|
I'm frequently asked if there is really any purpose to having more than one resume. Yes! Absolutely! It's that simple.
If you have changed careers or worked in different industries, it's difficult to put all that information on a few pages concisely. Nor should you even try! Too much information, especially information that makes it seem as if you can't make up your mind about a career, is never going to impress any hiring manager.
Take a look at some of these situations below. Each one describes a real life situation with a client whose work history benefited from multiple resumes.
Sandy had spent her early years after high school working in a local grocery store and working her way up to manager. At 35 she wanted a change and she studied to become a nurse. After five years as a nurse, her husband was transferred 1,000 miles away and she needed to find a job quickly in her new town. She came to see me for help. I created two separate resumes for her (retail food and nursing) and she had job offers from both sectors.
Paul spent ten years as a "temp". He loved the flexibility, he enjoyed meeting new people every few months, and he took advantage of learning each new job function in detail. As a result, when he was planning to finally settle down, marry and find a permanent job, he had managed to accumulate some very diverse but valuable skills, albeit, with little similarity to each other. I developed two resumes for Paul – one that detailed his experience as an office clerk (accounts receivable, word processing, etc.) and another that outlined his abilities as a laborer (forklift, delivery truck driver, shipping/receiving, etc.) He had many offers to choose from.
Jerry had received a degree in marine biology. After working at a few internships he could not find a permanent position in the field so he was forced to take a job in retail. The store went out of business and Jerry found himself at a crossroads. He really wanted to try one more time to get a job in his field of study. Jerry ended up with two separate resumes detailing his quite diversified experiences and ultimately was able to put both areas of expertise to work for him – he accepted a position as a store manager with a company that specialised in the sale of tropical fish.
As you can see from the above examples, each client had an ideal situation that all but mandated the multiple resumes. They had experience in more than one area, and they were willing and able to accept a position in either field. This is a key point – you must be willing and able to accept a position in the fields covered by your resumes. In other words, there is absolutely no sense in having a resume that discusses your experience as veterinary assistant if you are no longer interested in that occupation.
Equally as important as when you should have more than one resume, is when you should not.
I frequently speak with clients who tell me they just don't know where to start when it comes to building their resume. As I learn more about their work history it becomes very clear what their issue is: they are job hoppers. In other words, they get bored with one job and hop to another.
I even find this sometimes acceptable especially in a situation where a recent grad is trying to find his true calling, or perhaps there is a severe economic downturn and a worker needs to take whatever job is available simply to eat and pay the rent.
Usually, however, these workers do not fall within the ranks described above. They just happen to have no continuity in their career path. They have had job after job, in industry after industry, to no avail. They finally reach the point where they can't find another job, and they are uncertain as to how to proceed.
The more frequently you change jobs, the more difficult it will become to find your next job. Multiple resumes won't help. Multiple resumes must add value to your career path. They are not intended to hide bad career choices or periods of unemployment.
Here is a perfect example of someone who should not consider multiple resumes. Kathy's 8 years of work experience looked like this:
6 months at a pet store
1 ½ years as a nurse's aid
1 month as a daycare worker
2 years as a nanny
3 months as a cook
1 year of misc. housekeeping jobs
1 year working at a hospital gift shop
5 months cleaning cages at an animal shelter
Kathy originally thought it would be a good idea to have a resume focusing on her child care abilities but she claims she doesn't enjoy this line of work. This relates directly to the point I made earlier – if you are going to use multiple resumes, you must be willing and able to accept a position in either field. Kathy wasn't willing to do this.
If your own employment history is similar to Kathy's, you need one outstanding resume highlighting your abilities (a "functional" resume), not focusing on your individual jobs.
DO consider multiple resumes if:
You had experience in different types of jobs during one time period. Let's say you were a lab technician during the day and you sold real estate nights and weekends.
You made a significant career change, perhaps you started as an English teacher but went into computer programming.
You were employed by a large company for a lengthy period of time and worked in many departments. Perhaps there are one or two job functions you'd like to stress – the marketing positions and the accounting positions.
One final note: it is perfectly acceptable on both your new resumes, within your objective statements, to explain that even though you have other credentials, you want to concentrate on (whatever your choice is) for your now.
|
