Page 52 - Complete Idiot's Guide to The Perfect Resume

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Part 1 ➤ Plan to Succeed

Like Christopher, you may have a situation in your work history that
you don’t want to mention on your resume. As long as you don’t cre-
ate a void in your work history, it’s perfectly fine not to bring up the
sticky matter on your resume. To find creative ways to deal with tricky
issues in your work history, turn to Chapter 8, “Step Three: Been
There, Done That.”
Career Casualty
Don’t be afraid to leave things Understate Too Much Experience
off your resume if you’re worried
When applying for a specific position, use the job posting as a check-
those items might make you look
list for what should appear on your resume. Without copying the ad’s
like the wrong candidate for the
exact wording, try to match each of the qualifications the employer is
job. It’s acceptable to delete
seeking in his candidate.
information that isn’t relevant to
your job objective, as long as you Sara Cartwright had 15 years of experience as an auditor and account-
don’t create gaps in your work ant. Because jobs were scarce in her field, she was compelled to take a
history. lower position than she would have liked. In creating her resume, she
thought that if she put “15 years as an accounting professional” in her
Summary of Qualifications section, she might seem too high-powered
because the job announcement asked for five to seven years of experience.
As you can see from her resume (following), Sara decided to write “More than seven years
as an accounting professional.” Sara’s revised statement is true (because 15 years is certainly
more than seven years) and makes her look more suitable for the job she’s seeking.
You may choose to generalize your qualifications on your resume in order to downplay
them. This is perfectly acceptable as long as your statements are honest.
The second commandment is going to come in handy in Part 2 when you figure out the
following:
➤ How far back to go in your work history
➤ What to say about gaps in your employment
➤ Whether to present your volunteer work
➤ How to list sensitive issues

Your resume should serve as a teaser. It should contain statements that say enough to
spark the manager’s interest without giving away all the details, especially when those
details are about a sensitive issue that would be better addressed in the job interview, if
at all.
Until then, let this commandment give you peace of mind, knowing that you don’t have to
write a complete autobiography.

Thou Shalt Not Write Job Descriptions

If you were an employer, what three questions would you ask a job candidate? You would
probably ask
➤ Do you have any experience?
➤ Are you good at what you do?
➤ Do you like this kind of work?

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