Jan 09, 2015

Late last year I had the privilege to interview one of my past clients regarding her experience with Best Word Forward and get some of her feedback on résumés and the interview process.

I met and worked with Juli in one of my previous jobs. We worked in different offices and in two different states, but worked closely together on several occasions. After I was laid off and started my journey on reviewing and editing résumés, Juli heard about my work and came to me asking to look over her résumé. I was more than happy to do so and with the help of my review, she has been able to land a new job in the last year.

I am very excited to bring you a few highlights of my interview with Juli on the blog today. For regular updates on what is happening at Best Word Forward, please sign up for the free newsletter.

BWF: What prompted you to look at updating your résumé?

Juli: It had been a long time since I updated it and things were changing at my company. I wanted to investigate updating a résumé and new that having someone else would see things that I didn’t in my résumé. Even for internal promotions you need a good résumé and there is no one résumé anymore.

BWF: What do you think is the hardest part about writing or updating your résumé?

Juli: It’s all hard. The hardest part is that I know what I do every day, but I don’t know how to tell someone else what I do and capture it correctly. I needed to make sure I was representing myself in the best way possible and not being too narrow with my skills and experience.

I also had trouble with the formatting of my résumé. I wanted to make sure my résumé was formatted in a way that made it appealing to the eye and would get the correct attention from recruiters and hiring managers.

BWF: What do you think is the most important part of a résumé?

Juli: I think the most important part of the résumé is to use the correct words of the day. You need to have something in your résumé that stands out in a way that gets you in for an interview. Once I get an interview, I know I can kill it but you need to have something that makes them want to know you better. It’s like a book with the last page ripped out. If you can’t do that, then it becomes “what’s the difference?” If you have four people with the same degree, you need to have some way to differentiate them.

BWF: If you could improve one thing about your résumé as it stands today, what would it be?

Juli: I want to keep it updated and a little less industry specific. My dream in life has always been to work for a non-profit and I want to be in a place where I can jump on an opportunity in that space if it becomes available.

BWF: Since working with Best Word Forward, what changes have you made to improve your résumé?

Juli: Everything you to me to! You were able to help me say the same thing in much less space and you helped me make it look like a résumé instead of “what has Juli done for the last 30 years?”

I also think it’s a good idea to have more than one résumé. You need to be able to have different résumés for different positions.

BWF: If given the opportunity, would you participate in a mock interview as practice for your next job interview?

Juli: I would. I’ve never had the opportunity, but I’m a talker so it’s good for me to run through it and have someone tell me “quit saying…” I think it would be a wonderful idea. A lot of people fear that part and if they practice it, they’ll be less fearful. You only get one chance to do your thing the best you can.

I think that people, if they read a job description, they see the things they can’t do. I wish people understood that even if they haven’t done everything on a job description, it doesn’t mean it’s not something you can do.

You can teach anyone a job, but the number one thing is caring. You can’t teach people to care and it’s the people that care that will keep going no matter what. With caring comes ownership.

BWF: Have you ever conducted interviews yourself?

Juli: Yes. We usually interview in groups at our office. The person needs to be able to get along with all of us. The thing I’m looking for is that the men in the group ask more direct questions that have to do with the job. The questions I ask are more along the lines of how are you going to react when a problem comes up? I’m looking for someone who is fluid and has the skills but can easily adapt to the situations they are in. It has to be someone who can handle difficult situations, not just the skills.

That’s it! I want to give a huge thank you to Juli for indulging me and answering my questions. If you are interested in a résumé review or re-write, please contact me today.