“I know we finalized this resume a while ago, but I showed it to a friend and he had some comments …”

My heart doesn’t sink because of the extra work – I don’t mind that if the comments are helpful – but because I know that they probably won’t be. So I now have two choices. 1) Make changes that will be detrimental to the document I worked so hard on creating or 2) get into lengthy explanations about why my client’s friend is mistaken. (I always go for the second option because I can’t bear to do bad things to someone’s resume).

Look, I’m not (always) perfect. Sometimes there is a suggestion that improves what I already did. But the document I created was pretty carefully thought through. There were reasons for every decision. There was thought behind each word choice. I left things out. I rearranged information. I created a central theme and then built on it. Then together, the client and I refined the document to iron out inaccuracies, or add missing information. That resume was a little symphony – each part adding up to the whole in a coordinated and carefully planned manner.

But now, because some guy has it in his head that resumes should only be one page long, or that you shouldn’t start bullet points with action verbs, I have to address each of his comments.

I’m not really complaining – it’s a pretty rare occurrence – and my client was very receptive to my answers, but it makes me wonder whether people in other professions have this same experience. Do doctors have people call and say “I know you think I should have an ultrasound, but I talked to my mom’s friend who used to be a doctor’s receptionist, and she thinks I’m fine?” Do accountants have people question their tax calculations because “my friend is really good at math and he thinks you got it wrong?”

Maybe they do. Or maybe the problem is the lack of understanding about what a professional resume writer actually does. I am always amazed how many people think my job is simply to type up their career history and make it look neat.

And frankly, why would they know any different?

While our industry has several professional associations, none of them have raised the profile of our industry. None of them have coordinated PR and marketing efforts to let people know what we do, or promoted stringent criteria for membership that tells clients who they can trust. We have some certifications handed out by various groups, but frankly I can’t remember the last time a client asked about them.

Very few people know what we do and very few people understand why it’s important. The value of our work is only really understood by most people after they use our services and get a great new job as a result. Is that the reason why some people are willing to hand over hundreds of dollars to a professional, only to put more stock in the comments of a friend or relative? Or is there some other explanation?

First let me give you a business example, and then I’ll tell you about a client of mine who got amazing results just by narrowing her sights.

When we worked with the amazing Squared Eye to redesign our website earlier this year, we made a big decision: we would clearly define our target audience for the first time. We wouldn’t try to attract everyone. We would design a site and write copy that would appeal to creative and technology professionals. It was a little scary – after all, 50% of our clients were neither creative nor technical. Were we going to lose them? If we did, would we find enough extra clients to make up for it?

Six months later and the results are in. We now attract far more of the clients who fit neatly into our target audience. But we also attract just as many people who don’t! We’re still writing great resumes for senior operations executives and administrative assistants and accountants. It turns out that by narrowing our focus, we attracted a wider variety of people.

I was thinking about this over the weekend, because as this awful recession drags on, I’ve seen an increase in people who are widening their search out of desperation. They say things like “I’ve been a programmer for the last 6 years but I used to work in retail. Can you write me a resume that would work for both?” Or “I don’t care what kind of job I get. I just need a job.”

When I say that no, we really can’t write an effective resume without a clear focus, I know some of these people get very nervous. If they narrow down their search when jobs are so scarce, won’t they just increase the chances that they’ll stay unemployed forever?

I know it’s scary,  just as it was scary for us when we decided to narrow our business focus. But trust me when I tell you: Narrowing your focus will ensure that you are more successful, not less.

A real life example

Let me give you a recent example. A client of mine had some past experience in not-for-profit marketing and more recent experience in for profit graphic design. Her background looked a little scattered on paper, and her focus was just as scattered. She was applying for marketing jobs in both non-profit and corporate environments. When she didn’t get interviews, she also started applying for graphic design jobs in both types of organization. To make matters worse, she was trying to relocate from a rural area in the South to an urban center in the North East, and she needed to get a job prior to making the move.

