Citizenship Status on Resume?

As a resume writer, I have a lot of international clients, U.S. citizens working overseas, and foreign nationals seeking work in the United States, so the topic of citizenship on a resume comes up quite a bit.  Is it appropriate to include your citizenship status on your resume?

"Yes and no."

When pursuing a position with the federal government, it is a requirement to list citizenship and visa information on your resume.  A federal resume differs significantly from and includes many more details than a corporate resume.  The federal resume format will include your social security number, salaries for every job ever held, and the names and phone numbers of all former supervisors too.  Point of interest: your social security number is required by law (Executive Order 9397) for application to any federal government job.  Your citizenship and social security number will be listed at the top of page one of your federal resume.

Regardless of your right-to-work or citizenship status, you do not need to include it in a corporate / civilian resume.  In fact, avoid listing anything in a resume that is not directly tied to the position to which you are applying.  You would not include your knitting club membership on your banking industry resume - it is not relevant to the position.  Neither is your gender, age, race, religious beliefs, height, weight, eye color, marital status, nationality, or citizenship.  It may be against the law to discriminate based on any of these items, but don't be naive - it does happen.  Don't include it.

It is illegal to discriminate based on national origin, however, it is not illegal to discriminate against people who are not legal to work in the U.S.  If you are an American citizen or other legal-to-work individual not currently living in the United States, you may want to establish and use an American address.  This will help to indicate your legal ability to work in the U.S. and be less confusing.

If you are not an American citizen and require immigration support, you don't necessarily want to advertise that in your resume.  Employers want the most return for investment they can eke out of their employees.  Therefore costly immigration, visa, and relocation fees could be seriously dissuading no matter your skills and experience level.  On the other hand, if you do have the right to work in the United States, it may benefit you to list this information.  Any citizenship, visa status, or language skills will go at the very end of your resume.

The answer to this question greatly varies with industry, job type, and company marketplace.  If you are unsure, provide the information only if it's requested in the job posting.  Your best bet is to seek professional consultation.  A certified professional resume writer will not only help develop a customized, attention-getting resume package but will help you traverse the ever-changing job search highway.

Want to talk to a professional resume writer to help you develop your strategic job search marketing campaign?  Click HERE to email Ramsey Penegar.

---

Ramsey Penegar is an executive resume consultant and is certified as a  professional resume writer by the Professional Association of Resume Writers.  She has developed more than 700 resumes for executives all over the United States and for international clients as well.  With more than 10 years experience in marketing and sales, she has the skills to build effective job search marketing campaigns and attention-getting resumes.

---

Resume File Format: Which is Best?

Bring Your Resume Technology Out of the Dark Ages

Appropriate file format is crucial in digital resume delivery.  The majority of resumes are delivered via email or online job sites now.  You've put a lot into the design, content, format, and visual appeal of your resume and you want them to see it just the way you've created it.

I recently posted an article on this blog, 5 Signs Your Resume is Outdated, #4 was using outdated word processing programs or file formats.  The article that you are reading now is a more in-depth look at formatting and file types.

More than 500 million people are using Microsoft Word today so it would be a good assumption that you should email your resume as a Word attachment.  There are other word processing software on the market today and I still - on occasion - have a client who is using Word Perfect, Notepad, Lotus Notes, or an antiquated version of MS Word.  It makes sharing documents very difficult and worst of all - the client is not seeing or receiving the high-quality document I have created.

So for all of you holdouts using another other than a Microsoft Word version released in the last decade, I have strong advice for you...Get Microsoft Word!  Alternatively, OpenOffice.org has a freeware program that has a Word-compatible word processing application, Writer.  Though I have never used this program there are three things that immediately appeal to me about it.  First, it's free (hello!).  Second, it can open MS Word .DOC files and can save to .DOC files.  Third, it has out-of-the-box ability to export your documents to an Adobe PDF file.

I prefer sending a PDF version of a resume if sending by email.  Similar to taking a photograph of your document, a PDF document is neater and no matter how much formatting you have built into your resume, it will show up perfectly on the recipient's machine.  Your resume will look just the way you want it to regards of the hiring manager's computer settings, Word version, or font inventory.  Saving your document in PDF format is the only way to ensure your resume will be displayed exactly the way you intended it to be.

If you do not have a version of Microsoft Word that allows you to save in PDF format, you can simply download a free PDF software online.  There are many available for free download including pdf995 and cutePDF.  There are plenty of others too - just search for "free PDF download" and you'll have tons of freeware options.

It's important for proper, appropriate, and well-written resume content and formatting.  However, none of that will matter if the resume doesn't look the way you designed it to appear when the hiring manager opens it.  A professional resume writer can make sure that you have a well-written resume with high visibility statistics using well-researched resume strategy and ensure it gets to the reader in an appropriate format!  Want to talk to a professional resume to help you with your job search marketing campaign?  Click HERE to email Ramsey Penegar.

---

Ramsey Penegar is an executive resume consultant and is certified as a  professional resume writer by the Professional Association of Resume Writers.  She has developed more than 650 resumes for executives all over the United States and for international clients as well.  With more than 10 years experience in marketing and sales, she has the skills to build effective job search marketing campaigns and attention-getting resumes.

---

Resume Samples by Ramsey Penegar

Eye-catching resume with attention-getting graphic.  This would really stand out in a stack of resumes on a recruiter's desk!

Ramsey Penegar is an executive resume consultant and is certified as a professional resume writer by the Professional Association of Resume Writers. She has developed more than 650 resumes for executives all over the United States and for international clients as well. With more than 10 years experience in marketing and sales, she has the skills to build effective job search marketing campaigns and attention-getting resumes.

Objectives: Is the Resume About What You Want or What the Employer Wants?

