Before I became a career coach, I spent years not happy in my career. In spite of climbing the ladder and earning a great living, I was really unhappy. It wasn't until I learned the difference between “be" and “do" that I found career success on my own terms. Now, when people ask me in my group coaching sessions what the secret is to being happier in their careers, I share with them the magic solution. Watch this video to learn what it is.
October 30, 2012
Learn how to land a career you love
So, what are the most confusing words on a resume? You've probably come across these tricky words in your resume writing...
Compound Modifiers
A compound modifier is simply a combination of words that you place hyphens between and use as a modifier to describe something. The reason we're discussing compound modifiers is because they happen to be some of the biggest problems on resumes, and I believe they are used more on resumes than anywhere else in writing. I say it's a problem because of the tremendous number of usage mistakes.
If you review a lot of resumes, it quickly becomes apparent that many people don't understand how to use compound modifiers correctly. Some people throw a hyphen in between certain words no matter where they fall in the sentence, and others universally ignore hyphens.
The name gives a clue as to when and how to use them properly. A compound modifier is a string of two or more words that modify a noun. They usually consist of adjectives, but can also contain adverbs and nouns. Examples of compound modifiers are "hands-on manager" or "high-volume manufacturing."
It's Not All Bad News
If you're confused by all of this grammar talk, don't worry; there is an upside. Most HR departments don't seem to mind mistakes made with compound modifiers. Perhaps it's because they don't know the rules of when to use them and when not to. That's understandable. The rules seem to change depending on who you ask and where you work.
There are a few general rules though, and they're easy to learn. If you follow even the primary one, you should be okay.
Basic Rules
Hyphenate a compound modifier when it comes before a noun, and don't hyphenate it when it comes after a noun. Here are common examples found on resumes:
- Hands-on
- High-volume
- High-precision
- World-class
- Close-tolerance
- Long-term
- Leading-edge
- Self-motivated (but not highly motivated—see exceptions)
Examples
Here are some examples of compound modifiers in a sentence:
- The couple was in a long-term relationship. (Long-term is hyphenated because it comes before the noun. Long-term functions as a compound adjective describing the word relationship.)
- He was a hands-on manager.
- The product was produced in high volume. (No hyphen because high volume comes after the noun.)
- We need experience with high-volume, close-tolerance manufacturing, and we prefer someone who is self motivated. (Note that high-volume and close-tolerance are hyphenated, and self motivated is not.)
Sometimes the missing hyphen changes the meaning of what you're trying to say. Consider the following sentence, with and without the hyphen:
- My cousin is a high school teacher.
- My cousin is a high-school teacher.
Exceptions
As always, especially with the English language, there are exceptions to the rules. I'm only going to list the ones that come up on resumes. If you're interested in digging deeper into the others, consult a good style guide or one of the many wonderful grammar sites on the internet.
- Don't hyphenate if you use the word very, or if you use an adverb ending in -ly.
- Don't hyphenate if one of the words is a single letter.
- So you would write highly motivated manager, or very intense negotiations, with no hyphens.
- And you would write class A license with no hyphens.
Bottom Line
Resumes are critical tools for securing an interview. Making a mistake with a compound modifier isn't the worst you can do, by far, but doing it right gives you another chance to shine and stand out from the crowd.
It doesn't take long for you to learn how to do them right, or to find someone who does. The decision is up to you. You can go with the crowd and make mistakes and hope it doesn't matter. Or, you can get it done right, and show them you're serious about this opportunity.
Need more help with your resume?
Check out our FREE resources page and Live Events Calendar.
Or, join our career growth club today and get access to one-on-one career coaching, resume and cover letter reviews, online tutorials, and unlimited networking opportunities—all in your back pocket!
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This post was originally published at an earlier date.
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"Companies have moved away from the 'command and control' decision-making style," says Marie Holmstrom, the Charlotte, N.C.-based director of talent management and organization alignment with Towers Watson. "Managing day-to-day decisions takes away [leaders'] perspective and capacity to focus. Leaders must lead through others. You don't accomplish that only with technical skills. You have to have [those skills], but to achieve the next level of success, you have to be able to lead through others."
Research from HBR states, "Once people reach the C-suite, technical and functional expertise matters less than leadership skills and a strong grasp of business fundamentals." In a nutshell, soft skills.