When we sat down and talked, it became clear that she really wanted to do marketing for a non-profit. She hadn’t enjoyed her time in the corporate world and was much happier when her work was making a difference in the world. Once we had this defined, I rewrote her resume to focus like a laser on this target. We emphasized her passion for non-profit work, in part by showing all the volunteer work she had been doing, we detailed her past experience in the field, and we stressed her combination of marketing and design experience – a huge plus for cash-strapped non-profits.

The results were better than even I could have imagined. Within a few weeks of looking, my client wrote and told me she had lined up 3 interviews for an upcoming trip to her target city. And she had only sent 4 resumes! I haven’t heard yet whether she got any of the jobs, but the difference in results is astounding – she went from no responses, to getting 3 out of the 4 interviews she tried for.

If you have been unemployed for a while and are not getting responses, you have nothing to lose by trying my advice. Pick a target, hone in on it, write every word of your resume to appeal to those companies, and target all your networking efforts on getting to know people in that field. Forget all the other possibilities and just FOCUS!

If you do it right, you will see results.

Jobvite surveyed 600 HR and recruiting professionals across the US and found that 73% are using social media and online networks for recruitment purposes. Of those companies, 78% cited LinkedIn as a tool they used regularly. So if we do the math, that means 57% of companies are using LinkedIn to find new employees.

If you’re not on LinkedIn with a fully completed profile (and I mean fully completed!) and lots of contacts, you are missing out on these opportunities. That’s nuts!

If you are already inundated with job offers and interview requests, then by all means, ignore this post and leave your half-written profile up on LinkedIn for everyone to see. But on the off chance that’s not the case, spend some time making it as good as you can so that you can tap into that 57% of employers, a number that will surely keep growing.

(And if you’re employed, there’s still no reason not to be highly visible to these companies. You never know when you might need a new job, or when a perfect opportunity might pull you away from the one you have now).

For detailed advice on how to make your profile highly visible and super-compelling, check out The 7 Mistakes You’re Making on LinkedIn.

A fellow resume writer told me “I never put my best samples online because someone might steal my designs.”

And a web designer once suggested to me that we only show partial sample resumes on our site “to stop people copying your work.”

Think about that for a moment … the client would be prepared to lose out on job opportunities because her resume wasn’t accessible online. The resume writer is willing to have people make buying decisions based on work that isn’t the best she can do. And if the web designer had his way, potential Blue Sky clients would have to try and judge our work based only on snippets.

And all for what? To stop someone copying a resume?

Look, there are no new ideas under the sun. That great idea for a resume layout you had? Someone else has had it too. You’re just not that special.

Also, no one can copy what you do although they may try. Every now and then potential clients send us resumes that they clearly copied from this website. But their attempt never comes close to the original, and that’s is why they eventually get in touch and ask for help.

And by the way, if the worst that happens is that an unemployed person with very little money is able to take some of my ideas and use them to get a new job and put food on the table – well, that’s not such a bad outcome.

Whether you are selling a service, or whether you are selling yourself for potential employment opportunities, showing anything less than your best is nuts. Put your best resume online in all formats. Show your best work samples when you go for interviews. If you have a design portfolio, upload your most creative work. If you’re a writer, share your top articles.

Hoarding knowledge is for little kids taking tests. The rest of us should stop being so precious and share the best we can do.

Jonathan’s post gave me a chance to come up with some practical tips for doing just that. So here’s how you can turn your resume into a powerful marketing document using his time-tested sales principles.

Actual Proof/Track Record

The best assurance that you’ll add value in the future is showing that you have added value in the past. So emphasize results all the way through your resume. Don’t just say you have “an excellent track record of revenue and profit growth” – Prove it! Provide specifics. Pepper your resume with numbers. (And if the actual numbers are confidential, use percentages).

Here is an example of a resume that demonstrates an excellent track record and does it in a way that draws attention to the results. The key is in pulling out the results and bolding them. Note: this strategy only works if you have excellent results in every position.

