Is Your Resume Val-Packed?

My offer to critique your resume for free and offer my professional advice on how to improve it still stands. Just email a copy to review@firstimpressionsresumes.biz and I will let you know if you have a winning resume. If I think it is subpar for who you are or the job you are seeking, I will advise you on ways to improve it in order to impress a busy recruiter or important decision maker. For those of you who have come to the realization that you need professional help to get back to work sooner rather than later – but can’t afford the prohibitive cost of many resume services – I will work with you to get you the help you need at a price you can afford.

I just got off the phone with a resume writing client of mine, and I was so struck by a comment he made that I decided to rewrite my blog piece and share this pearl of wisdom with you.

My client, a very skilled HR executive (lets’s call him Brian) and I were talking about some of the the advise offered at a recent HR networking meeting he attended such as trying to find ways to make a resume green and dumbing down a resume so as not to appear overqualified – I won’t comment on these issues today.

Then he started telling me how one of his fellow HR associates described the resume submittal process and review process.

This fellow, let’s call him George, said HR people review resumes for open job requisitions as if they were reviewing a Val-Pak.

For those of you who don’t know what a Val-Pak is, it is a B2C direct mailing piece that has 10-25 envelope size 1or 2 sided flyers from local or national merchants. A Val-Pak usually includes coupons from Sears for carpet cleaning, a service station for a $15 auto tune-up, a discount coupon from Pizza Hut, and 1-2 dozen more coupons for assorted goods or services you may or may not need.

George’s point is that an HR person when he reviews your resume, just like when he reviews these flyers, will say I can use this one right now; this one is no quite right for immediate use but there is a good chance I will need it within the next 30 days before the offer expires so I should keep it in my active file; or this one is totally irrelevant for me and belongs in my circular file.

What struck me about what George said is how it crystallizes a point I have been making since my first blog article on Career Rocketeer when it first launched back in March, and that is that your resume is nothing other than a professionally written MARKETING DOCUMENT.

What I loved about the analogy George made is that what a person reviewing a resume looks for is exactly the same as what a person reviewing ads in a Val-Pak looks for; Value and Relevancy to their immediate or short term needs.

So when you try and write a resume or have one professionally written for you remember what George said; “your resume is one of 10-20 other offerings the reader has to choose from that day. If you want it to get noticed and get called by the reader you need to showcase your Value and offer a reason for a call for action.”

Thank you George, and thank you Brian.

Perry Newman, CPC, the driving force behind First Impressions Resumes, is a well established resume writer and executive career coach with extensive experience in numerous industries. He can be reached for a complimentary consultation at perry@firstimpressionsresumes.biz or by calling 646-894-4101.

Perry Newman

Perry Newman is a nationally-renowned job transition specialist who develops branded resumes and is a career coach for executives, professionals and MBA’s seeking six- figure positions in multiple industries within the USA. As a Certified Placement Consultant, Certified Social Media Strategist and founder and former Managing Director of a NYC-based executive search firm, Perry has a rare combination of talent and experience that is essential for your success in today’s job market. Acknowledged as a subject matter expert in his field Perry is a sought-after public speaker for radio, TV shows and career services seminars and his articles and blog posts are published in national newspapers, magazines and blogs throughout the nation and the world.