Just ran across an article about resumes and their length. At "Martin and Associates People Source" our team sees hundreds of resumes each week as we work with restaurant managers. As a restaurant management recruiter, I speak to many candidates who are worried about the length of their resumes and how "too many pages" looks to a potential employer.
My advice...first of all, realize that the look of your resume will, in a lot of cases, be the deciding factor as to whether your background gets a second look. Forgo the pretty flowers...the "fake" expensive paper...and the elaborate illegible artistic print! I actually saw a resume the other day "online" that actually had flashing lights!! To me that's an automatic "file 13". Look, I, as a restaurant management recruiter, I might give your resume 15-25 seconds of "eye time". I don't want to waste my eyesight or my time trying to decipher the writing amidst the personal frills. Keep it neat and legible.
Second, a resume for all practical purposes your resume is merely your "entry ticket" to the interview. It is not your life history, but it is the first impression a hiring manager will have on you with out actually seeing you. With that said, your resume needs to explain you, but should do that in a concise fashion. Forget about giving me your "Career Objective". I know your objective...it's to move your career forward. If you want to include a summary paragraph at the end, I can deal with that. But I want to see your background and experience. In writing that, include as much "pertinent" detail as possible including complete dates of employment with each of your companies...recent employment first then descending.
Include details about your positional responsibilities. List detailed responsibilities not generalities.
Also, list previous responsibilities that translate to the position for which you are applying.
List all of your work experience. Do not stop with just the most recent. I think this is where most folks get concerned. If is runs your resume to more than 1 or 2 pages, that is no the end of the world. The longer your resume dates back, if needed translatable experience can be shortened or abbreviated. Just try not to emit experience that definitely translates to the new position.
Include your education and pertinent accomplishments. Not grade school!! High school and college dates definitely.
Remember everyone that a resume is an introduction, not a life history! The real making point in your job hunt is your interview! Resumes do not have to be written by someone like John Cheever!! Keep it simple and concise.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
On "Why Recruiters Exist"...
I must comment on “Why Recruitment Consultants Exist”…
I really enjoyed the Blog article on why recruitment consultants exist. As a Restaurant Management Recruiter I wanted to put my thoughts into this. Our firm is composed of former restaurant managers. We are definitively “consultants” to our restaurant management candidates…and in many ways to our clients. At Martin and Associates People Source, we do not exist only to fill the jobs of our restaurant clients, but also to fulfill the needs and wants of our restaurant management candidates in regards to moving their career forward. I hear the author of the article say that normally a management recruiter will “typically” “call companies asking if they have any jobs that he/she can fill”. To our team at Martin and Associates People Source, this seems like a terribly impersonal and “car dealerish” way to do business. Our restaurant management recruiting team has developed personal relationships with our clients over the course of 18 years. We do not spend time necessarily calling our clients for job needs; rather they call us for help…on a daily and weekly basis! Our wheels are constantly in motion looking for qualified restaurant management candidates for our clients.
But in addition to the personal relationships we have with our clients, we take equally great pride in building that personal relationship with each of our restaurant management candidates. All of our restaurant management recruiters have shared the anxieties of our candidates. We have spent years actually running restaurants, facing the day-in and day-out grind that our candidates face. Our restaurant recruiting team can relate to our candidates. As former restaurant managers, we have also faced the struggles of finding great talent for our restaurants. We understand the pitfalls and time wasted in searching through 100 resumes just to find 10 that you want to interview, only to end up with maybe 1 candidate that you feel pressured to hire because you are up against a time line! I do agree with the author that our industry is similar to a “dating agency” acting as a forum for “employer/employees”. However, we endeavor to make that date end up as a successful, long-term marriage! I also agree with the author that we cannot guarantee that even as a seasoned restaurant manager “you will find a job” or that as a client “you will find the employee”, but we strongly narrow the gap between those possibilities. I would be ashamed to agree with the author that the “candidates tend to get the worst of the service” and that “they are perceived as the customer since they don’t pay for the service”. Our restaurant management recruiter team treats our candidates with the same value we treat our 60+ clients. Our commitment to help people testifies to this.
While the author eludes to recruitment consultants keeping up with “reading newspapers” and “keeping themselves up to date with what is happening in their field”…at Martin and Associates People Source, our restaurant recruiters keep up with what is happening in our filed through the personal relationship we have with our clients. When we begin helping our candidates, we know just what companies are looking and how a candidates experience does or does not fit a specific need. So we cut the time it takes for a candidate to sort through options. We help our candidates in identifying what is important to them in their career from all angles…whether that is the ability to move forward quickly ; perhaps quality of life; or perhaps a search for a greater base salary. Once we help them identify these things, we can help them understand which of our clients can meet those motivators. And we directly put them in front of decision makers…not just faces that interview only to pass them to the next level of a 6 step process! Our restaurant management recruiters deal directly with decision makers.