Pedigree

Jonathan says “If you have any specialized training, degree, certification, license or other accreditation or qualification, share that pedigree as another touch point that demonstrates you know what you’re doing.” This applies to your resume just as much as to selling a product and it’s important to stress that pedigree upfront and not wait until the end of the resume for people to figure it out. This next resume is a perfect example. Because of the nature of my client’s profession, he wasn’t able to provide revenue or sales growth numbers. But he had an excellent pedigree and so we focused on that in his resume introduction. (This resume secured him his dream job and the secret is in that pedigree.)

Authority Endorsement

If you have worked with influential people whose names are well-known in your industry, ask them for a reference. Don’t be shy about this! A recent client who worked in the video game industry provided me with a glowing reference from the guy who designed one of the world’s best-selling video games. We used that reference prominently in his resume and cover letter by quoting the best few lines from it.

Another way to use authority endorsement on your resume is to highlight awards you have won (for recent graduates, scholarships or school honors work just as well). Awards are solid evidence that someone in authority liked your work. Here is an example of a resume that uses awards as a primary sales pitch for the client.

Celebrity Endorsement

This is Jonathan’s fourth point and when it comes to product marketing, we all know its true. It’s unlikely that you can get Tiger Woods or Bruce Springsteen to endorse your candidacy for that accounting job – and also unlikely that their recommendation would hold much sway! That said, I often use a version of this tactic when working with people in entertainment-related fields. if you can drop the fact that you have worked with names like Jay-Z, Lady Gaga or Oprah Winfrey into your resume, you probably will get more interviews. Partly because the fact you have worked at such a high-level suggests you are good at what you do, and partly because some people will just want to know what their favorite singer is like. (Hey, you use what you can!)

If you actually know a celebrity whose testimonial would add value, then go ahead and use them. Here is an example, where we used a testimonial from a US senator on the resume of a political cartoonist.

Another version of the celebrity endorsement is to drop the names of major companies or products . If you worked for top fortune 500 companies, or on several very successful products, name-drop those right at the start of your resume.

Social Proof

When selling a product, marketers often use testimonials from other users to convince you that the product is worth buying. You can do the same on your resume. Pull quotes from performance reviews, reference letters or LinkedIn testimonials and use them on your resume. One piece of advice though – choose testimonials that sound personal, believable and that are specific to skills needed in your target positions. Don’t choose generic or bland quotes. If it’s important to be highly organized in your next job, then choose a quote that speaks to that. And if it does it in a funny or interesting way, even better!

I recently had a client whose manager said “I continue to be disappointed with Sarah’s inability to clone herself.” I loved that! We used it right upfront in her resume and I bet it has been a big talking point in her interviews.

Here’s a resume that uses one quote prominently – a quote that focuses on exactly the skills needed for success as a video game producer.

Theoretical /Logical Proof

In some cases, you are the logical fit for the position but don’t have awards or numbers or degrees or quotes to prove it. In that case, just lay out the case for yourself in simple, clear and straightforward terms. For example, if a company is looking for a Project Manager to develop embedded software, you could just headline your resume “Senior project manager with 12 years of experience developing embedded software.” Simple but effective!

Metaphorical Proof

Jonathan describes metaphorical proof this way:

Here, you create an anecdote in the style of a metaphor where a person in a story endures a struggle or experiences a need or pain very similar to what your typical prospective buyer would experience. You set-up the problem and demonstrate the pain, then show how that person resolved their pain and solved their problem using your product, service or solution.

But how do you tell stories like this on a resume? Simple … just develop action-packed bullet points that demonstrate how you have solved problems/capitalized on opportunities for other employers. Check out this resume to see an example. Notice how we set up the situation for her first position (niche site with no room for growth) and then use the bullet points to tell stories about how she solved those problems.

When employers read stories like these, they can start to imagine how you would make an impact on their company, solve their problems, capitalize on their opportunities.

