Resume Renovation

Is it time to give your resume a face lift? Whether your actively job searching or not, it’s always a good idea to have an up-to-date resume. The resume that served as your golden ticket to your last position may not cut it in today’s job market. On average, employers devote less than 30 seconds to peruse a resume. They are scanning opposed to reading. Today’s resumes should be clear, concise, and keyword rich.

At a glance, what is the employer going to learn about you? Are your relevant experience, skills, and accomplishments easy to identify?

Your resume has two main goals:

1.) Make it through the company’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

2.) Hook the reader’s attention

§         Organize your contact information in a concise manner. Include one email address, one phone number (even if you have more than one!), and your LinkedIn URL.  Hyperlink your email and LI URL to make it easy for the employer to reach and research you. Your physical address is optional, but recommended when applying for local positions.

§        Replace the outdated “Objective” with a Headline and Professional Profile. Use a Headline for immediate impact, giving the reader a good understanding of your industry/goal (i.e., Nonprofit Marketing Executive). Incorporate short branding statements in place of paragraphs. Focus on two to three things you want the reader to know about you. Keep the content on-brand with the position you are seeking.

§        Maximize the space in your Experience section. Concisely illustrate skills, action, and results. Omit full sentence paragraphs (they will be overlooked) and day-to-day tasks. Don’t reiterate your job description. Rather, emphasize your individual contributions and successes. Help the employer see what makes you good at what you do. Polish bullet point statements to highlight results.

§        Bring your format into the 21st Century. Avoid “old-fashioned” fonts (i.e., Bookman, Times New Roman).  For alternative fonts, view this List of Fonts Common to Windows and Mac Systems. Limit bullet points to three to five in a row (long lists of bullet points tend to look like paragraphs and get skipped). To keep your resume to 2 pages, minimize page margins and make blank lines a smaller font size.

In today’s job market, your resume is just one piece of the job search puzzle. It is a critical tool, and in combination with strategic networking, can help you stand out from the crowd!

Posted by Kelly Allgeier

You're Doing What With Your Major?

 Spotlight on UK Alumna Nicolle Fedor Griffin, AIA

Major:  Bachelor of Architecture, Minor in Art History

Current Career: Owner’s Representative, Senior Project and Construction Manager, Licensed Architect  (I am the only licensed female architect in the rural areas between San Diego, CA and Phoenix, AZ….a 300 mile stretch!)

Description of Career Path: Some people have a career strategy….I had a series of fortunate events kind of like in a chain reaction or a kinetic sculpture that worked well.  You could say my career path is like a Mythbusters experiment that shouldn’t have worked but did anyway.  I went from a small architectural firm in Oldham County in 1994 to a firm owned by another UK grad in Phoenix, Arizona.  From there I moved to the small border town (Yuma, AZ) in 1995 where my USMC fiancé was stationed.  I ran the architectural division of a medium sized civil engineering firm that had architectural, civil, environmental, geotechnical, and surveying services in-house.  My boss was elderly and in poor health so he told me he would do all of the design work and “you can do everything else”.  “Everything else” turned out to be the best thing that could have ever happened to me because it literally meant everything from marketing, fee preparation, design management and coordination, client meetings, to construction contract administration.  In 2006 I became a licensed architect but then decided to make a complete career change.  A construction management firm from Phoenix was awarded the contract to manage design and construction for 6 new libraries in Yuma.  I knew nobody from Phoenix wanted to move to Yuma so I sent the firm my resume and the rest is history.  2006-2009 I managed a $58 million library bond program and helped select and hire all of the architects and contractors, negotiating all of their contracts and managing all 6 projects.  2009-2011 thanks to the recession I commuted from Yuma to Irvine, California (230 miles one way).  I put 1,000 miles a week on my car but worked on projects for Southern California Edison and John Wayne Airport Expansion and loved every second of it, BUT…I hated being away from my family…so, in 2011 I left that job to return home and was hired by a competitor to be the Senior Construction Manager for the John M. Roll US Federal Courthouse project where I am currently.  After  we finish this project in 2013 who knows who I’ll be working for, or where, or on what project.  But following my career so far I know it will be exciting!

Favorite UK memory/class etc.: UK’s College of Architecture, now the College of Design, has a closed admission policy meaning you have to be admitted through an entrance exam.  I didn’t make it my 1^st try, so the 2^nd time when I took the exam and was notified that I had been admitted to the college was one of the proudest moments of my life, particularly since I knew I wanted to be an architect ever since I was about 14 years old. 

