Resume = Personal Brand - How to Get it Right

Resume = Personal Brand: How to Get it Right
Laura Hill, Senior Resume Writer, Ivy Exec

Want more info? Go to IvyExec.com 1

About Laura

• Senior Resume Writer at Ivy Exec

• Ten years as a career/outplacement coach

• Ten years in banking with JPM Chase

• MBA in finance from NYU – Stern; BBA in marketing from University of
Texas – McCombs

• Certified Career Coach

Want more info? Go to IvyExec.com/Resume or email us at Resumes@ivyexec.com 2

Media

• Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Wall
Street Journal, JobsInTheMoney.com, and Smart Money.
• She has been a featured career expert on CNBC, The Wall Street
Journal Report With Maria Bartiromo, and MSNBC.


Outline
 What’s different? What’s the purpose of a resume?
 Resume Trends
 Aesthetics and Formatting
 Content

o Profile
o Job description
o Accomplishments
 Don’ts

 What to call it: “CV” vs. “Resume” (and bios)
Q &A

Poll Questions
Poll Question: Years of experience
What’s different today vs. five to 10 years ago?
You’ve moved up: senior execs and retained recruiters are your
audience now
 Many executives (your competition) have better resumes
The bar is higher: you must have accomplishments and metrics -
describing your responsibilities doesn’t cut it
Earlier and redundant experience should shrink
Resume fashions have changed
You’ve moved up . . . has your resume?


Purpose of a resume:
 It’s
a brochure - ok to exclude or shorten irrelevant aspects of your
background
 Match you to a job and/or career path
 Get you in the door / get an interview
 Describe what you’ve done and the results; (you provide details in the
interview)
 NOT: give your full job description or account for your time and whereabouts

Note: tone down the accomplishments for resumes used internally at your
employer or for official business reasons


When someone looks at your resume, he/she
Forms an opinion in 4 - 10 seconds
Has probably looked at many resumes and/or other documents before looking
at yours
Looks for key information in expected places
Wants to know what you do immediately


 In fashion now:  Out of fashion
o Profile that positions you to a o Objective statements
target audience
o Be everything to everybody
o Using key words for computer
matching (narrative or list) o Multiple fonts/sizes, graphics, colors,
too much bold; Underlining
o Two pages around 10-15+
years; one page otherwise o More than two pages (exception:
addendum)
o Small margins; not much
white space o Blocks of text
o LinkedIn URL o Lot of text before the job history
Tell the reader what you do o “Functional” resumes
at the top of the resume


Aesthetics: Inviting to the Eye
 Use a serif type face (as opposed to a sans serif):

 Garamond: 10.5 or 11

 Palatino Linotype: 10 or 10.5

 Cambria: 10

 Times New Roman: 10.5+
 Same font and font size throughout
 Not too small (makes your background seem small)
 No big blocks of text (maximum of three lines is a good guide)
 Use bolding, italics, and ALL-CAPS with discretion


Location of Information:
 Employer names, dates and job titles in standard locations
 Formore than one job at an employer, overall dates at the right margin;
assignment dates next to job titles
 Education at the bottom
 Community
Service, Professional Memberships, Publications and Speaking
Engagements should be after Education


Content: Targeting Your Resume
 Profile at the top
o Tell the reader what you do
o Advertise what you want the reader to know
o Communicate your value proposition / product features / brand
o Put key words that will match the job(s) you want
 Absence of a profile at the top is ok
 Readers assume that you want to continue doing what you do now (most
recently)


Content: Company Names and Job Responsibilities

 Short company description for less well known employers
 Very short job descriptions – two or three lines
o Un-bulleted
o Role, scope, budget, staff #
o Use “Lead” instead of “Direct” or “Responsible for”
 Try to make all your bullets accomplishments


 Use
strong/positive  Avoid
words
o Helped
o Revamped
o Coordinated
o Championed
o Assisted
o Led/managed
o Direct/directed
o Developed and
implemented o Proven track record

o Turned around


Accomplishments: a definition
A discrete project that you managed: scope, scale, on-time, under budget,
overcame obstacles
 Improvements over time (e.g. – annual % increases/decreases)
 Has a result/benefit (make money or save money; give #s whenever you
can)
 “Selected to”
 “First-ever”

