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Martina definitely had an old-school resume full of ineffective presentation strategies.
First, she opened with an Objective Statement, which communicated virtually no value to a prospective employer.
Next, she presented her education, which did not differentiate her candidacy given most of the roles she was seeking would expect a degree. In essence, the most important real estate of her resume communicated nothing to make her stand out.
In Martina’s Professional Experience section, she had separated positions with the same employer, making it look like she had more employers than she actually did. All experience was presented in brief bullet points, making it impossible to discern responsibilities from accomplishments.
Instead of presenting how she had driven value for past employers, Martina gave a laundry list of everything she had ever done. Making the picture even messier, she had listed addresses and phone numbers of past employers, — information that does not need to be presented.
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Martina had so much to offer a prospective employer. Not only did she have related experience, she had contributed an incredible amount of value to past employers.
To paint the right picture, we began Martina’s resume with a Qualifications Summary instead of a vague Objective Statement. Qualifications Summaries can facilitate the screening process, as well as answer why an employer should interview a candidate.
In the Professional Experience section, Martina’s roles were more fully explored with responsibilities presented in paragraphs, and accomplishments were presented in bullet points.
A far cry from her original resume, Martina’s new resume showcased the value she offered.
By focusing on how Martina had contributed value to past employers and putting administrative titles on the back burner, her experience better related to the compliance and training roles she was pursuing. Through formatting with bold, italics, and color, a brief visual scan of Martina’s resume left the reader with the high points critical to effectively evaluate her candidacy.
Starting Samantha Nolan is a certified professional resume writer and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service resume-writing firm. She can be reached at dearsam@ladybug-design.com.