July 2, 2004, Newsletter Issue #24: WHAT Company?

Tip of the Week

"Identify the company?" You say. "But I DO! How could I write my resume and not name the company?"

Right. Good point. But unless you work for UPS or Macy`s or FedEx, for example, the company name of your employer says nothing.

Remember that the objective of a resume is to make things easy for the reader. If your accomplishments and background speak well enough for themselves, perhaps the hiring authority will research the name of your employer. Or maybe he won`t.

If you`ve been a marketing director how is the hiring authority to know how HIS need compares to YOUR experience?

Make it easy for them. Yes, sometimes the explanation works to your disadvantage. But that`s a time when you WANT to be screened out. In the meantime, when the explanation works to your advantage, you are then screened in, rather than discarded - simply because there were no clues as to who and what your employer is or was.

Here`s how it should be done:
your dates of employment - as we discussed in an earlier issue) - are far left. Space over and type the name of the company, then the city and state. Directly under - and in line with - the name of the company (which should be in bold), type a short description of the company.

Put it in italics to differentiate from the bold of the company name, the bold of your position, and the regular font face of bulleted accomplishments.

Your description might read something like this:
Publicly held company with 400+ branch offices nationwide selling home furnishings retail.

You want to give an idea of the size of the company, what it does, and who its market is. This helps the hiring company to place you and your experience in context and in relation to what they are looking for.

Inertia is often a BIG factor in resume screening. Most companies, most HR people, most hiring authorities screen OUT rather than screen IN.

This means:
-- if they don`t see what they are looking for - you`re out.
-- if they don`t have all the information they need to know - you`re probably out.
-- if any of those factors exist and nothing else looks enticing enough to overcome an inclination to seek an asnwer to a question - you`re definitely out.

One company might screen you out because of a vast difference in company size. Another one will NOT screen you out specifically because your company description/information tells them you fit with them - so they weren`t left wondering (and screened you out anyway).

If you don`t provide the information that they need to make a decision, their decision is likely to default to "no." Who`s in control there? Not you!

Keep yourself in control by giving them the facts. When they call you in, then the ball`s in your court


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