In my recent blog article, Five Signs Your Resume is Outdated, the use of an objective was #3.   To help you improve your resume and get it into shape for your 2011 job search here is some advice to update the old objective.

In the not so long ago past, an objective was a staple of the American resume.  Today however in the era of vast resume transitions, the career objective has gone the way of the spandex shorts and the television show, Saved By the Bell.  As a job seeker, you should avoid the resume objective as much as most people show avoid the spandex shorts - it isn't flattering and it probably doesn't highlight your best assets.

The traditional job objective that introduced the job seeker at the top of the resume outlined what the person seeking a job wanted.  Examples: "Obtain a position at XYZ Company where I can maximize my management skills, quality assurance, program development, and training experience" or "Marketing position that utilizes my writing skills and enables me to make a positive contribution to the organization."  These statements do help clarify the reason the employer is receiving the resume, however, who thinks the company really cares about what the job seeker wants?  Most businesses seek to positively impact their bottomline, not help us to improve our skills or climb our own career ladder.

Consider the difference in the above examples, and the following resume headlines:

• Business Management Professional with over 10 Years Experience in Financial Industry with Expertise in Quality Assurance, Program Development, and Training
• Marketing Executive with more than 10 Years Experience with Strong Skills in Transformational Management, Communication, Writing, and Driving Revenue

Using a clear and concise headline rather than an objective can help to catch the reader's attention and entice them to continue reading your resume.  Ultimately it's about what the company wants not what the applicants wants.  Thinking unselfishly about what the hiring manager is going to be seeking rather than what you - the job seeker - want out of your relationship with the company, can help you be more objective in the resume. Remember to use distinctive yet professional formatting to help make your headline stand out from the text on the page.

A well-written resume will capture the hiring manager's attention and spark interest.  The goal of your resume is to land an interview.  Make sure your experience and talent are well represented by a resume that garners the attention you and your career deserve.  If you don't feel your resume lives up to your level of expertise or if it isn't gaining you the attention and interviews you should bet getting, don't hesitate to contact a professional resume writer.  Most top executives know it benefits them more to leave it to the professionals than attempt to do it themselves.  Trust someone who writes resumes day in and day out to handle your resume for you.  It will be well worth the investment.

Want to talk to a professional resume writer?  Click HERE to email Ramsey Penegar.

---

Ramsey Penegar is an executive resume consultant and is certified as a  professional resume writer by the Professional Association of Resume Writers.  She has developed more than 650 resumes for executives all over the United States and for international clients as well.  With more than 10 years experience in marketing and sales, she has the skills to build effective job search marketing campaigns and attention-getting resumes.

---

Task versus Achievement-Based Resume

Let's see...what seems more interesting a laundry list of all the menial daily tasks and functions you preformed at each and every job OR well-written, action statements illustrating the impact of your accomplishments?  For example, a receptionist or executive assistant resume may state:

"I answered the phones" 

or 

"Monitored and managed more than 1,500 weekly telephone calls from customers, vendors, media, and contractors for 750 staff members for largest architectural firm in New Jersey"

An example for a sales manager may be:

"Hired, managed, and trained sales representatives"

or

"Recruited, hired, managed, mentored, and motivated more than 120 sales representatives to develop customer service and sales skills resulting in more than $1.5 million in sales revenue"

An interview-landing resume doesn’t just tell what you did or know how to do (task oriented) it illustrates how well you did those things (accomplishment oriented). Readers want to know and see hardcore facts, figures, numbers (#, $, %). You want this information to be indicative of your entire career not just job by job.

The hiring manager already has a general idea of the tasks and responsibilities involved in the jobs you have held.  What she wants to know is how your skills and experience and handling of those duties impacted the bottom line for the company. The recruiting manager wants to read what the job seeker has done to enhance operations, boost revenues, bolster profits, decrease operating costs, improve business processes, save time, increase productivity, and or advance technologies.

An accomplishment oriented resume is what sells the reader on your personal and professional value.  Rather than the old laundry list of duties, functions, and job responsibilities demonstrate, in writing, how your expertise in doing those tasks benefited the company.

An easy formula for this is AARQ ("Ark"): Action, Accomplishment, Result, Quantify.  What action did you take and / or accomplishment did you achieve?  What was the result of this action?  Quantify the resulting impact on the company.  Here's an example from a recent, real client:

• What action did you take?  Managed revenue budget.
• What was the result of this action?  Exceeded revenue goals and increased revenue.
• Can you quantify the action or result?  Managed $77 million revenue budget, exceeded revenue goals, increased revenue by 38%
• Final resume line item: Managed $77 million revenue budget for third party marketing products, continually exceeded revenue goals, and steered 38% revenue growth

It can be really easy to bolster your resume by turning your tasks into bottom line driven, powerful achievements that will catch the reader's attention.  A company is concerned with their bottom line, illustrate your experience in improving the bottom line.  Use your resume as a tool to convey your value to the prospective employing company and expect more interviews in the future.

---

Not getting calls for job interviews?  Is it the economy or could a professional resume writer make the difference for your job search campaign?

• Certified Professional Resume Writer (Professional Association of Resume Writers) with more than 10 years experience. 
• Developed 1,000's of executive and professional level resumes for clients across the country and around the world. 
• We can get started today and have your resume within 5 days!
• RUSH is available for those of you needing your resume turned around in 24 hours!

Interested? Send me an email!

---

Ramsey Penegar is an executive resume consultant and is certified as a professional resume writer by the Professional Association of Resume Writers.  She has developed 1,000s of resumes for executives all over the United States and for international clients as well.  With more than 15 years experience in marketing and sales, she has the skills to build effective job search marketing campaigns and attention-getting resumes.

---