How to Respond to A Recruiter's Call

By LAURENCE J. STYBEL AND MARYANNE PEABODY

From the National Business Employment Weekly

 

Your first encounter with an executive recruiter may be a job interview over the phone. If he’s a contingency recruiter, who is paid only when the position is filled, he may have received 200 responses to an ad. You may be one of 25 potential candidates in a search firm’s database. If you hear from a retained executive search firm, which is paid regardless of a successful outcome, you may have landed on a preliminary list of 20 prospects based on the recruiter’s research or networking.

Either recruiter’s job is to pare down the list to between three and five reasonable candidates, says Elizabeth Olsen of Olsen/Clark, an executive search firm based in Bainbridge Island, Wash. These candidates, sometimes called a panel, will be submitted to the employer for discussion and evaluation. The recruiter’s objective is one of elimination. Your task is to avoid being eliminated.

The Phone Screen

Recruiters may call you at home. Is your phone always busy? If you don’t answer promptly, phone screeners will go to the next resume on their list.

Consider getting a personal pager and recommending calls to that number. You’ll receive your calls promptly, regardless of where you physically are. It also reduces conflicts with children over the phone. Using a voice-mail service routes calls automatically to voice mail if your line is busy. Another solution is installing a business line. Additionally, many job candidates have cellular phones. Still, consider a voice-mail service for your personal line as some recruiters may be referred by personal references, some of whom may not have the new number. The easiest solution is to restrict your personal line to incoming calls. Use the business line for outgoing calls, faxing and e-mail.

Make sure your home phone is answered in a professional manner. The first impression a recruiter receives is how a family member answers the phone. Prepare a script and tape it to the wall near each phone. "Hello, this is the Smith family. How may I help you? Mr. Smith isn’t here at the moment, but I’ll be glad to take a message." Keep yellow sticky pads and pencils next to each phone for posting messages.

Some candidates have to get creative to make sure their calls are handled properly. One candidate’s adolescent son was going through a rebellious period. When recruiters called, the son would take messages and then "forget" to tell the father. Threats didn’t help. The father eventually arranged to pay $5 for every valid message.

 

Landing an Interview

When a recruiter calls, your goal shouldn’t be to persuade him immediately that you’re the best qualified candidate. His goal is to prepare a short list of candidates for the hiring manager. You need only convince him that his client will want you on the list. A recruiter seeking to fill a position at a consumer products company contacted a vice president of sales and marketing for an industrial products dealer. Soon the recruiter realized the candidate lacked the background being sought and began to explain that the job wasn’t a good fit. But the candidate discussed why he should be on the panel as a "dark horse" and that he’d developed an innovative marketing strategy that might interest the employer. He won an interview.

Some recruiters will discuss drawbacks of the job in hopes you’ll opt out, making their task of narrowing the field easier. These shortcomings may include compensation, travel demands and relocation. We recommend versions of the following responses:

"I must admit that moving my family to Zanzibar isn’t an exciting prospect. At the same time, I want to keep an open mind. One never knows. I’m prepared to meet with you and whomever you wish to learn more about this opportunity. The worst case scenario is that you, the hiring manager and I will have a good information-sharing session about our industry. That’s not so bad, is it?"

"I must admit your salary range is less than what I was making and what I’m seeking. At the same time, I want to keep an open mind to learning what the total opportunity structure might be long term. One never knows. I’m prepared to meet with you and whomever you wish to learn more about this opportunity. The worse case scenario is that you, the hiring manager and I will have a good information-sharing session about our industry. That’s not so bad, is it?"

Both responses stress that the recruiter won’t waste the hiring manager’s time by referring you. Your objective is to forge a personal relationship with the hiring manager. Hiring managers can change salary ranges and assignment locations. Recruiters can’t.

 

Maintain Recruiter Relationships

Most companies would prefer to locate candidates themselves. Since that’s not possible, they work with recruiters. Once you’re out of the job market, though, try to maintain relationships with recruiters. Top executive-search firms always have positions to fill at senior levels. Even if they have none appropriate for you, stay in touch. Why? If you’re offered a new assignment, recruiters can predict its probable impact on your marketability. They often know how your compensation compares to your peers. They also can tell you what jobs and skills are hot now and down the road. This information can help you select assignments, seek continuing education or read certain books. Additionally, good recruiters have enormous networks that you might be able to tap.

