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Ask the Resume Expert: How do I tell if my resume is branded?
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,Dear Laura,
I'm an Operations Director who is seeking a new position with high-end retailers. I've read your article and taken to heart your advice on creating a branded resume--or so I thought.
The trouble is, I engaged a professional resume service to write one for me, and now I'm not sure if that's what they did.
When I read this, it doesn't seem to answer the "so what" question about my skills. How do I tell if it's really branded to represent me as a candidate?
- Greg
Greg,
As you are finding out, a branded resume is really a personal marketing statement with a focused message centered on you and your impact to your employer's business. If it contains a mere recitation of your tasks and achievements, it can fall short of the mark.
If it's truly going to work for you, it should inject your personality into the mix, and help employers figure out WHO you are in addition to WHAT you do.
Your sense that the new resume doesn't brand you distinctly is not something to ignore. At this point in a tough job market, a resume must deliver a succinct, powerful message in order to grab the attention of your desired audience (in this case, that's the COO or VP of Operations).
If you want to find out whether your resume represents your personal brand, you'll have to undertake some self-analysis first.
Follow these steps to get a good idea of your brand message for comparison to your resume:
1 - Spend a bit of time holding your professional reputation up to the light. Ask colleagues, vendors, bosses, or subordinates to describe what they see as your standout qualities and proficiencies.
If this isn't possible in a tight timeframe, then mine your performance appraisals for positive comments.
You should begin to see a common thread come through in these pieces of information. Maybe you're the calm and steady force throughout chaos in your department, or perhaps you're looked to for leadership when others aren't sure how to proceed. Make notes on the themes that emerge from this analysis.
2 - Next, jot down some notes on how your work affects the bottom line.
And yes, I mean revenue, cost control, and the like. If you can't draw a correlation between your work and the company's performance, then think about the impact of projects you've managed or systems you've implemented.
Doing so should provide you with an idea of your personal contributions, and you will find that these closely parallel the branding ideas that you uncovered in Step #1.
You may find, for example, that your leadership qualities have enabled you to step in and take control of challenged projects, turn them around, and deliver them on time--saving your employer the costs incurred with overtime and an unhappy customer.
3 - Now, look carefully at your resume for these brand themes.
Do you see a representation of these specific messages (from both steps) conveyed in your resume--and in the TOP HALF of the first page to boot?
If the answer is no, then you may need to approach your resume writer to communicate your concerns, or seek out another service that offers a branding experience.
As an aside, I'd advise you to steer clear of resume services that produce identical documents (same font, presentation, layout, etc.) for each client. You can see this pattern by viewing resume samples online for the writer you select.
I'll say it again--your resume must contain a compelling message that brands YOU and YOUR abilities, not the resume company itself!
- Laura
Have a question about your resume and whether it's working for you? Be sure to drop me a note with your query to question@anexpertresume.com. Of course, you can also visit www.AnExpertResume.com to view examples of branded resumes that opened doors to new executive opportunities.
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