In this "sexy" episode (stick around to the end and you'll see what we mean!), we'll help you format the EXPERIENCE section of a resume, considering various scenarios and work histories.
Pinto Employment Search LLC - Logistics & Supply Chain Recruiters
Chris & Nancy Pinto, Owners
Website: https://www.pintoemployment.com/
Nancy Pinto
Phone: 201-988-2293
Email: nancy@pintoemployment.com
www.linkedin.com/in/nancypinto
Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, share and rate!
Chris Pinto
https://www.chrispinto.com/
IG: @chrispeterpinto
FB: https://www.facebook.com/chris.pinto.940
Twitter: @chrispeterpinto
LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pinto-employment-search-llc/
Email: chrispintoactor@gmail.com
Music and Sound FX Credits: https://freepd.com/
In this "sexy" episode (stick around to the end and you'll see what we mean!), we'll help you format the EXPERIENCE section of a resume, considering various scenarios and work histories.
Pinto Employment Search LLC - Logistics & Supply Chain Recruiters
Chris & Nancy Pinto, Owners
Website: https://www.pintoemployment.com/
Nancy Pinto
Phone: 201-988-2293
Email: nancy@pintoemployment.com
www.linkedin.com/in/nancypinto
Thank you for listening! Please subscribe, share and rate!
Chris Pinto
https://www.chrispinto.com/
IG: @chrispeterpinto
FB: https://www.facebook.com/chris.pinto.940
Twitter: @chrispeterpinto
LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pinto-employment-search-llc/
Email: chrispintoactor@gmail.com
Music and Sound FX Credits: https://freepd.com/
NANCY: Whether you asked for a job transition or not, searching for a new position can be scary, frustrating and disheartening. Times and technologies change quickly, and there’s a lot to organize! But the journey can just as easily be exciting, fruitful and rewarding. I’m Nancy Pinto.
CHRIS: And I’m Chris Pinto. Together we own Pinto Employment Search, an executive recruiting firm specializing in the supply chain and logistics industry. Our combined experience in transportation jobs and recruiting is over 50 years! We’re here to help you navigate the world of resume writing, job applications, interviews, negotiating compensation, and everything in between - to help you land the job you want!
From time to time, we will also release an episode where we announce current job openings we’re working on.
NANCY: Welcome to the Job Search SOS Podcast! Today we’re going to focus our attention on the Experience section of a resume. Should be pretty straightforward, right? I mean, you’re just jotting down all the jobs you’ve ever had and making a list of what you did at each one, no?
CHRIS: Actually, no. A resume is like an elevator pitch on paper. You have limited time and space to impress the reader and leave them wanting more. Your experience needs to be a highlight reel of your career to this point, which means you’ll have to narrow it down to the most important accomplishments and responsibilities.
NANCY: You also need to consider the job you’re applying for, and make sure the experience matches the requirements. Be sure to sprinkle in keywords from the job description!
CHRIS: This may mean having more than one resume, especially if your skillset is very diverse or transferable across industries.
NANCY: It’s customary to have a general resume listing all current and past jobs, with a few bullet points for each, as well as resumes which have been tailored for a specific position or industry type.
CHRIS: Generally speaking, it’s acceptable to remove jobs held 15 plus years prior, unless they are relevant to a current job application. For example, if you were a bank president 20 years ago, then left the industry, and are now looking to return to finance, then that position is relevant. But if you’ve climbed the ladder from clerk to VP, it’s perfectly fine to leave off - or minimize - those entry level jobs. We wanna keep the resume at 2 pages max.
NANCY: There are several ways to format the experience section. The most common way is reverse chronological order, where you start with the current or most recent job, and list backwards from there. This is a great general format that works well for almost anything.
CHRIS: Each position should include the job title, company name, location where you worked, and dates of employment (month and year). Format these elements in bold, italics, or both so that they stand out from the bullet points beneath. For example, if you are an Import Specialist going for a new job in Imports, then it would make sense to bold your previous titles so that any hiring manager can quickly see that you have held import jobs in the past.
NANCY: Underneath the job information, list out about 5 bullet points with the biggest achievements you can think of. We’re looking for numbers: how many new accounts you brought in; how many shipments you handle per month, how much revenue you generated, things like that.
CHRIS: We’re also looking for accomplishments. Did you create a procedure that improved efficiency? Did you automate some manual process that improved accuracy? Did you reduce costs somehow? Whatever you did to make the company better, we wanna know.
NANCY: We recommend listing all your jobs, even ones of short duration, or outside the industry you’re planning to get into. Here’s a real-life example of why. We spoke to a great candidate who started out in the corporate world. After a few years, he left his company to help his family run a restaurant for a year. Then he returned to his previous industry, and continued his career path in that field. But on the resume where the restaurant management experience should have been, there was a gap.