If you’ve completed a search recently, you probably found that few recruiters genuinely were interested in you. Fewer followed up. These are the recruiters with whom to cultivate relationships.

Ed Kiradjieff, a former retained search consultant in Wayland, Mass., who’s now retired, who works with senior financial executives. He suggests the following ways to stay in touch with recruiters:

·       Send a warm, personal letter to the recruiters in your field when you find a job.

·       Invite a specific recruiter for a tour of the facilities, followed by lunch with you and another senior

manager.

·       Offer to be a source of leads.

·       Have lunch once a year to stay abreast of trends in the larger business community and keep the recruiter up-to-date on your career.

"As a search consultant, I prefer candidates who keep in touch over the years to candidates who call only when they become unemployed," Mr. Kiradjieff says. "I like to hear from candidates when they get that new job, that all-important promotion or would like to invite me in to visit their company."

 

Stay in Touch

If you see an article in a business publication that would interest the recruiter, clip it and send it to him with a handwritten note. It’s an inexpensive way of saying, "I think about you even when I don’t need your help." Invite a recruiter to your professional association meetings. In some associations, membership is confined to active professionals or those with specific job titles. If you belong to such a group, sponsor the recruiter as your guest to help him enlarge his contact base.

"An executive recruiter’s most valued asset is time," says Joan Lucarelli, a recruiter with Onstott & Associates of Wellesley, Mass. She appreciates receiving a quick e-mail or note to update her files on promotions executives receive. "This technique also creates an awareness" that keeps you in mind, she says.

It pays to keep these relationships fresh. One executive recruiter at a top search firm keeps two computers on his desk: One houses the firm’s global talent bank, which includes all the resumes submitted to the firm. The second is his personal database. "If I ever leave here and started my own firm, I couldn’t take the company database with me," he says, referring to the first. "The people in this database are my people," he says, pointing to the second computer. Which database would you want to be in?

 

--Mr. Stybel is president and Ms. Peabody is vice president of Stybel, Peabody & Associates Inc., an outplacement firm based in Boston. They are co-founders of a career resource service for members of boards of directors (www.stybelpeabody.com).

 

How to Make an Impression With Executive Recruiters

By VALERIE PATTERSON

From the National Business Employment Weekly

"I’m an unemployed technical marketing executive in New York who has called and sent resumes to dozens of recruiters in my field. Why aren’t they calling back? I thought everybody was hiring these days."

Many unemployed executives feel stonewalled by recruiters who don’t acknowledge resumes or return phone calls. While there’s no doubt executive search is hot -- business at select search firms grew an average of 24.5% last year, reports Kennedy Information LLC, a Fitzwilliam, N.H., publishing firm -- there’s a fact of life every job seeker needs to know. Recruiters don’t work for you. Instead, they work for -- and are paid by -- client companies to locate and screen candidates for positions. They also typically focus on finding exact fits for specific jobs -- the proverbial "round peg for the round hole" -- rather than on chasing down a broad population of candidates. "Job seekers get very hurt when recruiters don’t return their phone calls, but why would they return your phone calls when you’re not paying them?" asks Ginny Rehberg, a consultant in Burlington, Mass., for Drake Beam Morin Inc., an outplacement firm.

But all isn’t lost if you’re currently job hunting and want to get recruiters’ attention. Here are steps you can take to reach out to search executives.

 

Learn how recruiters work. You’ll find two types of recruiters: contingency and retained. They differ in how and when they receive payment for their services. Contingency recruiters earn fees only after a client company hires a candidate they refer. Retained recruiters are paid "retainers" in advance to conduct a search. They may collect payments even if their search doesn’t produce a successful hire. Both types of search firms earn 30% to 35% of first-year compensation for candidates they place and never charge candidates.

