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????親愛的安妮：在我27年的職業生涯中，我一直都是通過晉升或獵頭公司獲得新工作，他們非常了解我過往的業績記錄，因此不需要我的正式簡歷。但是現在，我正在找工作，想要撰寫一份新簡歷。可其中的一些問題讓我非常困惑。 ????首先，在我當前的職位中（有時候我會負責招聘初級經理），我看到許多簡歷的開頭都寫著“目標宣言”，通常是說明這個人想要獲得的職位。但這些幾乎都是在說大話。我的簡歷中，是不是也應該包括這一項呢？第二，我是否需要把我近三十年的工作經歷，都壓縮在一頁紙上？第三，自薦信是否有必要，或者，我只需要讓簡歷來說明一切？——準備起飛 ????親愛的準備起飛：難怪你會感到困惑。因為，在準備必勝的簡歷時，并沒有一個萬能的模板。而且，時尚和潮流總是來來去去，變化不定。 ????比如，你看到的那些“目標宣言”，多年以來都備受一些專業簡歷寫手和培訓師的推崇——直到招聘人員和招聘經理們開始嘲笑它們一文不值。所以，現在，你在寫自己的簡歷時，最好以簡潔的“概要”作為開頭。長度以閱讀時間不超過一分鐘為宜。 ????而關于你提出的自薦信的問題，在當前的經濟形勢下，這些材料好像已經失去了原有的作用，因為根本沒有人有時間看。實際上，即便你的簡歷本身，也最多能讓招聘人員粗略地看上一眼而已。 ????比如：為了完成即將出版的新書《無敵簡歷：美國頂級人事經理解密招聘內幕》 （Unbeatable Resumes: America's Top Recruiter Reveals What Really Gets You Hired），達拉斯經驗豐富的獵頭湯尼?貝什拉調查了3,000位招聘經理和人力資源主管。超過四分之三（77%）的受訪者承認，他們讀每份簡歷的時間不會超過5分鐘；56%的人表示，他們看每份簡歷的時間，不到60秒。 ????所以，自薦信通常會被丟到了一旁，也就不足為奇了：86%的受訪者表示，自薦信“一點都不重要”。明白了這一點，你的簡歷就應該清晰、快速地展示出你是誰，你能為這家公司帶來什么。 ????波士頓高管培訓公司埃塞克斯事務所（Essex Partners）的合作伙伴霍華德?塞德爾表示：“‘個人品牌’——即你的獨特之處和令人滿意的地方——如今幾乎是陳詞濫調了。但是，你的簡歷依然需要直截了當地將這部分內容表達出來。然而，大部分簡歷并沒有做到這一點。” ????原因何在？塞德爾指出了高管在撰寫簡歷時，通常會犯的五個錯誤： ????1. 以“目標宣言”作為開頭。正如你提到的，這些段落描述了求職者想象自己將要從事的工作，通常沒有包含任何有用的信息。 ????相反，塞德爾建議以“概要”作為開頭，簡要總結截止到目前，你的主要職業成就。他說：“可以使用一些符號，突出個人的特殊技能。”如果處理得好，就能激發閱讀者的興趣，進而確保他或她會繼續讀下去。 ????2. 試圖滿足所有雇主的所有要求。塞德爾發現：“高級經理人通常擁有各方面的豐富經驗，所以，他們有時候很難清楚地表明哪些職位是適合自己的。但是，招聘人員卻非常注重按類別來劃分。他們的工作就是為每一個崗位找到最適合的人員。如果你試圖說明，自己對所有事情都很擅長，那么結果很可能是，你什么也沒有表達清楚。” ????解決方案：簡歷只需突出一兩份最重要的工作。其他相關的技能和成就，可以等到與面試官面談的時候再談。 ????3.措辭過于模糊。塞德爾認為：“寫簡歷時，最常見的一個錯誤是，簡歷基本上都是工作職務的列表，下面是‘崗位職責’——負責這個，負責那個。問題在于，許多職位并不很常見。在你任職位的公司以外，或許別人并不明白它的意義。而且‘崗位職責’也不夠明確。” ????塞德爾建議，用實打實的經濟數據，或者至少用百分比來展示你的成就，比如：“你將銷售額增加了X，你將成本降低了Y，你花費多少資金提高了效率等。你需要將自己的成就表達得一清二楚”——然后，在此基礎上進行引申，你能為未來的雇主帶來哪些具體的成果。 ????4. 把所有內容擠在一頁紙上。人們普遍認為簡歷應該限制在一張紙以內。但與此相反，湯尼?貝什拉對雇主的調查卻發現，95%的雇主會閱讀，或者至少瀏覽一份兩頁紙的簡歷。（在某些領域，包括醫療、信息技術和學術界等，即使3頁或4頁的簡歷也是可以接受的。） ????塞德爾強調：“你不可能把20年甚至更長的工作經歷擠在一張紙上，同時又能保證它條理清晰，方便易讀。重要的是，第一頁要以摘要和最近的成就開頭，并清晰地表述你的經歷，以便迅速給對方留下印象。然后，第二頁回顧之前的工作經歷時，可以減少細節，突出亮點及其與你未來職業生涯的聯系。” ????5. 忘了簡歷的真諦在于自我推銷。在為數百位尋求轉型的高管提供咨詢的過程中，他們的謙遜給塞德爾留下了深刻的印象。他表示：“對于自己取得的非凡的成就，即使最杰出的經理人，也會選擇低調處理，他們會說：‘我只是在做我的本職工作而已。’他們不愿自吹自擂。但是在簡歷里面，自我標榜是可以接受的。實際上，你必須要這么做。別忘了，簡歷就是一份市場營銷材料。” ????塞德爾補充道：“當然，你肯定不想給人留下自大的印象，但是你必須要推銷自己。如果你不這么做，那你就有麻煩了，因為你的競爭對手可是會這么做的。” ????反饋：如果你是一名招聘經理，求職者的簡歷哪些內容給你留下了深刻印象？哪些則不然？歡迎在評論中留下你的觀點。 |
????Dear Annie:So far in my 27-year career, I've always gotten new jobs either through promotions or through headhunters who were already so familiar with my track record that they didn't ask me for a formal resume. Now, however, I'm job hunting and trying to write a resume, and I'm confused about a few things. ????First, in my current position (where I sometimes hire junior managers), I see resumes that start with an "objective statement" at the top, briefly noting what kind of position the person is seeking, but these are mostly hot air. Should I include one on my resume anyway? Second, do I need to squeeze my experience of nearly three decades onto one page? And third, is a cover letter always necessary, or can I let the resume speak for itself? —Winging It ????Dear Winging It:It's no wonder you're a bit mystified, since there really is no one-size-fits-all formula for constructing a winning resume. Moreover, fads and fashions come and go. ????Those "objective statements" you've seen, for instance, were recommended for years by professional resume writers and coaches -- until recruiters and hiring managers began to deride them as mostly fluff. You'd do far better now to start off your resume with a succinct "executive summary." More about that in a minute. ????As for your question about cover letters, these documents seem to have lost a lot of ground in the current economy, due to the simple fact that no one has time to read them. Indeed, your resume itself may get no more than a cursory glance. ????Consider: For his forthcoming book Unbeatable Resumes: America's Top Recruiter Reveals What Really Gets You Hired, Dallas-based veteran headhunter Tony Beshara surveyed 3,000 hiring managers and human resources executives. More than three-quarters (77%) admitted they spend less than 5 minutes reading