CHRIS: How did we find out about this? Other than the year-long gap, his background was solid and stable, so we called him. Turned out he’d left off this particular role because it wasn’t in the industry. Yet, managing a restaurant has a million hard AND soft skills that can transfer to other industries, skills such as forecasting, computer proficiency, accounting, negotiation, customer service, patience, sense of urgency, and so on. Bring those to light!
NANCY: Also, assume hiring managers are looking at your LinkedIn profile, so make sure it matches your resume. Companies tend to be more understanding if you’re up front about a short stint somewhere, but they’re not too crazy about finding discrepancies or learning through the grapevine that you worked somewhere that’s not listed on your resume, for whatever reason. Most recruiters have a database or some way of storing resumes, and there have been many times throughout the years where we’ve compared a new application to an older one and found that dates had been adjusted and companies removed.
CHRIS: It’s also important to show the locations of where you’ve worked, and where you’re currently physically located. If you’re applying to a job in another city, we need to know your position on relocation. Some companies are willing to relocate the right candidate, but others need someone local, for example to fill a sales position where the individual already knows the market.
NANCY: Being honest about your work history frees you from worrying about what to tell people. It is what it is, and we know there’s usually more to the story than one sheet of paper can tell.
CHRIS: Another way to show the experience is to create a section called “Achievements” and then use bullet points to list out your main accomplishments from ALL the jobs combined. OR, you can divide your skills and accomplishments into categories, for example, one brief section called “Sales” where you list about 5 bullet points related to sales; another brief section called “Management,” where you would point out the things that make you a great manager. And so on.
NANCY: Underneath the experience, you can list your current and previous employers, job title, location and dates, one right after the other.
CHRIS: This format can work when you want to change industries and highlight how transferable your skills are, if you’ve held the same type of position for a few different companies, and if you’ve had a lot of jobs.
NANCY: For a significant gap in employment that was NOT of your choosing, we recommend showing the dates and a brief phrase to acknowledge, but not over-explain. Something like, “family reasons” or “furloughed due to COVID-19.” If the break WAS your choosing, like a sabbatical to travel, go back to school, or focus on family, state that as well. There’s so much value in all the different, well-rounded things we do as humans, and every endeavor is a learning experience that we carry over into other aspects of our lives!
CHRIS: And now for some aesthetics.
NANCY: Put the experience near the top of the resume and leave miscellaneous items like Education and Hobbies towards the bottom - unless, of course, those are crucial to the position you’re applying for.
CHRIS: As always, check for proper spelling, grammar and punctuation, and try not to use abbreviations in a sentence where the entire word would be more appropriate, for example “I” - “N” - “T” - “L” for the word international. This writing style is OK for emails and informal communication, but for resumes err on the side of formality.
NANCY: Use past tense verbs for past jobs and present tense verbs for present job.
CHRIS: Use bold, italics, arrows, or some other creative way to direct the eyeballs to the most important aspects of your experience - the things you want the hiring manager, gatekeeper, or recruiter to immediately see and be impressed by.
NANCY: If creating a resume from scratch is not your forte, you’re not alone. Fortunately, you can find a countless number of templates online where all you have to do is plug in your information. Remember to delete any pre-entered instructions such as “type your experience here.”
CHRIS: When you’re finished, remember to proofread it, walk away from it for a while, and let it marinate in the back of your brain. Later on come back to it, proofread it again, and make any changes you think it needs.
NANCY: Voila! You’re now ready to showcase your very valuable experience in the best way possible. If you have any other suggestions or questions, we’d love to hear them!
CHRIS: In the next episode, we will continue dissecting the resume. There are no “throwaway” parts to a resume. Everything is important. Think of it like going on a first date. You want everything to be just right, because you wanna make a good first impression, in this case, of your career.
NANCY: We’ll also drop bonus episodes announcing the hottest logistics jobs we’re working on. Our website and contact info will be in the show notes of every episode, so please feel free to share with anyone you know, and reach out with comments, questions, or just to say hello!
OUTRO MUSIC AND THEN WRAP-UP
CHRIS: Thank you for listening to the Job Search SOS Podcast!
Please visit www.pintoemployment.com and feel free to reach out to us. See you next time!
Pinto Employment Search LLC - Logistics & Supply Chain Recruiters
Chris & Nancy Pinto, Owners
Website: https://www.pintoemployment.com/
Nancy Pinto
Phone: 201-988-2293
Email: nancy@pintoemployment.com
www.linkedin.com/in/nancypinto