According to the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), a New York-based trade group for retained search firms, contingency recruiting often is used for:

·       positions that pay salaries of less than $100,000

·       positions which have many qualified candidates

·       filling multiple vacancies with similar candidates

·       hiring organizations that want more involvement in screening, interviewing and negotiating

Retained firms are hired when:

·       salaries exceed $100,000

·       highly unique or specialized candidates are needed

·       a hiring organization wants a third party to screen and interview candidates

·       a company wants to persuade an executive to leave an organization and needs an intermediary

 

Find the right targets. You’ll improve your chances of a return call if you locate headhunters who specialize in your industry or function. Check your local bookstore or library for directories that list recruiting firms by type, industry, job function or region. "Stay away from recruiting firms that sound like they do all things for all people," says Peter Jacobus, a recruiter of software sales and support professionals for Century Associates Personnel Inc., a search firm in Philadelphia. Most good recruiters specialize in a few industries or functions, he says.

It’s wise not to limit yourself to contacting recruiting firms in your immediate geographical area, even if you don’t want to relocate. Many firms that appear to be local or regional actually have national accounts, says Wayne Cooper president of Kennedy Information, which tracks the industry.

And while many executives don’t contact search firms until they have a career crisis, it’s best if you can initiate contact with these professionals "long before you need them," says Mr. Cooper.

 

Get and give referrals. You should ask friends, co-workers, family members and colleagues in your industry for referrals to recruiters. Then, place calls to those individuals and mention your mutual contact.

"If you can present yourself as a referral of someone who’s used the firm before, it’s always good," says Mr. Jacobus. Whatever you do, don’t come across as desperate. Most recruiters don’t appreciate being pressured by callers, he says.

If a recruiter phones you about a job and you aren’t interested, he or she almost always will ask if you know anyone who might be appropriate for the assignment. You’ll gain favor with the recruiter if you can make referrals.

"I make a note of who’s been helpful in recommending other candidates," says Joe Zaccaro, president of the Human Resources Consulting Group Inc., an executive search firm in Lakewood, Colo. "But don’t give names just to give names. Suggest people who genuinely may be good."

Barbara Bogart, a strategic-alliance executive for a Maryland-based software firm, found her current job through a recruiter after being downsized from her previous position. She still gets two or three recruiter calls each week. She says she always speaks with search professionals and provides referrals if she can. These efforts will pay off the next time she’s in the job market, she says. "It’s relationship-building, pure and simple," says Ms. Bogart.

 

Don’t be a wallflower. You’ll improve your chances of being found by recruiters in your industry or function if you join professional societies, attend a conference and tell colleagues confidentially that you’re open to speaking with recruiters. These are sources of leads for recruiters and their search researchers who help uncover potential prospects.

 

Prepare a 30-second "commercial." When you call a recruiter, first ask if he or she can spare a few minutes, says Mr. Jacobus. Succinctly describe who you are, what you do and what you’re looking for. Then listen and allow the recruiter to let you know if he or she can market you effectively. Don’t read your resume. Recruiters prefer dialogue that’s short and sweet, says Mr. Jacobus.

 

Don’t take silence personally. "Good recruiters can and should be awfully nice to job seekers, but their first allegiance is to the client organization," says Ms. Rehberg. Realize that recruiters usually are working on multiple assignments and can’t personally return all calls or letters. Don’t take their lack of response personally.

"Even if your resume is impressive, it may not fit one of their jobs," says Mr. Cooper. "But three to six months from now, they may have a new assignment, search their candidate database and find your resume matches the requirements."

Says Ms. Bogart: "If you have the talent [recruiters] are looking for, they’re all over you," she says. "If they’re not trying to fill a position in your area, they won’t call."

Moreover, search executives dread candidates who badger them with phone calls and resumes. If your job situation has changed since you first notified a search firm, simply send a new resume, but don’t leave messages asking if they’ve received your resume or have new assignments you might fit.

 

Screen recruiters who call. Check recruiters’ credentials before revealing personal information. Ms. Bogart asks for the firm’s name and whether it’s a contingency or retained firm. Ask search executives to describe their typical assignments so you’ll know if they recruit for positions that match your experience and career goals.