In Summary

Use as many of these different strategies as you can on your resume and you will immediately see a difference in the response rate. What works for selling toothpaste works equally well for selling you!

I was contacted a few months ago by Adam Glassman, the magazine’s creative director, and asked if I’d like to take part in career makeovers for several women who needed a job. I was thrilled to help, but honestly had some reservations – would the magazine be genuinely interested in helping the women, or just interested in getting a good article?

But on my first visit to the O offices, my doubts were put to rest. The team assigned to this story is determined to see this project all the way through, and the four lucky women they selected are getting every possible assistance in their job search.

First they had complete makeovers at a top New York salon and received fashion tips and new wardrobes, and then the Blue Sky team was called in. I worked with each woman on a new resume and cover letter to truly clarify and communicate their value proposition. Each one had different challenges and different strengths, but when we were done, each one also had a killer resume.

They then worked with our coach Barbara Safani, who taught them networking techniques, conducted a recruiter mailing campaign, and helped with their interviewing skills.

The feedback so far has been good – one woman immediately secured an interview with her new resume, despite having been turned down by the same company only week earlier. But the job search is only just beginning, and the O team are committed to seeing it all the way through. I’m excited to be part of this ongoing process!

[If you want to read the story online, you can see it here. Or you can buy the September issue - cover shown above. The feature starts on page 210.]

Usually these stories end well – the job seeker in question quickly gets interviews and lands a new job. So I can understand why desperate job seekers look for ways to do the same. I came across this article via Twitter the other day:

One morning in May of 2009, Marguerite DiGaetano put on her best suit, stuffed her briefcase with chocolate roses, marched into a Miami office building and asked to see the human resources manager. Having received no response to her online application for an executive assistant position, she decided to personally deliver her resumé with a little something extra to get herself noticed.

DiGaetano says the receptionist told her the HR manager was not available and promised to pass along her resume, cover letter and chocolate roses. She never heard back from the company.

I feel so sorry for Marguerite. She has been unemployed for 18 months yet she’s a hard worker with a lot to offer potential employers. But her story gave me the perfect opportunity to write a blog post about the fine line between creative and corny. Later in the article, we read this:

she says she has tried every trick in the book to get back into the workforce. She has heavily dumbed down her resumé, divided her salary expectations in half, hand-delivered her materials to potential employers, and even printed out her resumé on hot pink paper with a footnote that said, “P.S. No, I am not a rock star, nor blonde (legally or otherwise). I’d be tickled pink at a chance to interview for this position.”

I have to be honest – if I were the recipient of either the roses or the hot pink resume, I would not hire Marguerite. The problem is that her creative approaches are not coming off as creative – they’re coming off as annoying and slightly desperate. But what’s the difference between her and the guy with the billboard?

The Secret to Effective Creativity

Each of the creative approaches I mentioned earlier work because they directly relate to the work the person would be doing in their next job, and because they were genuinely surprising.

To see what I mean, watch this short video about how one guy secured the exact job he wanted despite the awful economy (it only takes a few seconds and it’s worth it).

Genius!

The magic of this creative approach is that a) it was genuinely surprising but b) – and most importantly – it demonstrated the exact skills that are important for a creative professional in an advertising agency. Why on earth would any creative director hire the people who just mailed in resumes when this guy is available?

What Does it Mean for Marguerite?

Obviously, this doesn’t mean Marguerite should immediately buy up ads to attract the attention of executives who might be looking for an admin assistant. It wouldn’t work because it wouldn’t be related in any way to the work she would be doing in her new job. Instead, she should think about how she could apply this idea to her own field. How could she creatively demonstrate her worth as an admin assistant? (Hint: It won’t be by bribing the recruiter with chocolate!)

Oh and she should get her resume rewritten. I’d bet large amounts of money that it doesn’t even being to market her effectively. (Marguerite, if you happen to see this, drop me a comment and I’ll take a look for you).