Class I wish I had taken at UK: There are several classes in hindsight now I wish I had taken including: marketing, business administration, accounting, and construction estimating/scheduling.  I also have a dream one day to create and teach a curriculum called “Managing Client Expectations.”

Future Dream Job: At this point in my career, my dream job would honestly be working for myself as a consultant to library districts around the country helping them plan future expansions, new libraries, etc.  Whole project planning and management, particularly for libraries, is my passion.  However, I simply most enjoy being able to get in on day one of planning a project and assisting an owner with that whole process.  Any job that allows me to assist them from planning thru execution is my dream job.  It gives me extreme satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment to be able to drive to different places and say “I was part of the team that planned, designed, and built that.”

What I know now that I didn’t know as a student: Learning to design a project is so much different from learning how to design it so it can actually be built.  There is still a deficit regarding that little nugget in the education for architects, and still particularly for, I have to say, women.  Little girls are still not as likely to be out in the shed helping daddy build or work on the car, so we have a lot of catching up to do with the boys when it comes to understanding how to build things.  Lego only just this year finally came out with a line of toys marketed specifically for girls.  Mattel only just last year created an architect Barbie.  You have to know how to build it in order to know how to design it, plain and simple.  The 1st thing I tell people about myself is that I was 21 years old when I found out a 2x4 is a “lie”.  (If you don’t get that last one, go ask a carpenter.)

Advice to others considering a job or career change: It’s one of the oldest clichés in the book, “do what you love doing”.  It’s the figuring out what that is and the getting there that’s the hard part, particularly in this economy.  Be tenacious without being annoying.  Listen more and speak less.  This is a good rule and tool for any career, particularly if you want to make a change and need to learn new skills.  I have also learned from experience that sometimes it’s the job we didn’t get offered or that we didn’t accept that leads us into an even better position.  Use everything you learn from and experience on what you’re doing currently to get you to the place where you want to be eventually!

Favorite books: Well my 6 year old has just found a passion for reading and is addicted to the children’s series called “The Adventures of Captain Underpants.”  That’s where I am most of the time, in the gutter anyway, so we’re devouring that series together this summer.  

Favorite blogs: I am more of a tomboy and enjoy target shooting and driving my car illegally fast without getting caught.  So I look for blogs about guns and cars.  My 2 favorites are Sass, Brass, N Bullets (http://sassbrassnbullets.com/), a shooting site for women (hence the sticker on my hardhat that says “Girls with Guns”), and http://www.challengertalk.com/, a site for Dodge Challenger owners.

Resume Padding

Although one can make an innocent typo or mistake when compiling a resume that doesn’t get caught during proofreading, intentionally misrepresenting credentials can get you into serious trouble. Resume padding has been in the news again lately as Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson was recently fired for claiming to have both a computer science and an accounting degree. According to a recent blog Resume Padding: What’s the Problem?, “The judgment and ethics of the individual who has perpetrated the lie are called into serious question, spurring concerns about the reliability and trustworthiness of that individual in other areas of his/her work and life. If an individual can justify lying about something on the resume to get a job, who’s to say he or she wouldn’t decide that other lies are equally justified down the road somewhere? Where does the line get drawn?” Employers have shared with us that from time to time, it may come to their attention that an employee misstated information on the application materials. This is typically grounds for dismissal.  Bottom Line, edit your resume and never overestimate your credentials. It will eventually catch you.  

Use Keywords to Stand Out from the Crowd

Q: Where can I find industry “keywords” to include on my resume and LinkedIn profile?

A: If you’re on the job hunt, it is critical to be conscious of industry keywords. From application materials to resumes and social media sites, you want to be sure to remain on-brand with your target industry. Your goal is to make it easy for the employer or recruiter to see that you have exactly what they are looking for in a job candidate. It is your job to anticipate the keywords that employers and recruiters will search. Here are two ways to identify “keywords” to get an employer’s attention:

1.) Print out the job description for each position you are interested in. Highlight specific skills, technical experience, job responsibilities, and knowledge that match your qualifications for the position. Include the exact language and terminology used in the job description on your application materials. (Synonyms won’t cut it!) Many employers and recruiters do keyword searches. You may be the most qualified candidate for a certain position, but if you do not have the appropriate keywords on your resume and/or LinkedIn profile, you will not show up in the employer’s search. Tailor your resume for each individual position to help the employer recognize that you are a good fit for the position.