"I also ask the person who gave my name to the firm about [the firm’s] reputation," says Ms. Bogart, who questions recruiters about their background in the software industry to see if they understand how software firms operate.

 

Be candid about your experience and compensation. Once you’re under consideration for an assignment, recruiters will investigate your background to make sure it’s squeaky-clean before presenting you to a client company.

You won’t hurt recruiters’ feelings if you tell them up front that an opportunity isn’t right for you. Also say early on if you’re willing to relocate or if you might consider a counteroffer to stay with your current employer.

As employers try harder to retain staff in the current labor market, counteroffers are causing problems for recruiters because they prolong searches or cause them to fail. If you accept a counteroffer, it may jeopardize your relationship with a recruiter permanently.

"Accepting counteroffers hurts your credibility with the search firm and the client company," says Mr. Zaccaro.

Moreover, be prepared to answer frank questions about your salary or compensation package. Give the recruiter "an indicator of where you are," says Peter Felix, president of the AESC, but don’t feel you have to disclose your exact compensation. Additionally, don’t give this information out freely to search professionals you haven’t screened.

"Use vague terms to describe your salary," says Ms. Rehberg. "Say ‘The positions I’m looking at are in the salary range of $150,000 to $200,000,’ or you might offer a range that captures your total compensation package."

Or turn the tables and ask about the compensation level for the available position. "If they say $200,000, then you can say, ‘I’m comfortable in that range,’ but it doesn’t mean that’s what you’re making," says Ms. Rehberg.

-- Ms. Patterson is associate editor of the National Business Employment Weekly.

 

Headhunter Myths and other Bedtime Stories.

By JEFF BURRIDGE

 

Most candidates do not understand how the executive search process and headhunters work. Most candidates think if they post their resume to the web, fax it to a recruiter or respond to a "job posting" and sit back the calls will come. Lots of calls and e-mail responses should bring lots of opportunity….right? SO HOW HAS IT BEEN WORKING FOR YOU SO FAR?

ARE YOU GETTING DISILLUSIONED YET

Lets look at some Headhunter reality:

Perception is reality:

·       Recruiters need you, but you need them. Consider that they are the customer.

·       Every candidate is convinced they are the "perfect candidate". Recruiters deal in reality.

·       Companies pay recruiters to present candidates who match their requirements not yours.

·       Companies hire candidates who have the right chemistry (50%), qualifications (30%) and experience (20%).

·       Companies pay recruiters. Recruiters must first search for the right candidate for a job not the right job for a candidate.

·       Recruiters do not have a drawer full of ideal jobs waiting for you. Timing is everything.

 

Recruiter will work hard for candidates however and present a candidate to numerous companies when the candidate:

·       possesses good personal communication skill sets (unfortunately we are not chemists)

·       possesses good skills and qualifications based on their number of years of experience

·       Has a fairly consistent employment history and valid reasons for prior job changes

·       is realistic about income required, title, relocation, etc.

·       is sincere and motivated to make a change and accept a new opportunity (not tire kicking)

·       is responsive & cooperative with the recruiter (follows directions / communicates)

·       Contacts the recruiter within two hours of leaving the interview (always).

·       is not working with a lot of other recruiters (but don't put all your eggs in one basket)

·       is not mailing or e-mailing their resume directly to every company / job opening they can find. If you see a position that interests you contact your recruiter first. If they can't present you to the company they should let you know, then you can go it alone.

·       is not posting themselves all over the internet for the world (and their current employer) to see

Remember, the worst thing a recruiter can ever hear about you is "we already have his / her resume" regardless of how they got it. The second worse thing is probably "the parole board has revoked your …"

What can you do:

·       When a recruiter calls, LISTEN

·       When a recruiter calls be very responsive.

·       Do not lie to a recruiter. Tell us where you have already applied, who else you are working with, etc.

·       Never try to get a recruiter to submit you somewhere you tried to apply on your own and were turned down or just never received a response.

·       If we ask you about your interest in a certain company and you have already submitted your resume to them let us know up front. Not doing so is the cardinal sin.