each resume; 56% devote less than 60 seconds to each one. ????It figures, then, that cover letters are frequently tossed aside: 86% of those surveyed said a cover letter is "not important." With that in mind, your resume alone has to create a clear, instant picture of who you are and what you can bring to the party. ????"It's becoming a cliché to talk about a 'personal brand' -- meaning, what's unique and desirable about you -- but your resume needs to convey that in no uncertain terms," says Howard Seidel, a partner in Boston executive coaching firm Essex Partners. "Most resumes don't." ????Why not? Seidel sees five mistakes that executives commonly make when they put together a resume: ????1. Starting with an "objective statement." As you note, these paragraphs, describing what kind of work a job candidate envisions doing, often contain no useful information. ????Instead, Seidel recommends an "executive summary" paragraph that concisely sums up your major career achievements so far. "You can include a few bullet points emphasizing particular skills," he says. Done right, this will intrigue the person who reads it enough to ensure that he or she will keep on reading. ????2. Trying to be all things to all employers. "Senior managers with a wide range of experience sometimes have trouble articulating their niche," Seidel observes. "But recruiters are very category-driven. They get paid to find a square peg for a square hole. If you try to convey that you're good at a whole lot of things, you can end up not conveying anything." ????The solution: On your resume, emphasize one or two areas where your work has made the biggest impact. Once you're sitting down with an interviewer, you can mention other skills and accomplishments if they seem relevant. ????3. Using language that is too vague. "A really common mistake is writing a resume that is basically a list of job titles, followed by the phrase 'responsible for' -- responsible for this, responsible for that," says Seidel. "The trouble is, many titles don't travel well. Outside the company where you held a certain title, it may not really tell what you actually did. And 'responsible for' may not be specific enough." ????Seidel advises putting your accomplishments in dollars-and-cents terms, or at least in percentage terms: "You increased sales by X, you cut costs by Y, you improved efficiency by how much. You want to make crystal-clear what you've done" -- and, by extension, what tangible results you could produce for a prospective employer. ????4. Squeezing everything onto one page. Contrary to the widespread belief that resumes should be limited to a single page, Tony Beshara's survey of employers found that 95% of them will read, or at least skim, a two-page resume. (In some fields, including health care, information technology, and academia, even 3- or 4-page resumes are okay.) ????"You really can't fit a career of 20 years or more onto a single page without it becoming cluttered and hard to read," notes Seidel. "The important thing is, the first page should have an immediate impact and tell your story clearly, starting with the executive summary and your most recent achievements. Then, as you go back in time on the second page, you can go into less detail, giving just the highlights and how they connect to the rest of your career." ????5. Forgetting that a resume is a sales pitch. In the course of counseling hundreds of executives in transition, Seidel is often struck by how modest they are. "Even the most stellar managers will downplay their truly remarkable achievements by saying, 'I was just doing my job,'" he says. "They don't want to brag. But on a resume, it's okay to brag. In fact, you have to. This is a marketing document." ????Seidel adds, "Of course, you don't want to come across as arrogant, but you have to sell yourself. If you don't, you're in trouble, because your competition will." ????Talkback:If you're a hiring manager, what impresses you (or doesn't) about the resumes you receive? Leave a comment below. |
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