or cut corners when it comes to proofreading. Check all headings
and lists for clarity and parallelism and be sure that your grammar, spelling,
and punctuation are correct. Double-check all dates, phone numbers, email
addresses, and other essential data. Ask at least three other people to read it,
too. As the creator of the material, you could stare at a mistake for weeks and
not see it.

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How you distribute your résumé depends on the number of employers you
target and their preferences for receiving résumés. Employers usually list their
requirements on the career pages of their websites, so verify this information
and follow it carefully. Beyond that, here are some general distribution tips:
Mailing printed résumés. Take some care with the packaging. Spend a few
extra cents to mail these documents in a flat 9 by 12 envelope, or better yet,
use a Priority Mail flat-rate envelope, which gives you a sturdy cardboard
mailer and faster delivery for just a few more dollars.
Emailing your résumé. Some employers want applicants to include the text of
their résumés in the body of an email message; others prefer an attached
Microsoft Word file. If you have a reference number or a job ad number,
include it in the subject line of your email message.
Submitting your résumé to an employer’s website. Many employers,
including most large companies, now prefer or require applicants to submit
their résumés online. In some instances, you will be asked to upload a
complete file. In others, you will need to copy and paste sections of your
résumé into individual boxes in an online application form.
Posting your résumé on job websites. You can post your résumé (or create
one online, on some sites) on general-purpose job websites such as Monster
(http:// home.monster.com and http://college.monster.com) and CareerBuilder

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(www .careerbuilder.com), on more specialized websites such as Jobster
(www.jobster.com) or Jobfox (www.jobfox.com), or with staffing services such as Volt
(http://jobs.volt .com).

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This concludes the PowerPoint presentation on Chapter 15, “Building Careers
and Writing Résumés.” During this presentation, we have accomplished
the following learning objectives:
1. Listed eight key steps to finding the ideal opportunity in today’s job market
2. Explained the process of planning your résumé, including how to choose
the best résumé organization
3. Described the tasks involved in writing your résumé,́ and listed the major
sections of a traditional résumé
4. Characterized the completing step for résumés, including the six most
common formats in which you can produce a résumé

For more information about these topics, refer to Chapter 15 in Excellence In

Business Communication.

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