Helping Search Firms Help You

By TONY LEE

 

Executive search firms carry a mystique that often deters senior-level job hunters from making unsolicited contact. Candidates tend to believe that recruiters are too inaccessible or specialized to have interest in a resume that arrives over the transom, whether by e-mail or the Postal Service.

But almost every reputable search firm saves the resumes it receives from job hunters. Computerized record keeping allows firms to store arriving resumes indefinitely in searchable databases. Your resume can then be retrieved when a search assignment calls for candidates that match your industry, function, location, education and compensation level. If you qualifications closely mesh with the needs of the client company, chances are good the recruiter will contact you.

"If you have the right qualifications at the right time, it makes sense to contact search firms because it’s possible you could be brought into the loop of a search," says Paul R. Ray Jr., president and CEO of Ray & Berndtson, a Ft. Worth, Texas-based international search firm. "My philosophy is: nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Do You Earn Enough?

Of course, not every resume received by a search firm is entered into its database. The criteria for inclusion is strict throughout the search profession, with a large percentage of unsolicited resumes weeded out each day. Salary level is the biggest hurdle.

Most retained search firms don’t accept assignments for candidates earning less than $100,000 annually, so resumes from job hunters who don’t meet that salary minimum are discarded. At some firms, an exception is made for IT pros who are in short supply. If you still don’t qualify, consider contacting a contingency search firm, which typically maintains a lower minimum salary level for the positions it fills. (Retained search firms are hired by client companies to fill a specific opening and are paid regardless of their success. Firms that work on contingency are paid only if the candidate they recommend is hired.)

Your next hurdle is creating a resume and cover letter that’s viewed positively by the search firm’s research department, which is where most unsolicited resumes are forwarded. Correspondence that’s poorly written, full of typographical errors or unconventional in format or style—even when sent via email—is eliminated quickly from consideration.

"Assuming that a person is at the right salary level, we contact about 10%" of the job hunters who submit resumes, "unless they’ve given a half-hearted effort in their letter and resume," says David M. Richardson, vice chairman of Chicago-based recruiters DHR International. A poorly written resume or cover letter demonstrates a lack of effort and ability, which is justification enough for throwing it away, he says.

Being resistant to relocating is another barrier that excludes many candidates from consideration. Few search firms limit their clients to one geographic area, so by sending your resume to a recruiter, you implicitly acknowledge your willingness to move for the right opportunity, says Mr. Ray. His advice to candidates: "Think seriously about whether you’d relocate and under what circumstances before becoming involved in a search."

 

Making Contact

When trying to develop an effective strategy for contacting search firms, recruiters suggest following a few guidelines. First, contact headhunters who have called you in the past. Even if you rebuffed their advances before (hopefully for a good reason), you aren’t necessarily eliminated from future consideration. Next, talk to colleagues and other executives in your industry. "Ask if they’ve ever been contacted and get the names of specific recruiters for you to write to," says Mr. Ray.

If your network doesn’t turn up the names of recruiters, you’re left to choose between two approaches: rifle and shotgun. "Candidates who feel they’re in the senior-level national or international job market should take a broad approach and contact all of the largest search firms. Those are the types of positions they specialize in," says James. H. Kennedy, the retired founder of Kennedy Publications in Fitzwilliam, N.H., publisher of Executive Recruiter News.

Conversely, technology has made it possible for you to tailor your efforts more efficiently. By searching the database of executive search firms located within careers.wsj.com, you can uncover the names, phone numbers and postal and e-mail addresses of recruiters that match your specific criteria.

Part of your approach might also be to target smaller search firms that specialize in your industry or function. "The top 100 firms by and large are generalists," says Mr. Richardson, who’s based in Upper Montclair, N.J. "Of those, the top 40 receive material from every possible source: outplacement firms, universities, senior executives." By focusing on smaller firms, he says, you increase your odds of attracting personalized attention if you match a client’s needs.

Whatever size of search firm you decide to target, how you get your resume into the right hands is a matter of contention. Some firms actively discourage follow-up telephone calls, while others advocate a personal follow-up.

