Resume Help - International VP
I received a CV from a potential client who requested a free critique and I must say that this is one for the record books. I have changed the information to protect her identity, and am going to do this particular critique a bit differently than some of my others because her résumé is so long that it would be impossible to show you. We will call her Sveetla.
;)
Sveetla is an Indian national at the VP level. Unfortunately, her CV does not position her well at all as the highly qualified senior level executive she is. When I provide you with the list of reasons why, you will clearly understand what an injustice Sveetla is doing to herself with this version of her résumé.
Normally I mention the importance of headlines, core competencies, and other critical résumé features, but for today, there are so many challenges that Sveetla has, I have chosen to make a numbered list of the top 10 problems with her CV.
Many of these problems are things you may be doing too, so this should be helpful.
1. Her résumé is 6 pages long. (At most, it should be no more than 2 or 3 pages at her career level.)
2. She is using 12 point font with 1.5 line spacing. (This is part of why her résumé is 6 pages long.)
3. She uses the first person “I” throughout her document. (This is a résumé no-no.)
4. Her English sentence structure and grammar are extremely poor. (Not VP level)
5. She mentions having 30 years of experience. (This might lead to age discrimination.)
6. Her résumé is a functional résumé with almost no detail about specific jobs. (This never works.)
7. She uses several different fonts throughout her document. (Stick with one or two fonts.)
8. I have no idea from this résumé what she wants to do. (It should be clear to the reader.)
9. She mentions building company up to get ROI, but gives no detail. (Must reference examples.)
10. Her résumé has no visual appeal. (The dates aren’t aligned, it is verbose, and it is unattractive.)
Bottom line on this one, Sveetla will not get interviews with this résumé. She should consider having a professional revise it or at the very least have a friend with stronger English skills assist her.
If you would like to have your résumé critiqued, either privately or on our weekly Résumé Critique blog, please email debra@careersdonewrite.com
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Dear Readers,
In conjunction with Job Search Digest, we will be conducting a webinar on February 8, 2011, Financial Résumé Writing – Extreme Résumé Makeovers. It is open to all candidates regardless of industry, but space is limited.
For further info or to enroll go to EXTREME RESUME MAKEOVER