The following are basic career phases with resume content guidelines:

• Phase 1, Entry-level: Academic career is the foundation of experience. Resume consists of the skills, aptitude, and ambition that the job seeker brings to an organization.
• Phase 2, Manager or Individual Contributor: Resume consists of areas of expertise and responsibilities grouped by a variety of functional or discipline roles. Achievements are represented as individual and team-based success.
• Phase 3, Senior Manager or Executive: Ability to meaningfully drive business strategy and vision at a high-level and/or across groups. Content focus is on leadership and management achievements.

Keywords, keywords, keywords!

A recruiter may only see your resume if it contains the exact key words/phrases used to find only qualified candidates. Job seekers with the right degree from the right school with experience from a key competitor become “A” list recruits. So how does a job seeker become a “B” or other listed candidate if you lack all the right stuff? Keywords are imperative to resume database search optimization. Job seekers should ask, “What exact keywords and phrases will a recruiter for the ideal position use to find me?" With the right keywords, a match is made that makes effective use of time for both the recruiter/hiring manager and the job seeker.

Content doesn’t align with a single job function

A job seeker that plans to target multiple job functions needs multiple resumes. For example, the core competencies for a Program Manager may be customer connection, planning and organizing, and cross-group collaboration. A PM job seeker that is interested in transitioning to Sales Manager, may lead with customer connection in the new resume; however, should adapt the entire resume to spotlight new competencies like drive for results and communication skills.

Job seekers that have an interest in making a career change may lack a key core competency of a job function. This is an opportunity to express aptitude and interest in cultivating a new competency. I worked with a Software Design Engineer in Test that was interested in transitioning to a Program Manager role. While he had many of the core skills requirements, he lacked one of the key competencies: user experience design.

The job seeker was transparent about his competency, and the hiring manager determined the applicant had enough of the requirements to move forward with an interview loop. (This job seeker nailed the interview questions and was hired).

Too long

A resume is not a CV, and so anything longer than two pages signals the need for a word count diet. The most relevant experience is typically the most recent. For a Phase 2 or 3 career, evaluate areas to cut from Phase 1. Only include early work history experience if it provides unique experience that is not represented in later experience and that is relevant to the job seeker’s future career direction. For a Phase 2 job seeker, replace academic content (i.e. coursework, school projects, clubs) for on-the-job experience.

Lack of evidence
"We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them." Abigail Adams, letter to John Adams, 1774

Big claims without adequate support (i.e. metrics, rankings, results, and awards) lacks credibility and usefulness. If in the Summary of Qualifications are unsupported claims – words like skilled, adept, savvy, and expert, it’s important that examples of contribution and measures of success be included in either the Summary, Achievements, and/or Experience sections. For senior management/executive resumes, evidence is more important than an overview of responsibilities.

Interests without purpose
A interests section should only be included if outside interests represent you professionally. Interests could include professional organization memberships with designated roles, volunteer service and community outreach. As a rule of thumb, if you don’t plan to converse with co-workers about your interests, chances are that they’re really private interests and should be kept private.

Most frequently asked question: "Is a cover letter really necessary?"

The short answer is, yes.

A jobseeker that desires to interview for either an internal or external position demonstrates willingness to research and package content for a busy hiring manager. An effective cover letter/introduction grabs the attention of the hiring manager and sparks interest in learning more about the jobseeker.

A generic cover letter is not an effective tool for the savvy jobseeker. While a resume is specific to a job function, the cover letter/introduction email is specific to a job description. The job description serves as a checklist for introduction email content. The email “covers” all the job requirements, with specific examples from the jobseeker’s work history.

Like any well-written product marketing piece, the email concludes with a call to action -- the jobseeker requests the next step in the hiring process, such as an informational interview, interview loop or recruiter screening call.