"To zero in on the right person to contact, it’s a hell of a good idea to call each firm and ask who specializes in your industry," says Mr. Richardson. "You might get the name of a research director, from whom you can find out if there’s one person or one office that handles more searches in your field," he says.

Yet few search firms welcome cold calls from candidates. "It’s a hassle to have people follow up by phone," says Mr. Ray. "We receive from 500 to 1,000 resumes a week, and we’d be on the phone all the time," even if just a small percentage try to call, he says.

If your efforts to enlist a recruiter’s support are successful, Mr. Ray offers the following suggestions that can make your relationship with the search firm more effective:

Remember that the recruiter’s primary objective is to serve the client, not you.

Be candid up-front about your background, education and salary requirements. Those facts will be verified later, and even a "little white lie" can disqualify you.

If a position doesn’t appeal to you, say so immediately and ask to be kept in mind when a better match arises.

Ask about the firm’s track record in your industry or function before agreeing to an interview.

Ask for specific information about the job, such as responsibilities, exposure to top management, the company’s culture and the compensation package, but realize that not all information can be shared during the early stages of the search.

If you aren’t invited to an interview, realize that it usually isn’t a reflection of you personally. It’s probably just not the right match, says Mr. Ray.

— Mr. Lee is Editor in Chief/General Manager of careers.wsj.com, a free career site from The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition.  

 

Job-Search Guidance From an Executive Recruiter

By ROBERT D. WALSH

From the National Business Employment Weekly

 

I've read thousands of resumes and personally interviewed hundreds of candidates in recent years. Unfortunately, the quality of their resumes and interviewing ability seems to be declining, rarely matching their track records and potential.

This holds true for seasoned professionals and neophytes alike, no matter what their discipline or industry. The most common deficiency is an inability to specify what they've actually achieved through the years. Candidates don't seem to understand that companies are more impressed by the quality of targets hit than by the quantity of bullets or arrows fired.

Since I can't conduct a "Resume 101" session for every candidate who's worthy but "resume-challenged," I've distilled my approach to resume preparation and revision to its bare essence. It begins with this caveat: There's no magical resume format, style or length--period. What works for some won't work for others, so don't slavishly follow someone else's example (least of all mine).

 

Start With Self-Analysis

I used to dismiss "know thyself" as so much pop-psychology pap. That is, until about 20 years into my career in public relations, when a recruiter told me at the start of an interview: "I've read your resume very carefully, but I still don't know who you are." She paused a few seconds, then gave me a rather arch look. "And I don't think you do, either."

The woman's appraisal jolted me, but she was right. My resume was merely a chronological recital of my eclectic mix of editorial and managerial experience in corporate, public service, association and PR management consulting settings. I hadn't effectively positioned myself--on my own terms--for the role in which I could optimally leverage my skills, experience and interests while achieving personal gratification. Instead, I was letting readers of my resume pigeonhole me based on their inference of what I aspired to do for money, recognition or whatever.

Not long after that reality-checking interview, my employer, a Connecticut-based PR management consulting firm, wanted its staff to relocate en masse far from our Northeastern roots, families and friends. Like many others there, I politely declined.

Forced to get to know myself better--and fast--I created a grid of my experience, interests and possible career options on a yellow legal pad. It became clear that I'd always gotten a charge from devising organizational charts and job descriptions, as well as from assessing personnel performance and potential, no matter what my title was at the time. I concluded that executive search or outplacement would be prime areas to pursue, and fortuitously, I was able to join a PR search firm that had once placed me in a corporate "dream job."

I later learned that my intuitive yellow-pad exercise is a major premise of the career-guidance book, "Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow" (1987, Paulist Press). Beyond a message that boils down to "know thyself," it offers numerous self-help quizzes and techniques to determine what your career aims probably ought to be and, in due course, how to make those goals clear to recruiters and prospective employers in your resume.

Says one person who recently completed the book's exercises, "If I followed through on some of my ideas, I'd probably open an antique store in the Adirondacks." In the meantime, she says, "I'd like to explore the possibility of becoming a consultant to small organizations in human services or in the arts, helping them gain greater visibility and do long-term public-relations planning." She now seems to have a firmer grip on what she really wants to do with her life.

