Not Everything Should Go In Your Resume
When you submit a targeted resume for a specific LOGCAP or overseas contractor job, there is one item you may want to give strong consideration to leaving out. I am referring to your Objective, particularly one that states something like “Seeking a position (in whatever) where I can advance my career with a company that will recognize how awesome I am.”
Some people even have the audacity to follow that up by saying, “If you do not have a position as (whatever), please pick one for me that you think I will be good at.” Incredible, I know – but I see it all the time.
I know there are different schools of thought regarding Objective statements. But in my humble opinion, they are self serving, insulting to the reader’s intelligence and make the applicant look like they have no self confidence. It’s effectively begging the recruiter to find a job for you, as you are plainly stating that you have no idea about what your abilities are, and worse, are wholly incapable of formulating and developing a coherent statement.
Another item you may want to give a second thought to including on your resume is every certificate you’ve ever acquired. Not only boring, but all it shows is that you like to take courses. Plus, they are especially not worth the paper they are written on if they were obtained open book and online, with as many retakes as you want until obtaining a passing score.
So, where’s your edge?
Recruiters are like Joe Friday of the old Dragnet series – they want the facts – just the facts – which, if you’ve been working for a while centers around your hard skills.
When a recruiter is scanning resumes, they’re thinking, “What can you actually do for me and my company?” and “Why would I want to give you the time of day by glancing at your resume for any more than 3 – 5 seconds?”
Your resume has to be constructed in a manner which entices the recruiter to read further, with each section adding to and building on the other, drawing them deeper and arousing their curiosity. Ultimately your goal is help them decide to talk with you about opportunities for which you are a good fit.
Applying for LOGCAP or overseas jobs is a lot like playing the lottery – don’t be hasty and rely on a quick pick when it comes to submitting your resume. Take your time, choose your words and how you present yourself very, very carefully.
Chance favors the prepared person, so give your resume every opportunity for success by making sure it’s the best it can be.
Feel free to contact me at info@logcap4jobs.com for a complimentary evaluation of your present resume, and be sure to visit my site at www.logcap4jobs.com.
Comments
3 Responses to “Not Everything Should Go In Your Resume”
Leave a Reply
A much needed blog article about resumes.
I’ve seen thousands of resumes from people (not only the ex-military) with the “seeking a challenging job where I can use my skills” objective. I’ve found that these people really don’t realize they are being perceived in an unflattering way. Many of them try to write resumes themselves because they search all over the Web for resume samples. So, imitiating a bad sample creates a bad resume, ad infinitum.
But reducing an objective statement to the Job Title of a specific job ad or vacancy announcement can be helpful, whether the Objective statement ends up in the final resume draft or not.
If a job seeker lists as his objective, for instance, Logistics Analyst, this “objective” functions as rhetorical theme of the resume document.
Everything that is included in the resume must provide proof that the resume owner is both a qualified and competitive job candidate for a specific opening. For those people who truly are competitive job candidates, this is never a problem. For the partially or not qualifed, this is always a problem.
In my experience, the “seeking a challenging job where I can use my skills” objective is a flag for a less qualified and/or less competitive job candidate.
Randall
MilitaryJobHunts.com
I also loathe the Objective statement but for an entirely different reason: it seems to limit your search scope as well. In my opinion, just put “you” out there. Here’s something I was able to recently hash out:
“Computer Systems Engineer and Senior Administrator with eleven years of experience. IT Project Manager and Team Lead with XXX years of product delivery experience. Intelligence Analyst and Linguist fluent in X and YZ with ten years of active duty military experience. Current XXX with SSBI security clearance.”
I’ve muddied the waters a bit but you see how just “putting it out there” gets the job done.
Spot-on Gentlemen. Those who have the knowledge, skills, abilities and experience never have a problem with conveying their KSA’s – but the wannabe’s are always going to struggle with trying to sell themselves.
To a large degree, many – and I do mean MANY resumes are filled with fluff and hollow expressions like “Multi-tasker; good with people”, etc. – plainly an attempt to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse. Recruiters are not impressed. Take for instance a person who is a Truck Driver. Now don’t anybody get me wrong here – I’ve got nothing but respect for Truck Drivers, and the only reason I can use Truck Drivers for an example is because I had twenty years behind the wheel myself and that earns me a little wiggle-room – so don’t all you drivers get riled-up and start sending me hate mail. 4?
But the fact of the matter is that I’ve seen Truck Drivers call themselves everything in the world EXCEPT a Truck Driver on a resume. One of my personal favorites is, “Transportation Relocation Specialist” and a close second to that is, “Freight Relocation Specialist”. You’d do just as well to call yourself a “Professional Steering Wheel Holder”. So if you’re a Truck Driver, BE PROUD! Say you’re a Truck Driver!
Anyway, remember that recruiters are like Joe Friday of the old Dragnet series and you can’t go wrong – they want the facts mam… just the facts.