2.) Use Word Clouds! A word cloud is a grouping of keywords generated from a mass of text. A visual representation of word frequency in a given text is produced. For example, if you were to copy and paste a job description into a word cloud database, the word cloud system will identify the most significant terms from the text and group them into a word cloud. You can then implement keywords that were determined into your LinkedIn profile and resume. It is a good idea to create a word cloud of your resume, and compare it to the word cloud of a particular job description. Ideally, you will have the same keywords in both word clouds. If you don’t, perhaps you could rework your resume to reflect the job description.  Wordle is a great source. “Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.”wordle.net

The importance of keywords can’t be stressed enough. Many companies, large and small, use Applicant Tracking Systems to screen candidates before they ever make it through the application system to a hiring manager. This helps companies weed out unqualified candidates. Unfortunately, the computer system is not always the best judge. Click here to learn more about Applicant Tracking Systems on the CareerCat Blog. Use keywords to stand out from the crowd and get noticed. 

Posted by Kelly Allgeier

Alumni Job Search Success Story

A UK alumna updated me with the following information regarding her job search. With permission, I would like to share her story with you. 

“When I met with you, I knew there were jobs out there with titles I had never heard of that I would want. My position at X Company is just that. I came in for an interview as a selling supervisor just when someone gave notice about leaving their merchandising job. I snuck in without the position even being publicly posted. Talk about right-place-right-time! I count myself lucky that ALL those other jobs DIDN'T work out, so I could stumble upon this one. It only took 9 months, 115 applications, 4 placement agencies, and 12 interviews. Also networking parties, extra volunteering & public presence, custom Etsy business cards, and shamelessly promoting myself to anyone who would listen. Heck, my insurance agent got me an interview for a promising marketing position. It seems some of my acquaintances that I liked the least had the best connections -- I'm glad I'm not one to burn bridges!

It might have been high hopes, but my biggest criteria I judged positions against were something I was interested in (so design related), near home, flexible hours/"work-life balance," and/or at least $15/hr. I figured I would be flexible on one or two if the others panned out, and money was the one mark I missed. Oh well, I've set myself off on a new career path and you can't put a price on that! ;)

During my job hunt, I commiserated with acquaintances and former classmates in the same boat. I told them how helpful it was to meet with you. I harped on about immediate thank you cards, LinkedIn, and reference letters. My new employer actually thanked me for writing a thank you note. I said, "That's what you're supposed to do!" Meanwhile, other folks who interviewed me didn't even have enough decency to call me back and say I didn't get the position. I think the work atmosphere and the level of respect I can look forward to in the future were demonstrated by these initial employer contacts. There was even one interview where something felt off -- empty office, extra levels of security, and a boss that wanted to work from home. Instances such as these I knew were wrong for me at the gut level and luckily, since I was on unemployment, there were other factors so I could rightfully opt out. Oh, and the unemployment office/personnel, don't even get me started....

So, sorry for the over-sharing, but I figured my experiences are one of your "success stories" that you might relay to your downtrodden job seekers. Thanks again for all your help and sharing your expertise.”

Federal Job Application Tips

As you may have encountered, the federal employment application process is quite different from that of “corporate America.” So, what gives?

A recent article posted by the National Career Development Association (NCDA) discussed seven key tips to follow when applying for a federal job. Here is an outline of Andreas Lucido’s findings:

1. As a federal job applicant, make your resume as comprehensive as possible. Don’t worry about length; the more details the better! Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are commonly used as an initial screening tool. It is essential to include keywords from the job description to help the screener recognize you as a “good fit.” After you receive an interview invitation, consider sending your standard 1-2 page resume to the interviewer. It might be easy for a computerized ATS to quickly recognize your qualifications, but that likely is not the case for the human interviewer. Even federal interviewers can have trouble comprehending resumes built through the USAJOBS system.  By sending your standard resume, you are helping the interviewer identify your qualifications and relevance as a job candidate.

2. Networking can be your ticket to a federal position. Word of mouth communication can open doors and fill vacant positions. Informed job candidates who are well networked have an increased chance of being noticed, and selected for an interview.

3. Veterans have preference.  Lucido explains, “Veteran’s Preference is a federal law that gives eligible veterans preference over other applicants in most all competitive and excepted federal appointments.”