 

An Even Better Method

In lieu of a yellow pad, another good approach is to get a batch of 3x5 index cards or slips of paper. On each, list projects you successfully completed that garnered praise from bosses and provided you with great satisfaction. Each entry must be a labor of love during which time flew by. Stay away from pet projects that went nowhere.

A typical card should list a few key words or phrases about a problem (or opportunity) that you solved or exploited to create a successful and satisfying outcome. Leave out projects you did well but found draining or unsatisfying.

Look for situations where you can quantify favorable results in terms of financial gains, of increased sales/revenue percentages or time/money reductions for employers or clients. Remember, jot down just a few words about each entry at this point. You'll get into greater detail later.

 

Look for Patterns

"Play solitaire" with your annotated cards on a desk or table top. Look for similarities, common denominators and patterns. You may notice, for example, several instances where you were "The Little Red Hen" who was totally responsible and involved in every detail from start to finish.

In other situations, you may have been part of a team, perhaps the captain or a crucial member who built consensus on the diagnosis, recommended action and assignments. Perhaps you excelled at developing a realistic budget and shepherding it to a successful conclusion. These are but a few of many roles in which you may have stood above the crowd. In any event, zero in on how your specific participation made a positive difference.

Be especially mindful of situations where you conceived strategies (big, sea-change concepts as opposed to incremental, marginal ones) or played a key role in implementing them. Obviously, strategists get better titles and pay than tactical planners. In turn, they prosper more than managers, then implementers, and so on down the line. Your mounting card piles should give you strong clues as to where you're likely to achieve future successes.

Next, flesh out "vignettes" of a sentence or two on each card to use as "bullet items" in your reverse-chronological resume. For example: "As manager of Company X's speaker's bureau, I found that few original trainees were equipped to accept invitations. After retraining them in methods related to their duties, virtually every new or retrained member took on an engagement within a month."

Select the best vignettes for your resume, listing them in descending order of importance. Use remaining vignettes when writing tailored cover letters to accompany your resume. Also use them when following up after interviews to reinforce points you made or to introduce important post-interview afterthoughts.

You also can use vignettes as talking points when an interviewer, whether on impulse or by design, sets your resume aside and asks you to describe yourself or explain why you're the best candidate for a position. Review your vignettes often, replacing marginal stories with better ones. Internalize the gems among them so you can retrieve them from memory for the right oral and written opportunities.

 

Resume Considerations

For some, the debate between chronological and functional formats rages on. A totally functional resume, which plays up accomplishments and lists employers, dates and education rather cryptically at the end, can camouflage age, employment gaps and job-jumping enough to stimulate a follow-up call or interview. But functionalizing often calls attention to the very problems you want to hide. Sooner or later, you can bet your college graduation date will be ferreted out.

It's also confusing as a recruiter to have to jump back and forth to tie accomplishments on page one of a typical functional resume to fragmentary job listings on page two. I prefer a "highlights" resume that lists every significant job you've held (and its time frame) while establishing clearly how, where and when your bulleted accomplishments took place. Eventually, of course, you'll need another version listing all employers, dates, etc., for nitpicking HR departments.

One-page resumes are suitable for recent college graduates or novices who have worked only a year or two. But use a two-page format if you've held more than two jobs. If you find that difficult, you either haven't accomplished much or you're too modest to mention how you've made a difference where you've worked.

Remember Dizzy Dean's observation: "If you done done it, it ain't braggin'." Indulge in a little "gilt by association" by name-dropping freely when writing about past employers and clients. Don't hold back achievements because you plan to cover them during interviews. Without a certain degree of detail, you may not reach the interview stage.

Including a third page might be justified, but only if you're uniquely experienced. And once you graduate from college, drop the education segment to the bottom of your resume, unless you're applying for a job as an academician. Amazingly, many 50-year-olds still lead off their resumes with their education because that's what a college career counselor told them to do 30 years ago.

 

Profiles and Goals

Many resume writers wrestle with whether to lead off with a PERSONAL PROFILE and/or an OBJECTIVE statement. You may not need eith