Female traits are winning.
There are a lot of experts jumping on the bandwagon of the evolving leadership model. Soft skills have always been at the heart of great leadership. With the research that John Gerzema and Michael D'Antoniove published in their recent book, we need to take note that two-thirds of survey respondents felt that "the world would be a better place if men thought more like women."
I always associate the softer side with female traits. However, I can't tell you how many times I have been told I wasn't "warm and fuzzy" enough as an HR leader. That's insulting to say the least, as I am sure a man in a similar position would not be given that feedback. However, I did embody loyalty and intuitiveness—both feminine traits and in the category of soft skills.
I am relieved of this renewed focus on the softer side. It allows women to lead as an authentic woman, and men to exude some of their innate qualities that otherwise might stay hidden.
Here are three soft skills every leader should be demonstrating on a daily basis to raise their game, lift up their teams, and help their organizations reach their goals.
1. Strong Communication Skills
Whether in speaking or in writing, communicating up, down, and across is always important. How you communicate is even more crucial.
Those who know how to articulate their point with influence, directness, and compassion are demonstrating a real ability to raise their organization's game.
2. The Ability To Influence
In order to influence your customers, vendors, board of directors, team, and other management, you need to be savvy. Influencing takes a soft touch, time to understand your audience, and the ability to bring them to your side of the table.
3. Humility
Yes, I put this in the top three. Humility can be defined as the quality or state of being humble; a modest opinion of one's own importance or rank.
In today's environment, leading with power and authority, albeit effective at times, are going by the wayside. Leaving your ego at the door and allowing others to lead with you is paramount to the future growth of your team and organization.
This, my friends, is humility.
There's nothing warm and fuzzy about these skills. They're just the softer side of the skills we all need to be a game-changing leader. If you want to be a great leader, focus on developing and practicing these three skills on the job today. The success of your team depends on it!
Want to land a leadership role? We can help!
Check out our FREE resources page and Live Events Calendar.
Or, join our career growth club today and get access to one-on-one career coaching, resume and cover letter reviews, online tutorials, and unlimited networking opportunities—all in your back pocket!
If you want FREE career advice in your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily Dose!
Struggling to find the right job?
Check out Work It Daily's Incredible Companies page to see snapshots of companies hiring. Work It Daily also highlights job opportunities on a daily basis on TikTok.
This post was originally published at an earlier date.
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As a certified and award-winning resume writer, I face this dilemma on a daily basis. Most resumes contain a lot of "fat" in the form of run-on sentences, unwieldy skill descriptions, lackluster branding, and unnecessary details. By trimming these problem areas, your resume can become a lean, mean, brand communication machine.
But isn't it better to include more content so you can weave in more keywords throughout your resume? No, actually.
When it comes to resume writing, less is generally more. Here's why:
- Recruiters, HR professionals, and hiring managers are, like most of us, overworked and inundated with information overload. Crisp, lean sentences filled with the right details will stand out more in a sea of candidates.
- Too many keywords in a document can actually be a negative thing because it may make it appear that you are stuffing your document for the sole purpose of ranking high in resume searches. The database systems, or Applicant Tracking Systems, that recruiters, companies, and job boards use to store and analyze incoming resumes are sophisticated enough to identify which documents have the right range of keywords specified in applicant searches—enough to meet their needs but not too much to raise eyebrows. In other words, keyword density is important, but too many keywords is a red flag.
- Important details stand out more when there is less text, especially if those details have been whittled and shaped wisely. Clogging up your resume with unnecessary information and vague details impairs its ability to communicate your brand in the four to five seconds it is screened by humans.
Let's take a look at a few length targets to give you an idea where your resume is out of balance. While there are few hard and fast resume rules, these are general guidelines that most highly experienced and credentialed writers and career coaches follow.
Resume & Content Length Guidelines
Resume Length
Most recruiters expect resumes to be two to three pages in length, with a strong preference for two pages in North America. While this varies from recruiter to recruiter, most like to see two-page resumes for job seekers with up to 10-15 years of experience. For those with considerably more experience, a three-page resume may be necessary to capture and present all relevant details.
One-Page Resume Rule
There is (and never has been) a one-page-only resume rule, though. Those with limited experience may find that length most appropriate for their needs.
