Making sure you have superior resumes Pt. 15

Your resumes and the important “preselling” role

People face immense competition at every stage of their search. This competition will not only affect your ability to get your credentials viewed… but when you are invited for an interview, there are likely to be five to ten other qualified people under consideration.

So, your resumes need to be written with an eye toward reducing interview pressure… by preselling you. The ideal reaction when you meet someone should be “Paul, I was really looking forward to meeting you. I have the feeling you can really help.”

“Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement.”                                     —Samuel Johnson

Making sure you have superior resumes Pt. 14

Handwritten memos

Handwritten memos are fast and easy to send off, plus executives are used to them. If your resume is on target for your audience, attaching such notes can work very well. Notes that emphasize what you can do, as well as the results you can bring, are ideal.

Before writing your letters, have a clear picture of what you want to say. The opening should demonstrate interest (knowledge of the firm, its industry, etc.) and explain why you are writing. The body should deal with your best selling points and convey benefits. The closing should restate interest, confirm your desire for an interview, and say when you will follow up. Keep it simple. Letters are skimmed, not analyzed.

Making sure you have superior resumes Pt. 13

Customized marketing letters

Cover letters should be interesting and brief. The key rule here is to get to the point and make sure it’s good. Letter resumes are stand-alone letters that you will forward without a resume. They are valuable when you want to tailor the description of your credentials and avoid revealing any liabilities. They are always recommended for people who wish to change careers or industries. Remember, the letters are advertisements for you.

(Originally posted on Robert  Gerberg‘s site) Be sure to check out sites from great companies like ERI Personal Marketing and SET Personal Marketing. Or visit SET’s Youtube Channel or ERI’s Youtube Channel.

Making sure you have superior resumes Pt. 11

An executive biography

An executive biography is a 3 to 5 page narrative document, written in a third-person style. It uses interesting stories, rich in detail, and is favored by top recruiters and senior executives. Today, these are the Mercedes of presentations. Those seeking $150,000 to 1 million dollars+ should have one.

Decision makers often forward resumes to others to get consensus. And sometimes, you never meet the top people, but nevertheless they will often review your resume. The offer depends on a thumbs up from the resume presentation.

A biography communicates a total feeling about you and your skills. And, it should also say that you are interesting…that you can do certain things extremely well & that you have excellent personal qualities. To prepare a biography, be patient enough to do many drafts. When your final biography hits the marketplace, it can easily have 300% to 500% more impact than something else you might have turned out.

(Originally posted on Robert  Gerberg‘s site) Be sure to check out sites from great companies like ERI Personal Marketing and SET Personal Marketing. Or visit SET’s Youtube Channel or ERI’s Youtube Channel.

Making sure you have superior resumes Pt. 10

An interview resume

An interview resume is 2 to 3 pages. It is for presentation during or after interviews when employers want to know more and reveals more about you. If you have an executive biography, you would not need this resume.

(Originally posted on Robert  Gerberg‘s site) Be sure to check out sites from great companies like ERI Personal Marketing and SET Personal Marketing. Or visit SET’s Youtube Channel or ERI’s Youtube Channel.

Making sure you have superior resumes Pt. 9

Other guidelines

- Highly marketable achievers should have a resume that sets them apart from average performers, convincingly.

- Anyone unemployed should have a resume that emphasizes achievements over dates& shows momentum, how they made contributions and why they can be a key solution.

- Those whose achievements are less than stellar, need to show how they can contribute in specific ways, in a dramatic manner, while emphasizing personal factors and transferable skills.

- Those whose employers have not fared well, despite their individual contributions, need to tell compelling stories that will separate their value from the fortunes of their employer.

- Those with a checkered career, or too many jobs, or who have age concerns, need to find a way to minimize liabilities, while emphasizing selected positives.

- Can some people use more than three resumes? Yes. Leave-behind resumes… after you have been interviewed… should be longer and more revealing.

(Originally posted on Robert  Gerberg‘s site) Be sure to check out sites from great companies like ERI Personal Marketing and SET Personal Marketing. Or visit SET’s Youtube Channel or ERI’s Youtube Channel.

Making sure you have superior resumes Pt. 8

This third resume makes it easy for you to respond quickly to emerging situations you read about. It positions the text on the right-hand side of the page so you can write handwritten notes and dispatch a resume without a cover letter. Clients consistently tell us that executives respond well to their notes, which cited events that were signals of emerging jobs.

(Originally posted on Robert  Gerberg‘s site) Be sure to check out sites from great companies like ERI Personal Marketing and SET Personal Marketing. Or visit SET’s Youtube Channel or ERI’s Youtube Channel.

Making sure you have superior resumes Pt. 7

This second resume needs to be shorter and to the point, usually no more than two-thirds of one page. It is surprising how few devote any thought to the way their resumes appear at the receiving end of an email transmission. When you are online, less is more. All you want is a positive response.

(Originally posted on Robert  Gerberg‘s site) Be sure to check out sites from great companies like ERI Personal Marketing and SET Personal Marketing. Or visit SET’s Youtube Channel or ERI’s Youtube Channel.

Making sure you have superior resumes Pt. 6

An Internet (or electronic) resume

The most essential is a universal resume – a one-page document that will be your introductory resume. Most people mistakenly believe that they need to tell their whole story in their initial resume. The reality is that you get better results when your initial resume is interesting, with a feeling of action – but short. This resume must be suitable for key word scanning, have short paragraphs, and be compelling. It must be headlined by a job title listing (e.g., Director of Marketing) that an employer might have available. Remember, your resume is an ad… not an epitaph.

Our research staff randomly selected 1,000 resumes, and we found that less than 20% made the type of position and level they were seeking immediately apparent.

(Originally posted on Robert  Gerberg‘s site) Be sure to check out sites from great companies like ERI Personal Marketing and SET Personal Marketing. Or visit SET’s Youtube Channel or ERI’s Youtube Channel.

Making sure you have superior resumes Pt. 5

Our recommended approach

After analyzing every resume style, we developed a new approach – one where people are equipped with three different styles of superior resumes and materials that meet all of the concerns we’ve mentioned. Why does having several resumes give you a major advantage? The answer is that each one is targeted for a different application and each is what we call an A resume. When you have an A resume, it’s not likely to be just two times more effective than a B resume – it’s more likely to be 20 to 25 times more effective. Plus, you have the advantage of having more tailored materials for the three most common situations where you will be submitting resumes.

When we prepare an introductory resume for people to get the very best results, we also always follow seven key rules:
- The resume must be one page
- Preferred jobs must be listed first
- The top third must be a summary
- Liabilities must be neutralized
- Transferable skills must be sold
- A first-class image must be presented
- Resumes must be scanning-ready with relevant key words

Keep in mind that a good resume has to cover the past, but it is really all about your future. So now let’s look at the three different resumes you should have available before you begin your search.

(Originally posted on Robert  Gerberg‘s site) Be sure to check out sites from great companies like ERI Personal Marketing and SET Personal Marketing. Or visit SET’s Youtube Channel or ERI’s Youtube Channel.