Resume Tune-Up Tips From Tom Ingram

(Sample Before and After Resumes Below)

My most important recommendation is to find ways to describe your activities and work history in terms of Results.  This is hard - and usually takes several iterations.  To start, I suggest that you: 

1)  Identify your top 3 success stories - the things you are the proudest of, that produced the greatest results for the client or employer.

2)  Describe those successes on a separate sheet in detail using the Problem/Solution/Results format.  Describe the problem(s) when you started, what you did about it (the solutions), and the results.  I typically use at least a full page for each success story.

3)  The results statements are the critical part.  It is best if you can describe them quantitatively, like I do in my resume, but that is not always possible.  Usually you can find some way to describe the result in business terms.  Note that one of mine describes prevention of a lawsuit.  Attached you will find several sample resumes that we worked hard on – they should give you some ideas.

4)  When you get the Results statements the way you want them, use them as the "highlighted" part of your resume.  You want them to “leap off the page.”   I like to use the results statement as the heading for the resume paragraph, filling in a little of the problem and solution to give the reader a feel for what went on.  Eventually, I found that I had so many that my resume was 9 pages long, so I took out the problem and solution detail.  My goal is to get an interview, so if the results statement is sufficient to get them to ask me for details, then the resume has done it's job.

5)  I keep the one-page detailed description of Problem-Solution-Results with me when I interview.  This shows that I have some substance - not just hot air - when they ask.  (I've actually started publishing these as a newsletter.)

BOTTOM LINE:  I think people waste far too much time looking for the "magic" format of a resume.  Their time would be better spent identifying and describing their Results statements.  I suggest that people go through at least 3 drafts before they settle on a Results statement - and get feedback from knowledgeable people (ideally, someone similar in makeup to the hiring authority.) 

This process is a particularly good "differentiator" for technical people.  It shows prospective employers that you think in terms of business results - which makes you a better choice than candidates that can only talk in technical or activity terms.

You will also find that you are thinking in Results terms when you are working.  You will get better at documenting and quantifying before and after states, results, etc.  It will make you better at what you do.

RESUME LENGTH:  I think it IS appropriate to add some detail (and length) to work history, as described above, even if it makes your resume longer.  I have had a 5-6 page resume for years and never had any substantive criticism - while I have gotten dozens of compliments on the resume, and a bunch of jobs.  (I think people like the fact that the results jump out at you when you read it - so they ignore the length.)