Career Summaries
Career summary statements have shortened since the 2008 recession and now trend at three to six lines of text. In mid-career, mid-management, and executive resumes, it is often appropriate to add branding content to this section of the resume, though generally such material is best restricted to up to the first half of the document's first page. Work It Daily recommends ditching the career summary entirely and focusing on a headline instead—a short summary of the problem you solve that highlights your personal brand.
Core Competencies
Core competency sections are best limited to six to eight skills. At Work It Daily, we call this the "Experience Summary," which is a list of any skills and requirements you possess that are needed for a certain job and are relevant to the position you're applying for.
Bullets Per Role
Too many bulleted statements in a resume overwhelm your reader. Limit bullets to five per role if possible, but don't list fewer than three, either.
Bullet Length
Ideally, bullets should be limited to two lines of space. If additional critical details must be included, consider separating content into different bullets.
Amount of Work History to Include
Recruiters typically are most interested in the last 10-15 years of your experience, so this is the amount of experience you will want to profile on your resume. Older relevant experience can be briefly summarized in your "Additional Experience" section at the end of your resume. In most cases, any irrelevant work experience can be safely eliminated altogether. The usual exception is recent college grads and young professionals just starting out their careers who already have limited work experience to quantify and show off.
Resume Shortening Strategies
1. Say More with Less
Cut out words that aren't needed and delete words that are repeated. When you're fighting a two-line bullet length, every word counts.
2. Leverage Action Verbs
While all verbs convey action of some sort, some contain more energy and action than others. It may be accurate to say you wrote the company's five-year plan, for example, but it's more powerful to say that you strategized, authored, and executed the company's first-ever five-year plan.
3. Eliminate Passive Language
Passive language on a resume masks the true role you played in the task you're describing. The sentence, "I was exposed to different cultures, people, and challenges" is weaker than, "Gained cross-functional and cross-cultural exposure to 5 ethnicities in 12 countries," for example.
4. Be Specific
Avoid vague descriptors and phrases such as "a variety of," "many," "others," and "successfully." Replace them with specific details that add value and meaning to the text.
5. Use Numbers Whenever Possible
Numbers talk, so it's imperative to use them in resumes to quantify key achievements and context information. Don't tell your reader that you exceeded sales targets. Show them how much you surpassed goals year-over-year. Every bullet point under your "Work History" section should contain at least one number. If you only follow one tip in this article, this should be the one.
6. Reformat
Many old-style resumes and built-in MS Word templates don't use the most effective format to get a hiring manager's attention. In your resume, make sure you're using a clean, 11-18 pt. font (Arial, Calibri). Also, don't shrink your margins to fit more text on a page. This will sacrifice white space and make your resume harder to read. Finally, place your titles and employer names on one line if you held only one role with the company, and eradicate widows and orphans (stray paragraph lines and single words on a line by themselves).
7. Categorize
Some content can be categorized or sub-categorized to convey information in more powerful ways. Subdividing a long series of bullets, say, into three to four categories that emphasize the cross-functionality of your skill set will not only make your achievements easier to read, but it will also showcase your multi-function brand while adding industry-specific keywords to the resume.
8. Contextualize
Give your readers the right quality and type of detail to help them understand the full scope of your impact. For instance, if you turned around an operation, that's a critical accomplishment to include. But including before and after context details will automatically strengthen the presentation. How much money was the business losing per month or year prior to your tenure? How much profit or revenue was it generating by the time you left?
9. Focus on Results
In real estate, it's location, location, location that is critical; in resumes, it's achievements, achievements, achievements. Numerically quantified statements communicate volumes of information in fewer words while conveying your accomplishment in specific, measurable terms. Here's a sentence from a client's original resume: "Managed multimillion dollars business and IT initiatives from inception to implementation to increase productivity, reduce operational cost, and improve service quality by collaborating with IT staff, C-level executives, business users, and external healthcare service providers." Here's a revamp that shortens the sentence from 35 to 25 words while adding content to dramatically improve its results focus: "Ramped productivity 15%, cut operational costs $7M, and strengthened service quality 14%, leading $25M to $50M cross-functional business and IT initiatives from inception to rollout." Notice that the original bullet spanned three lines while the revamp needs just two.