 “In spite of…”
 “Grew revenues x% OR from $x to $Y”
 Replace:

o Did thus and such to improve something; with
o Did thus and such that improved something X%


Don’t:
 Tell stories (“Recruited to turnaround…”)
 Include the title of the person to whom you report
 Bury the lead
 Repeat the same accomplishment in different places (even if stated
differently)
 Use too much jargon (enough about “verticals”)
 Write
“Global” all over the place (examples of work in named countries will
convey it better)
 Give too much text/context (save it for the interview)
 Take your accomplishments out of the jobs in which they occurred


For Great Big Accomplishments With Many Facets:
 Led
the launch of Company Name’s first commercial product – Product
Name, FDA-approved for Disease X in 2010:
o Created the strategic launch plan, built cross-functional team of
marketing, sales, medical, legal, regulatory, and others to execute the
launch;
o Led development of all promotional and educational plans and
materials, including product positioning, branding, naming, messaging,
key programs, and digital marketing;
o Reached $1B net revenue by end of 2010 – one of the fastest biotech
products to reach $1B;
o Achieved 75% market share vs. competitive product launched at same
time by competitor.


Management consultants

● For a public company in the enterprise appliance server market, conducted
strategic assessment and proposed a restart. Redirected the company to
deliver fully configured devices. Sold vision to board that saved in excess of
$15 million by dissuading move into a crowded hardware market segment
that was rapidly driving to commoditization.

● Led a $32M global business process reengineering and transformation
program for a $1B document solutions joint venture. With a team of 50,
transformed finance, supply chain, sales and distribution.


Proper Terminology
 Biographies

o Speaking engagements
o Not-for-profit/professional associations
o Not used for job search
 In the U.S., it’s always called a resume – even for CEOs
 In the U.S., a CV is used only in academia and is multi-page
 Outside the U.S., you can call it a CV if you like


Important Advice:
 Keep a career file at your fingertips
o Record key metrics when you start an assignment
o Collect important facts/metrics
o Write a summary of accomplishments for your boss in advance of your
performance review
 Update your resume annually with new accomplishments and results


The Ivy Exec Senior Resume Writers
Laura Hill
is an expert in designing career strategies and job search campaigns. Her industry experience includes
10 years as a career/outplacement coach and recruiter, as well as 10 years in banking with JPM
Chase. She has been published in The New York Times, The WSJ, and Forbes, and has been a featured
expert on CNBC's The Wall Street Journal Report.

Kim Mohiuddin
has worked with clients on every inhabited continent. A TORI (Toast of the Resume Industry) Award
nominee in the international category, Kim has been featured in Yahoo News, NBC Chicago and Time
Out NY. She is the former certification chair of the National Resume Writers’ Association and certified
job search strategist whose resumes have been highlighted in multiple publications.

Staci Collins
has over 15 years of partnering with executives, directors and senior managers to achieve their career
objectives. She has worked in change and performance management at leading companies Accenture
and Ernst & Young. She received her MBA from the University of California - Haas and BA at Harvard.


The Ivy Exec Elite Resume Package
The Elite Package is a comprehensive evaluation of your career and
accomplishments which includes a career diagnostic, a fully rewritten resume
and a coaching session focused on overcoming any professional roadblocks.

 In-depth intake session with your certified senior resume writer
 Gain valuable insight on how to articulate your skills and accomplishments
when interviewing
 A finalized and re-written resume
 An enhanced Ivy Exec profile
 A full hour of Career Coaching

To set up a 15 minute appointment to inquire about next steps, please go to
ivyexec.clickbook.net or email resumes@ivyexec.com


Thank you!
The Road to Success is
Always Under Construction

To set up a 15 minute appointment to
discuss Ivy Exec’s Resume Services please
go to ivyexec.clickbook.net
or email resumes@ivyexec.com


Resume = Personal Brand - How to Get it Right

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