How to accentuate the positive in a resume?

April 19, 2006 10:31 AM

How do I tailor my resume to a position I have no direct experience in? Bonus: What to do about employers who think I want to have babies?

Background: In December I graduated from university with a BA in Anthropology and Criminal Justice. My original intention was to go to law school, but after much debate, decided I didn't want to spend three years and over 100k pursuing something I wasn't sure I even wanted to do. Prior to returning to school three years ago, I worked as an executive assistant and alternately as a technical support engineer. My current resume is geared towards an executive assistant position. However, after speaking with several recruiters and going on a few interviews I have been told I am over qualified and my salary expectations are too high for what is available. (Let me vent for a moment that one prospective employer took one look at me and started talking about consistency and maternity leave not being available. I'm 28, look younger, but this has come up twice so far.)

Anyway, I found a great entry-level consultant position at a major software vendor that looks very promising. I would fulfill a good percentage of the job requirements (I have a BA but not a BS). Several years ago I received my MCSE, but never had an opportunity to really utilize the certification. According to the job description, networking knowledge is a plus. My problem is I'm not sure how to go about tailoring my resume to a consultant position. Especially an entry-level one. It would be great to list the MCSE, but it's been years since I've even thought about networking anything. Any additional resume tips are appreciated. I am also concerned about how to handle my appearance/age. I know it is illegal for them to flat-out ask me how old I am, however I don't know how I can deflect any underlying doubts they may have about my pregnancy prospects (which are zero). Of course I wouldn't dream of bringing the subject up, but perhaps a few subtle hints that this is not in my future plans.

posted by jessica to work & money (14 comments total)

I am also concerned about how to handle my appearance/age.

Business formal (suit & pumps), conservative hairstyle (French twist is always good, if your hair is long enough), subtle makeup.

This doesn't necessarily make you look older, but it does project maturity and professionalism.

If you hate the idea of this kind of dress code (and I do), you could always change careers and become either a civil engineer or a geologist, and come to work in jeans and a sweatshirt. :)
posted by luneray at 10:42 AM on April 19, 2006

I don't think what I am wearing is an issue. I've already been following those recommendations and have previously worked in a professional environment for 10 years. I can't do anything about the freckles.
posted by jessica at 10:54 AM on April 19, 2006

Wow! I feel the potential employer is way out of line for bringing up the maternity issue out of the blue. If it is couched in a full description of the available benefits or if you ask about it; fine. Otherwise, it is none of their business until you have a need for maternity leave.

As luneray mentioned, dress professionally for the interview. There are lots of previous AskMe threads with proper attire suggestions.
posted by onhazier at 10:56 AM on April 19, 2006

They won't ask about pregnancy. It is illegal. Do not mention it.
posted by crazycanuck at 10:56 AM on April 19, 2006

One last thought: Tweak your resume a bit for each job for which you apply. If you're not applying for an admin assistant job, then downplay your prior experience and highlight your education or experience you gained from your education.
posted by onhazier at 11:00 AM on April 19, 2006

Interviewers should not even be saying the words "pregnancy" or "maternity leave" unless they perhaps they are discussing their own. That topic ought to be off-limits.

I know it's small consolation but in my experience, the best treatment you will ever get from an employer is during the interview process, so if they are assholes during the interview, you can count on them being 100 times worse on the job. Trust me, take the red flag as a signal that you don't want to work there.
posted by ambrosia at 11:07 AM on April 19, 2006

The MCSE is a dime a dozen (at least around here they are) - perhaps you would want to highlight your technical support & troubleshooting experience above that? By all means, list it under "Education" but I wouldn't bank on scoring a job just because of an MCSE that's a few years old.

Focus on your other qualities. Organized? Technical troubleshooting? College educated?

It's worth a shot. I have no college degree and am only halfway through a few certifications, but even in the dot-com crash I was only unemployed for a few months. Plus, I'm fat and gnarly looking. :P
I have found that consultant gigs often require you to sell yourself & your services (the technical ones) quite well. I am not a sales person. Maybe you're not either.
Are you more of a hardware or software geek?

My best advice (and I apologize for rambling) is to go for it and focus on the skills that you are strongest with. And by all means, keep looking everywhere you can. You'll find something!
posted by drstein at 11:12 AM on April 19, 2006

Read this article about some recent changes in how companies must track applicants. It has some good advice and may help you tweak your resume, especially in light of how to describe your experience.
posted by karmaville at 11:12 AM on April 19, 2006

Google up other people's resumes in that field and see how they present themselves.

On a resume don't specify numbers of years and dates unless it helps. Instead of "MSCE certified, 1999" just say "MSCE certified". If "3 years experience as project lead" doesn't look good then just say "project lead".