10. Ditch Extraneous Details
Choose carefully which details you include and how you do so. For example, in the original client sentence included in the prior bullet, you'll find a list of folks this person collaborated with in his position. The results he achieved are more central to his brand so I substituted the word "cross-functional" to cover my client's list of four groups that required 11 words to describe. A distinction that underlines many of the above points is to recognize the difference between resume content that is important versus that which is critical to include.
There simply isn't room for all of your skills and entire work history on a resume, so sooner or later you have to choose which important details are must-haves. By following the 10 tips above, you'll know exactly what to include and omit so you can successfully condense your resume without losing value.
Need more help with your resume?
Check out our FREE resources page and Live Events Calendar.
Or, join our career growth club today and get access to one-on-one career coaching, resume and cover letter reviews, online tutorials, and unlimited networking opportunities—all in your back pocket!
If you want FREE career advice in your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily Dose!
Struggling to find the right job?
Check out Work It Daily's Incredible Companies page to see snapshots of companies hiring. Work It Daily also highlights job opportunities on a daily basis on TikTok.
This post was originally published at an earlier date.
The answer is: you don't have to know. And you don't have to be Superman to deliver a job-winning answer to this question.
Here are three surefire ways to answer the "What makes you unique?" interview question that will impress your interviewer.
How NOT To Answer This Challenging Question
To come up with a great answer to this interview question, first you need to know how not to answer. The hiring manager absolutely does not want to know that you play in a band on the weekends, you can solve a Rubik's Cube in 30 seconds, or that you have a pet rat.
When interviewers ask, "What makes you unique?" the real question is: Why should I hire you? Or, why should I choose you over the other people I'm interviewing? That's what you should answer.
A personal answer may be interesting, but it won't help to convince them to hire you. All of your job interview answers should focus on telling them what they need to know in order to say, "You're hired!"
Think about what makes you valuable to have in this role and why it's valuable. Those are the qualities you want to draw attention to, and now is the time to brag about them. Ultimately, employers want to know how you will save or make the company money. Prove your value, prove you have a track record of saving or making companies money by being successful in past positions, and they'll absolutely want to hire you.
Here are couple of great ways to answer the uniqueness question based on things employers really care about—your background, your experiences, and your personality or soft skills (that pertain to the job.)
Explaining Your Career Background
Here's a sample answer of what you might say when responding to this question:
"My background is a little different from others in the field, which gives me a unique perspective that has allowed me to see solutions that are creative and resourceful. For example, I came up with X solution [tell what it was] to solve Y problem, and it worked out beautifully. [Use evidence in the form of numbers, dollars, or percentages that really highlight the success of your solution.]"
Sharing Your Previous Experiences
Here's an example of what you might say when responding to this question:
"I believe that my education in X [name your degree or classes here] combined with my work experience in Y give me an especially great advantage when approaching [a typical or critical problem this job addresses]. I draw on both to solve everyday issues and special challenges. For example, in [name a situation], I took [name the action you took] and got [name the results you got—again, in the form of numbers, dollars, or percentages if you can]."
Selling Your Skills Sets/Personality
If the job description or things the interviewer has said so far let you know that soft skills like communication or organization are important for the job, you can say something like:
"I believe I have exceptional organizational skills. In my last job, I created a new system for task assignments that streamlined our productivity and improved it by 20%."
This little bit at the end—"by 20%"—transforms what would be a good answer ("I streamlined our productivity") to a standout answer. It grabs attention and tells them exactly how much you mattered. Remember: in the job search, it's all about quantifying your work experience, on your resume and in your job interviews.
Overall Strategy In Your Career
If you have any experience or skills that would make you valuable in the role, now is the time to mention it. Worry less about "uniqueness" and focus on value. Add impressiveness to your answer and make them remember you by incorporating proof of how what you have is valuable, and describe it in terms of numbers, dollars, or percentages.
Next time you have a big job interview, try using these tips to answer what makes you unique. That second phone call could be coming faster than you think!
Looking for a job? We can help!
Check out our FREE resources page and Live Events Calendar.
Or, join our career growth club today and get access to one-on-one career coaching, resume and cover letter reviews, online tutorials, and unlimited networking opportunities—all in your back pocket!
If you want FREE career advice in your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily Dose!
Struggling to find the right job?
Check out Work It Daily's Incredible Companies page to see snapshots of companies hiring. Work It Daily also highlights job opportunities on a daily basis on TikTok.
This post was originally published at an earlier date.
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