Question:
using a slogan on Executive Resume Sample Free ?
Recently, someone suggested that I use a slogan at the top of a resume
as a way of attracting attention. The rationale is that, if you can
encapuslate why employers should want to hire you in less than a dozen
words, then they are more likely to look at your resume in detail.
Has anybody else tried this approach? If so, with what results? And how
do people react to the idea? And (dare I ask) is anyone willing to
reveal what slogan they've used?
Answer:
-I think a superbly crafted 24 word or less description of what you do
and how well you do it is an excellent idea. I have reservations about
how effective it would be all by itself. Personally, I would be
suspicious of a 12-worder. "Why doesn't this person tell me more about
themselves? What are they hiding?" A non-generic, small-cheese-factor
and effective 12 word slogan would be hard to construct. If you can do
it, great! If it gets a person to actually read half your resume, you
have won the first small battle.
My "slogan" is actually the first sentence in my "executive summary". I
find a well constructed, results oriented executive summary to be the
best way to generate interest. It also helps you to weed out them. For
example, if you want to be a lead writer, then use the executive summary
to indicate your seniority.
The resume has two purposes: to either get an interview or to validate
your background before you are hired. In these times, it better quickly
indicate how good of a candidate you are. Just keep in mind that the
BEST way to get an interview is to know someone on the inside. If you
don't know someone, 6 degree of separate until you do...
-How literally do you mean the word "slogan?"
Do you mean something like this? "Keith Cronin: Documentation that tastes
great, but is less filling"
Or are you talking about a 1-2 line summary of your skills, like this?
"Keith Cronin: More than a decade of professional writing experience,
including software manuals, sales proposals, and marketing publications."
Obviously, you wouldn't use a slogan as cheesy as my example, but actual
slogans by their very nature do tend to be cheesy. "Documentation for the
21st Century." "Good doc, on time." etc. Not cool, in my opinion. Okay for
a *company* but not for an individual person.
A think a "skill summary" like the one I listed is an okay idea, probably
followed by some bullets to substantiate your claims.
The one other possible interpretation of your "slogan" inquiry would be to
give yourself a *title*. I'm in favor of that, bigtime.
Resumes are usually read by machines and/or HR drones first, neither of
which are necessarily clued in to what tech writers do. So I spoon-feed
them. My resume ALWAYS has a title on it, like "Keith Cronin - Technical
Writer" or "Keith Cronin - Proposal Manager" or whatever, depending on the
gig I'm targeting. It helps let the resume-screener know what the heck I
do, from the get-go.
Sometimes that title may be a compound one. One of my recent resumes
listed the following in my title: technical writing, information design,
proposal management
Bottom line: your resume is a TOOL used to get you an interview
