Interview Tips: Backing Up Resume Statements with a Compelling “Story”

On May 26^th I blogged about ideas from Carole Martin – “The Interview Coach” (www.interviewfitnesstraining.com) – after listening to the first part of her two-part teleseminar on good interview techniques.

Now I’m listening to the second part of the teleseminar, and I was particularly struck by this advice: Never put anything on your resume or say in an interview that you can’t back up. Sounds simple, right? Turns out it isn’t.

Martin gave the example that people often say on their resumes that they are hard-working. Yet, when asked in an interview to give an example of being hard-working, these interviewees have nothing to say.

She says that you must be able to “prove” everything you say on your resume. In other words, be prepared to give an example of when you were hard-working – a “story” that reflects this trait.

And I loved Martin’s formula for what makes a good interview “story.” Here’s her formula:

• beginning – 20% (problem, situation)
• middle – 60% action (what you did)
• end – 20% (results)

The reason I truly loved this is because the same formula could be used for telling a good “story” on a college application essay. Many college application essay writers spend way too much time on the beginning, very little time on the middle (the meat of the essay), and snip off the ending of their essay.

(Recently, during a coaching session, I explained to the father of a high school junior that college application essays were NOT the same as what high school English teachers drum into their students – five-paragraph essays with the first paragraph stating the proposition that the next three paragraphs will support and then a concluding paragraph.)

Always be careful what you put on your resume (or college application) or say in an interview. Ahead of the interview prepare the “stories” that you will tell to back up your statements. Then you’ll have a good chance of saving yourself from freezing when asked for an example of, say, how hard-working you are.

Post in the comments below an example of a “story” that you used to support a statement on your resume or college application.

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Avoiding Spelling Errors on a Resume

I was reading the April 1^st Wall Street Journal “Managing Your Career” column by Joanne Lublin about a 34-year-old man’s switch from the factory floor to a desk job in a different industry.

I was impressed with everything the man -- Christopher Pearsall – did during this job transition, including taking college courses and applying for a product-management internship (yes, at his age).

Then I came to this sentence in the article: “A resume sprinkled with misspelled words, however, nearly killed his candidacy.”

Lublin went on to quote Michael Harvey, the Concursive executive vice president who responded in an email to Pearsall after receiving the misspelled resume: “This is not, frankly, a good way to impresses a potential employer.’ A product management internship requires ‘an ability to check your own work before forwarding it to others.’”

As Lublin describes it, Pearsall was lucky. He “immediately sent a revised resume, letters of reference and an apologetic note reiterating his desire to join the start-up.” And this helped – Pearsall got the internship.

The point I want to make here – and the point I make in FLIPPING BURGERS – is that a resume should never, ever be sent with spelling errors. If, after using spell check again and again (especially any time you make even the slightest change to the resume), you have any concerns about your proofreading ability, have someone else check your resume.

And this procedure also goes for any professional emails or letters you send. In my book I suggest having what I call a grammar buddy. Your grammar buddy checks all your important emails, letters, etc., and you do something else for him/her in return. (Pick up the laundry, walk the dog.)

There’s one more important step – try to learn from mistakes. Instead of having a grammar buddy correct mistakes without showing you what these mistakes were, ask the person to tell you the specific mistakes being corrected.

For example, if you tend to confuse you’re (noun and verb: you are) and your (possessive, such as in your book), then keep a cheat sheet next to the computer with examples of the correct usage. Every time you type you’re or your, check the cheat sheet.

The professional image you’re (noun and verb) protecting is your (possessive) own.

Formatting a Resume for Internships

Everyone has an opinion about formatting a resume. Some people like education listed at the top; some like education listed at the bottom. Some like hobbies included; some don’t.

Here are the important points no matter what resume format you use:

1) Make sure that your resume has no spelling or grammar mistakes.

2) Only capitalize proper nouns.

3) Have someone unfamiliar with your information read your resume to ensure that everything makes sense.

4) Go for ease of reading above all else – don’t use several different fonts and other fancy elements that muddy the readability.

5) If you have a passion, there should be items on your resume that indicate this passion.

6) Make sure that the most important information STANDS OUT.

Resumes are written in partial sentences, so forget about complete sentences starting with “I was.” In a resume there is no need to say: “I was a lab assistant at a radiation laboratory.”

Instead you list the name of the lab, then a dash, and then the words “assistant” or “lab assistant.” Under that line of information you write a brief description (see below.) As it is your resume, it is clear that it is you who performed the research experiments.

Universal Lab – Assistant January-March 2008, Los Angeles

Performed research experiments on rats to determine the missing gene that may lead to a cure for Alzheimer’s under the supervision of the head of the biogenetics department.

And choose strong action words that convey positive images – performed is one such word. You wouldn’t, for example, say instead: “Did research experiments.” Of course you did them. Performed, conducted, etc. are stronger words. Use specific visual images that catch the attention of the person reading your resume.

Any other tips you have for effective resumes for internships?