4. The interview process is developed to determine the federal candidates overall qualifications. This is the case for most job interviews, federal or not. You are selected for an interview because it is clear that you are “qualified” for the position. However, employers often want to learn more about what sets you apart from your similarly qualified competition. Your interviewers are often direct supervisors and potential colleagues. They want to learn about how you will fit into their company culture. Before going in for your federal interview, research the department, research your interviewers, know your strengths and weaknesses, and practice effectively communicating your accomplishments. A UK alumni career counselor would be happy to conduct a mock interview with you.

5. Tick Tock! Federal hiring is not a quick process. This is especially true if the target position requires a security clearance. There is currently no standard time frame for the federal job application process, as each federal agency varies in depth of screening, speed, and efficiency. I worked with a client once who applied for a position, underwent several computerized and in-person screening steps, interviewed over the phone and in person, only to result in a lengthy dead period with no activity. Nine months later, a job offer was made.  The moral of this story; It’s never too early to apply for a federal job.

6. Not much room for negotiation. Federal hiring is a bit unique in terms of salary negotiation. Due to the standardization and regulated hiring process, there’s not much wiggle room. For example, if you apply for a GS-12 position, you will get GS-12 pay. If you want to make GS-14 pay, you will need to find a GS-14 position and apply.

7. Know yourself and learn the system.  As Lucido states, “Knowing what you want to do and where you want to do it is not necessarily the best advice for federal applicants. For those who want to work in the government, I would say it is more important to know what rank you are looking to serve based on your qualifications and goals. In addition, you should apply to as many departments and agencies as possible.”

 “Key Job Search Lessons from a U.S. State Department Intern” by Andreas Lucido

  NCDA March 2012 Career Convergence Web Magazine

Posted by Kelly Allgeier

You’re Doing What With Your Major?

Spotlight on UK Alumna Anne Pennington

Major:  Equine Science and Management (2010)

Current Career: Registrar and Social Media Curator

Description of Career Path:

After graduation, I transitioned from a job teaching riding lessons to working as a part-time customer service and operations agent at Equibase, the racing information and statistics division of The Jockey Club.  After six months, I was promoted to a full-time quality control coordinator, managing and distributing racing data and part-time employees; I also got my first taste of website design and management working on the new Equibase site that premiered Spring 2011.  I worked my way through the hectic Triple Crown Season, learning to handle a busy corporate environment and teaching myself basic website and graphic design along the way.  When I made the move to Maryland in July 2011, I was hired (thanks to a contact at Equibase) by the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, which also encompasses Maryland Million and the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred magazine.  Not only did they require a registrar with experience in data control for their state-bred programs, they recognized the need for someone who could navigate the realm of social networking. As such, my job description continues to evolve; I manage the website and social media, connect with thoroughbred farms and owners for social marketing, help organize events and develop new strategies to promote thoroughbred breeding and racing in Maryland.

Favorite UK memory/class etc.:

In 2009, I spent the summer studying grass as an intern for the UK Equine Initiative Pasture Evaluation.  Working with UK faculty and graduate students, I sampled for tall fescue toxicity, identified weeds and grasses, and provided pasture management techniques based on current forage research to farms. Not only did I get to spend some time on some beautiful horse farms, but the addition of forage knowledge I believe is a unique and useful skill.

Class I wish I had taken at UK:

I wish I had taken a graphic design class, because I think I would have fallen in love with it and changed my major (for the fourth time).  Then again, I’d probably still be in school.

           

Future Dream Job:

Working on my own farm, raising my own horses.  Cliché I know, but I didn’t grow up with my own horse, so it’s still a life-long dream.  Perhaps some graphic and web design freelancing on the side, when I’m not riding.

What I know now that I didn’t know as a student:

Networking is important, but merely socializing isn’t always enough.  If you prove that you are willing to work hard and always strive to improve yourself and your work, people are going to remember you.

Advice to others considering a job or career change:

Don’t be afraid to seek out knowledge for yourself and don’t be limited by the curriculum provided to you in the classroom.  Seek out new, different experiences on your own.  Learning a somewhat related skill set (or completely unrelated in my case with web design) could prove instrumental in securing a future career.

Favorite books:

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg

Favorite blogs:

Currently obsessed with the Retired Racehorse Training Project, http://www.retiredracehorsetraining.org, which is proving that off-the-track thoroughbreds (OTTBs) can be inspiring and valuable in a second career.