Also on a resume don't list jobs that are completely unrelated or describe only the aspects of the job that are related to what you want to do now. For example instead of "executive assistant" call it "internal tech support"and briefly describe just the technical aspects of that job ... is that lying? Not if a good portion of that job involved solving technical issues, perhaps that employer called you an "executive assistant" but by most standards it may have actually been internal support.

Use short and punchy bullet point lists: "MCSE certified, group manager, network design, etc". It does not matter which job you performed these functions for and when, or if it was your hobby or volunteer work or even a favor for a relative. Knowledge is knowledge no matter where it came from or how it was appplied, so go ahead and list it.

There are no laws governing what you can and can't put on your resume, as long as you feel comfortable backing it up in an interview then go for it.

Any company that misbehaves during an interview by asking innappropriate questions is probably not a good employer anyway. Rather than politely leave the interview I would ask the interviewer "So is it your company policy to not hire women in their twenties?" and make them squirm. At least let them know they are being jerks.
posted by StarForce5 at 11:13 AM on April 19, 2006

Maybe do a skills based resume instead of a chronological one. This allows you to put the techy stuff up front where it will be most noticed. So what if you haven't used the MCSE in years? If it's the most relevant bullet point, stick it at the top. Stuff that you are less interested in highlighting can go in the middle of the resume which nobody is going to really remember anyway.

If you can do anything at all to make a personal connection within the organization, however tenuous, do it. Really brainstorm here. In my experience, being able to say "Joe Schmo gave me your name" before making a request greatly increases the chance of the request being honored. Even if all you did was cold-call Joe Shmo and ask if he knew who the appropriate person to speak to is. I am a shy soul but learning to find connections has helped me immeasurably. Emailing your resume into an HR void is way less effective than following up with a personal email (and copy of the resume) to the right person.

About the pregnancy issue: I'd just say, straight-up during the interview, that some potential employers have been concerned about maternity leave, etc, and that pregnancy is not in your plans. In a perfect world this wouldn't be an issue but it isn't a perfect world.
posted by selfmedicating at 11:22 AM on April 19, 2006

It is illegal to ask interviewees about their family status or family plans; but it would be naive to think it doesn't get play a part, however implicit, during hiring decisions. But there are no real guarantees of anyone's longevity in a particular job, male or female, so it should never be a make-or-break point anyway. It comes under the category of noticing what factors might make this employee not a good risk, especially if there is to be a significant investment in training.

So how to stave this off? Talk about your five-year life and career plan. Talk about the types of positions that would interest you down the road. Talk about the importance of career to you. Anything you say that makes it clear you're job-focused, not kid- or family- focused, will help reduce that cautiousness.
posted by Miko at 11:28 AM on April 19, 2006

I know it's small consolation but in my experience, the best treatment you will ever get from an employer is during the interview process, so if they are assholes during the interview, you can count on them being 100 times worse on the job. Trust me, take the red flag as a signal that you don't want to work there.

Ain't that the truth! My first job out of college, I interviewed with this WONDERFUL woman at a company I wasn't too crazy about. But this woman was SO nice, so lovely, I gave it a shot. When I went in for the final interview, I met the *real* boss- who asked me, so, this is your first job, yes? She hadn't even looked at my resume. She ended up firing the nice lady and being a nasty, clueless, condescending (she refused to acknowledge my *years* of work experience before working for her) woman to work for.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:29 AM on April 19, 2006 [1 favorite]

When you don't have directly related experience stop using a chronological resume, and instead focus on your skills & accomplishments that are relevant to the job you're applying for. You would put multiple examples of your skills and accomplishments in each category, and you'd target the catergories to the particular job you're applying for. You would still provide a job history, but only as a list. A better explanation and example is here.

For me, this worked great when I went from a job as assistant manager in a retail store to a clerical position in a government office. Rather than talking about retail-sounding things like number of transactions processed, product knowledge, and merchandising, I talked about my skills in problem solving, accurate record keeping, planning tasks, and interpreting corporate directives. Those were all things I had experience doing but my previous job title didn't bring all that to the forefront of a potential employers mind. When you go for an interview, be sure to have concrete examples of how you demonstrated each skill in the past.
posted by raedyn at 12:14 PM on April 19, 2006

I also suffer from looking way younger than my years and all of the suits and french twists will not make my face look older. If the interview is a little less formal I will sometimes make a joke about my age/appearance to let the interview know that I am aware of his/her possible issue with how old I may or may not be. Usually when they ask me what my greatest challenges are I will respond that I have to consistently work harder to prove myself because although I am 27 and have done X, Y, and Z (reinforce your accomplishments), my face tells people that I am 17.
posted by haplesschild at 12:45 PM on April 19, 2006