Posted By Amanda Collins on February 17, 2009

Unfortunately, this economy is wreaking havoc on many entrepreneurial endeavors. Many of the clients I see have had to close their doors due to poor business, and they face an uphill challenge in marketing themselves as valuable employees following 10+ years on their own.

As you’re gathering information for your résumé, there are two ways to look at accomplishments:
1. What you did to grow your business.
2. The ways you improved processes or systems for clients.

By taking these two approaches into account, you will likely come up with some really valuable accomplishments that will appeal to a future employer. Consider business development, sales, marketing, or whatever the widget is that you sold. Too many entrepreneurs think they’re locked into a certain position because that’s what they sold. I recently met a gentleman who owned a flower shop with previous experience in education and insurance sales. He is overlooking his most recent business venture because he doesn’t want to work in flowers. However, if he looks into some of the aspects of running a business, he may well stumble upon an area that will work for a future career.

Another recent client is in the IT field. For some of his accomplishments, we discussed how he had boosted clients’ business due to systems architecture and upgrade implementations. Remember that your clients’ accomplishments are YOUR accomplishments! If your efforts results in increased sales or decreased cost, own it – because you were instrumental in making that happen.

Sometimes just taking a bird’s-eye view of your experiences can help you see them in a whole new light. You will likely discover that your entrepreneurial past will be a unique value proposition to a future employer.

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Posted By Amanda Collins on February 8, 2009

I just saw a Tweet on Twitter saying a person had gotten everything he wanted to say on his resume within one page. On one end, good for him! However, my fear is that he thinks a resume has to be one page. That is how it was a few years ago, but it’s no longer the case.

A resume can actually be up to three pages. Granted, that’s more for an executive-level candidate, but it can happen. Most of the resumes I write are two pages, although I have written one- and three-page documents as well. Some good rules of thumb:

* Keep the margins consistent. I start with 1″ and then decrease as needed to fit, never going smaller than .5″.

* Fill the pages. Sure, you want some white space, but you don’t want one full page and then 1/3 of the second. If that’s the case, see what you can do to put it all on one page.

* Don’t add superfluous information. Even if you’re looking to fill two pages, don’t start adding things you don’t need like “activities and hobbies.” Stay concise.

* Years working aren’t always equivalent to length of resume. I have written some one-page resumes for 25-year careers and nearly a three-page for fewer than 10 years. Remember that you only want to go into depth for about 10-15 years to avoid age discrimination, but some consultants have had stints in various positions, so there may be more depth and space there than with a person who’s been in one company for a long time period.

Remember that The Grammar Doctors provides free resume reviews, if you’re wondering if the length of your resume is appropriate and the content pertinent. E-mail your document to us and let us take a look!

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