The author of the blog indicates the difficulty of selling oneself in an interview and the fear most people have in this area. When we work with a restaurant management candidate we work though helping them identify what their talents and skills are and how those talents match directly with the requirements of the position our clients need to fill. We present our candidates skills to our clients and teach our candidates how to also present their talents to in an interview. We pacify the fears of interviewing!!
In summary, Martin and Associates People Source, restaurant management recruiters are genuine restaurant consultants to our candidates. We are full circle restaurant management recruiters, not only connecting great people with great companies…but escorting them through the gate and down the isle of marriage to a new restaurant management career. Martin and Associates People Source exists for the benefit of our clients and our candidates.
I really enjoyed the Blog article on why recruitment consultants exist. As a Restaurant Management Recruiter I wanted to put my thoughts into this. Our firm is composed of former restaurant managers. We are definitively “consultants” to our restaurant management candidates…and in many ways to our clients. At Martin and Associates People Source, we do not exist only to fill the jobs of our restaurant clients, but also to fulfill the needs and wants of our restaurant management candidates in regards to moving their career forward. I hear the author of the article say that normally a management recruiter will “typically” “call companies asking if they have any jobs that he/she can fill”. To our team at Martin and Associates People Source, this seems like a terribly impersonal and “car dealerish” way to do business. Our restaurant management recruiting team has developed personal relationships with our clients over the course of 18 years. We do not spend time necessarily calling our clients for job needs; rather they call us for help…on a daily and weekly basis! Our wheels are constantly in motion looking for qualified restaurant management candidates for our clients.
But in addition to the personal relationships we have with our clients, we take equally great pride in building that personal relationship with each of our restaurant management candidates. All of our restaurant management recruiters have shared the anxieties of our candidates. We have spent years actually running restaurants, facing the day-in and day-out grind that our candidates face. Our restaurant recruiting team can relate to our candidates. As former restaurant managers, we have also faced the struggles of finding great talent for our restaurants. We understand the pitfalls and time wasted in searching through 100 resumes just to find 10 that you want to interview, only to end up with maybe 1 candidate that you feel pressured to hire because you are up against a time line! I do agree with the author that our industry is similar to a “dating agency” acting as a forum for “employer/employees”. However, we endeavor to make that date end up as a successful, long-term marriage! I also agree with the author that we cannot guarantee that even as a seasoned restaurant manager “you will find a job” or that as a client “you will find the employee”, but we strongly narrow the gap between those possibilities. I would be ashamed to agree with the author that the “candidates tend to get the worst of the service” and that “they are perceived as the customer since they don’t pay for the service”. Our restaurant management recruiter team treats our candidates with the same value we treat our 60+ clients. Our commitment to help people testifies to this.
While the author eludes to recruitment consultants keeping up with “reading newspapers” and “keeping themselves up to date with what is happening in their field”…at Martin and Associates People Source, our restaurant recruiters keep up with what is happening in our filed through the personal relationship we have with our clients. When we begin helping our candidates, we know just what companies are looking and how a candidates experience does or does not fit a specific need. So we cut the time it takes for a candidate to sort through options. We help our candidates in identifying what is important to them in their career from all angles…whether that is the ability to move forward quickly ; perhaps quality of life; or perhaps a search for a greater base salary. Once we help them identify these things, we can help them understand which of our clients can meet those motivators. And we directly put them in front of decision makers…not just faces that interview only to pass them to the next level of a 6 step process! Our restaurant management recruiters deal directly with decision makers.
The author of the blog indicates the difficulty of selling oneself in an interview and the fear most people have in this area. When we work with a restaurant management candidate we work though helping them identify what their talents and skills are and how those talents match directly with the requirements of the position our clients need to fill. We present our candidates skills to our clients and teach our candidates how to also present their talents to in an interview. We pacify the fears of interviewing!!
In summary, Martin and Associates People Source, restaurant management recruiters are genuine restaurant consultants to our candidates. We are full circle restaurant management recruiters, not only connecting great people with great companies…but escorting them through the gate and down the isle of marriage to a new restaurant management career. Martin and Associates People Source exists for the benefit of our clients and our candidates.
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