Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips Blog

How to handle the reversion from a maiden name to a married name — or conversely, from a married name back to a maiden name — on your resume, especially if you’ve published work under one name and are now using a different name: Do not change your name in your publications to your maiden name because if a potential employer were to look up the article and find a different name, the immediate assumption might be you are lying on your resume or vitae, and that’s the end of your chance with that organization. Instead, try one of two simple remedies. First, and perhaps the easiest, is to simply include your current name in parenthesis, so, for example, if you were Mary Smith when you published those research works and you now go by Mary Jones, simply add the Jones on your vitae, such as Mary (Jones) Smith. Second, you could do the same thing on your resume as you would if an organization you worked for changed its name. Under your name at the top of your vitae, you could place, in smaller type, your former name, thus, Mary Jones in large type, (formerly Mary Smith) in smaller directly underneath.

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Typos, misspellings, and incorrect grammar/punctuation can be fatal in a cover letter (resume, too). Your letter reflects your ability to write and communicate. Be sure your document is letter-perfect before sending it out. Proofread your letter. Put it down and proof it again a few hours later with a fresh eye. Then enlist a friend to review it for errors.

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Concluding a series of excerpts from a blog post by Bob McIntosh:

Keywords are the skills that applicant tracking systems search for to determine if your résumé will be the first of many to be read by employers. Your branding [statement], much like the title on your LinkedIn profile, is the first place on your résumé where you’ll utilize keywords. Then you will make sure they’re peppered throughout the rest of your résumé.

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Continuing a series of excerpts from a blog post by Bob McIntosh:

Branding experts will tell you that your résumé is perhaps one of the most important ways to brand yourself, which means you need to think about the whole package; not just your technical skills and accomplishments, but your personal and transferable skills as well. This doesn’t mean that you can just throw adjectives on the page; you need to show how you’re, say, innovative, a leader, and more.

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Continuing a series of excerpts from a blog post by Bob McIntosh:

Not knowing what employers want is a major mistake job-seekers make, McIntosh says.

“Many people don’t take the time to dissect the job ad to discover the most important skills and experience the employer wants to see on your résumé. If the ad is skimpy, go to the company’s career section on its Web site. Better yet, if you know someone at the company or know someone who knows someone at the company, call him/her and ask more about the position. LinkedIn is a great tool for finding influential people at companies. The bottom line is that you can’t write a targeted résumé if you don’t understand the requirements of the job.”

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“Employers don’t want to know what you did; they want to know what you can do,” notes Bob McIntosh in this post. You’re probably thinking, ‘My work history is in the past. That’s what I did. How do I show employers what I can do?’ It’s what we in the field call prioritizing statements, or targeting your résumé to each company to which you apply. In other words, illustrate how your qualifications and accomplishments match the employers’ requirements in order of importance.”

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HR.com’s David Creelman compiled some helpful observations from HR managers on how they read resumes. While HR people may look at resumes slightly differently from the way hiring managers do, the insight in Creelman’s compilation is valuable for job-seekers. Here, we paraphrase Creelman’s article in a way that sheds light for job-hunters:

1. Be sure your resume indicates a clear career progression. Even if you use a functional resume format that de-emphasizes dates, you can include a bare-bones work history that shows how your career has progressed.
2. Include keywords that relate to the specific job you’re applying for.
3. Generally speaking, unless you’re in a very creative field, stay away from brightly colored resume papers and highly unusual presentations. The HR person can more easily glean key information if your resume is in a more conventional format.
4. An HR manager who hires for entry-level office services and all levels of administrative assistants notes that key areas for employer scrutiny are years of experience in a related field and software or equipment proficiencies.
5. An HR manager who receives 50-150 e-mailed resumes daily is annoyed by the scattershot approach of jobseekers who answer ads for jobs they’re not remotely qualified for. Don’t irritate employers by sending out your resume willy-nilly hoping the blanket coverage will result in interviews. Instead, target carefully, and apply only for jobs for which you’re truly qualified and interested in.
6. Focus on accomplishments, not responsibilities. Employers know the responsibilities of the jobs they hire for; they want to know what you’ve done above and beyond those duties.

Creelman concludes that “We [recruiters] all seem to face the same problem of overload. We need to get relevant information quickly. Job candidates do themselves a favor by tailoring the resume and cover letter and making sure the key points are easy to see.”

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Avoid being boring and formulaic in your cover letters. Don’t waste your first paragraph by writing a boring introduction. Use the first paragraph to grab the employer’s attention. Tell the employer why you are writing and summarize the reasons you are qualified for the position, expanding on your qualifications in later paragraphs. Read more. Don’t use such cliches as “Enclosed please find my resume” or “As you can see on my resume enclosed herewith.” Employers can see that your resume is enclosed; they don’t need you to tell them. Such trite phrases just waste precious space. Write a letter that will make the employer want to get to know you better.

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What if a previous employer has changed its name? Should you use the new name on your resume or the old one? Both. A very simple protocol for handling company name changes on your resume is to simply list the current name of the company, and then, in parentheses and in smaller type, list the name of the company when you worked there. So, for example: Bank of America (formerly NationsBank). Make sure you follow all the other rules of resume-writing. See a quick overview at Quintessential Careers: Resumes Do’s and Don’ts,or go for a more detailed review by using Quintessential Careers: Resume Tutorial.

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.

If you’ve had jobs that were of short duration, focus on highlighting and leveraging your accomplishments from your previous work experience. Consider reading For Job-Hunting Success: Track and Leverage Your Accomplishments. Remember that no matter how good a job you do with your resume, the question about your last few experiences will likely be asked — and you need to be prepared with a good answer. Talk about how there were circumstances out of your control that have since been resolved — that you are ready to make a longer-term commitment to your next employer — to stay for as long as there are challenges to conquer and results to deliver to help the company’s bottom line. You can find more interviewing resources at the Quintessential Careers Guide to Job Interviewing Resources.

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.