Dave was also a member of a private listserv group named JournOlist, where 400 bloggers who trusted one another discussed the issues of the day in a private forum. Or should I say, a forum they thought was private.

One anonymous member of the group, for reasons only known to them, decided to archive Dave’s emails and release them to several conservative websites. They were not flattering. In a series of snarky comments, Dave revealed his apparent distaste for many of the people he was covering.

The Washington Post fired him within a day of learning about the emails. Dave’s friends and readers have mainly backed him, arguing that his private emails should never have been made public and that, in his reporting, Dave was always fair and even-handed.

All of this may be true but it seems to me to miss the point – we all of us have to learn that nothing we say online can be guaranteed to remain private.

It’s not private because you have to sign in with a password – just ask Dave.

It’s not private because you’re talking only to friends – see above.

It’s not private because you used a fake name when posting your comments. That’s because whenever you post online, your IP address (the unique location of your computer) is recorded. Plus, people are really good at seeing through fake names.

It’s not private because you sent it in an email – it’s there for all time and can be retrieved at any time.

It’s not private because you set all your privacy settings to maximum on Facebook – it only takes one ‘friend’ to break your trust (again, see Weigel, Dave)

Basically, nothing you say online can ever be guaranteed to stay private. If we forget that fact, we invite disaster. This has huge implications for the future – implications that we all need to be aware of. Any time you type something online, ask yourself “would I be OK with my boss seeing this? And would I be OK with future employers seeing this?”

If the answer is no, remember Dave Weigel and step away from the keyboard.

I love doing this and I’m good at it. I instinctively know what to include and what to leave out and how to lay it all out on the page. If you have relevant experience, no matter how long ago, or how unusual it is, I can help you show your worth.

But sometimes I’m approached by people I can’t help. People who simply don’t have the experience required but who think I have a magic wand. Today’s was an IT professional who wanted to go into web design. The only problem is that he hadn’t done any web design – I don’t mean he hadn’t done any professionally. I mean he hadn’t done any. No volunteer work, no college studies, no unpaid work for friends and family. Nothing!

“I know I could do a great job,” he told me. “I just need someone to give me a chance and I can learn on the job. That’s where a good resume comes in.”

Um no. Actually it isn’t.

There is nothing I can do on a resume that can make up for the fact that you haven’t put in the time. If you have unpaid experience, I can make it look paid. If you’ve freelanced while working full-time jobs, I can bring that freelancing to the forefront. if you started out in design and then moved away from it, I have tricks to bring that design experience back into focus for employers. If you’ve taken college classes, I can write about your college design projects.

But if you’re just hoping to persuade employers to hire you with no experience and then teach you the job, you’re hoping for a miracle and miracles I don’t do.

[Photo by DoubleM2]

Anyone who gardens knows that roses need sunlight, so it’s not surprising that my little rose never bloomed. The tree was blocking all the sunlight and the only things that thrived in that part of the garden were ferns, hostas and other shade plants. Still, I don’t like killing things (except those horrid weed vines!) so I just left it there. Every year it grew tall but every year it remained flowerless.

Then last Fall, we hired a tree service to cut back the trees around the house. I didn’t think any more about it until last week, when my rose bush suddenly burst into flower. The tree guy really didn’t cut much off that tree and yet it was obviously just enough to allow those flowers to bloom.

As I took the picture posted with this blog, I thought about how similar this is to the process I go through when writing a resume. So much of the information I learn about a client would actually obscure his or her potential if I included it in the resume. My job is to cut away the ivy and weed vines, and to shine enough light on key facts in order to help my client realize his or her potential.

I think that most people view writing a resume as an exercise in factual documentation (“I worked in this place for this many years and these were the things I did. Then I went to this place and stayed there for 3 years and here is what I did”). But it’s not that at all. It’s a selective process, a filtering process – your job when writing a resume is to determine the important information and then create a document that allows that information to shine out from the page – just like my lovely red rose bush.