Resumes: Experience Counts but Accomplishments Count More

Resumes

Resumes: Experience Counts but Accomplishments Count More.

Is the purpose of your resume to get a  job?  Of course it is.  The best way to ensure that your resume helps you get a job is to write a resume that will set you out from the pack.

Quite often I receive resumes from job seekers people who state in the heading of the resume how long they have been in a certain industry.  I understand the value of experience.  However, a resume gives job seekers just a few words to tell a convincing story to get a job interview.

I wonder if how stating how long a person has been working is nearly as important as a person stating accomplishments or as valuable as stating names of accounts, positions a person has held, percent increases accomplished, software mastered, and other keywords that staffing personnel and hiring managers pick up visually and in computer searches.

As an illustration, if you watched Kenny Mayne, Jerry Rice, and Steve Wozniak compete in ballroom dancing in recent years, you probably know that for them to dance longer would only make them worse dancers.

In their specialties on the other hand, Kenny Mayne the sportscaster, Jerry Rice the pro’ athlete, and Steve Wozniak the computer inventor piled up great work on top of great work to the point where they are recognized as leading professionals in their field.  Their list of accomplishments is a matter of public record.

If I were to write Steve Wozniak’s resume, I would not say “Worked forty-two years in consumer electronics.”  However, drawing on material from Wikipedia, I might write something like this for Steve Wozniak’s resume:

Co-founded Wheels of Zeus 2001

    • Created wireless GPS technology
    • Brought the first programmable universal remote control to market
    • Concurrently taught fifth grade students

Co-founded Apple Computer 1976

      • Created the Apple 1 computer
      • Co-created the Apple II computer

University of California, Berkeley, CA, Bachelor of Science Degree, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,  1986

In conclusion, I recommend that people not use precious space to state how many years they have worked in an industry.  I do recommend that job seekers use valuable key words such a accounts, initiatives,  software tools, and other keywords that will be picked up visually and in computer search as staffing people and hiring managers are looking for their next hire.