Sorry about the hiatus. A sinus infection turned into bronchitis and what's probably pneumonia but I'm pretending that I'm healthy. Anyway .... I'm leaving today for two weeks in Spain with friends and so I'm scheduling a bunch of posts for while I'm gone. Do behave yourselves, please and thank you.
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Dear Julie: Are you tired of resume questions yet? I have some and need your advice. I heard that you help people revise their resumes and have been pretty successful at it so I'm hoping that you can help me out. Last year, my board chair went through a midlife crisis and decided that he was generously going to provide me with a "life coach" for 6 months. I put off scheduling a meeting with this person but eventually went with the intention of not paying much attention. Well ... they gave me a whole bunch of advice (some of which was generic, some of which was OK and most of which was stupid). Part of the agreement was that Life Coach would update my resume for inclusion in funding requests because I've been in this role for 20+ years and the previous one for 10+ years.
So the end product is a disaster and I need help. Life Coach is so proud of this effort that they are planning to post it on their website as an example of how "awesome" they are and my board chair is equally delighted. What can I say to get them to stop waxing poetic about this hunk of junk? Can you help me revise it so it doesn't look like a mess?
[In order to protect the anonymity of our letter writer, I'm not going to share the disaster of a resume that was forwarded to me but I'll give you the highlights:
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Dear Julie: Are you tired of resume questions yet? I have some and need your advice. I heard that you help people revise their resumes and have been pretty successful at it so I'm hoping that you can help me out. Last year, my board chair went through a midlife crisis and decided that he was generously going to provide me with a "life coach" for 6 months. I put off scheduling a meeting with this person but eventually went with the intention of not paying much attention. Well ... they gave me a whole bunch of advice (some of which was generic, some of which was OK and most of which was stupid). Part of the agreement was that Life Coach would update my resume for inclusion in funding requests because I've been in this role for 20+ years and the previous one for 10+ years.
So the end product is a disaster and I need help. Life Coach is so proud of this effort that they are planning to post it on their website as an example of how "awesome" they are and my board chair is equally delighted. What can I say to get them to stop waxing poetic about this hunk of junk? Can you help me revise it so it doesn't look like a mess?
[In order to protect the anonymity of our letter writer, I'm not going to share the disaster of a resume that was forwarded to me but I'll give you the highlights:
- It's in Papyrus font.
- It's arranged in what can only be described as a "stream of consciousness" style in which experience is lumped under categories titled "Impact", "Investment", "Core Competencies", "Life Skills" and "Leadership".
- There's an Objective at the top of the resume.
- This person has more than 30 years in the nonprofit sector and the resume is less than one page.
Oh honey. Short version? You send a note to your board chair thanking them for the "interesting learning opportunity with Life Coach" and that it was certainly an educational experience that you won't soon forget but don't think you need to repeat. Then you say "as much as I understand Life Coach's desire to market themselves and that peripheral materials like this creative resume can be helpful, you have serious concerns about your privacy and therefore will not be giving permission for it to be shared. Then you're going to have me revise your resume (I work for dark chocolate and massage therapy gift cards).
For those of you playing at home (and that's pretty much my tens of fans), here's the deal ... when you're a nonprofit leader, your resume can (and should) take a pretty easy to read format. Why? You are submitting your resume to a board of VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE NO TRAINING IN BEING BOARD MEMBERS OR IN THE NONPROFIT SECTOR. They need things spelled out in a simple and accessible way. Clever and creative are great for arts organizations but human and social services? Nope. If your resume is submitted as part of federal or state grant applications, it needs to scream "I am the most competent person ever who should be entrusted with your many dollars". They do not want to see Papyrus font.
So what should be on your resume if you are a senior, nonprofit professional?
Contact Info including a professional email (kittehlovah69@aol.com is not OK) and mobile
Executive Summary: One sentence summarizing your major expertise with a few bulleted sentences below listing 3 - 6 things at which you are provably good.
Chronological Resume: Newest gig first. I have a few sentences and then 3 - 5 bullet points about some major accomplishments. Same for the second newest gig and so forth. My oldest jobs (i.e. right after college) are down to one sentence. If someone doesn't know what the hell a Store Manager does for Toys R Us (RIP), then they are too dumb to read a resume. Plus that was two decades ago. Meh.
For those of you playing at home (and that's pretty much my tens of fans), here's the deal ... when you're a nonprofit leader, your resume can (and should) take a pretty easy to read format. Why? You are submitting your resume to a board of VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE NO TRAINING IN BEING BOARD MEMBERS OR IN THE NONPROFIT SECTOR. They need things spelled out in a simple and accessible way. Clever and creative are great for arts organizations but human and social services? Nope. If your resume is submitted as part of federal or state grant applications, it needs to scream "I am the most competent person ever who should be entrusted with your many dollars". They do not want to see Papyrus font.
So what should be on your resume if you are a senior, nonprofit professional?
Contact Info including a professional email (kittehlovah69@aol.com is not OK) and mobile
Executive Summary: One sentence summarizing your major expertise with a few bulleted sentences below listing 3 - 6 things at which you are provably good.
Chronological Resume: Newest gig first. I have a few sentences and then 3 - 5 bullet points about some major accomplishments. Same for the second newest gig and so forth. My oldest jobs (i.e. right after college) are down to one sentence. If someone doesn't know what the hell a Store Manager does for Toys R Us (RIP), then they are too dumb to read a resume. Plus that was two decades ago. Meh.
Academics: This is not your fucking CV. If you are an academic, fine. Do a CV and a resume. This is about your resume. List your degree(s) and where you obtained them. If you are in the middle of a degree, list it and put (anticipated December 2018 or whatever). If you have relevant certifications (i.e. letters after your name) then put them in this section.
That's it. If they want your references, they'll ask for them. Do not write "references upon request". That's stupid.
My rule of thumb is you get one page of resume per decade of experience but at this point, I've been working for 22 years and I'm at 2 pages with 11 point font. Soon, I'll start editing down the jobs older than a decade to 1 - 2 sentences. I don't THINK I can do it in one page but I'm open to trying.
Cheers, kids! Have a great week.
That's it. If they want your references, they'll ask for them. Do not write "references upon request". That's stupid.
My rule of thumb is you get one page of resume per decade of experience but at this point, I've been working for 22 years and I'm at 2 pages with 11 point font. Soon, I'll start editing down the jobs older than a decade to 1 - 2 sentences. I don't THINK I can do it in one page but I'm open to trying.
Cheers, kids! Have a great week.
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