The fact is, we all love a good story.  Admissions committees love good stories.  Hiring managers love good stories.  Customers and clients love good stories.  Always remember:  the person you’re writing for is a human being!  How do you get another human being to read your document?  Spin a good yarn!

If you’re applying to college, tell a story with a beginning, middle and end.  I had a client who wrote about teaching his sister to ride a bike.  His first draft was all rosy about how great the experience was, and it did not have a compelling beginning, middle and end.  He felt lost in the writing, and the essay was boring. 

What ultimately made the story great was that he started at the beginning, when he was annoyed at his sister for being small and clumsy, then moved through the process of a breakthrough in becoming a teacher, and a better teacher — and finally to where he released the seat and the sister took off on her own on the bike.  Victory!  A great story.

In college applications, many times what makes a great story is to admit to a struggle or fault, and show how you broke through it.  In a cover letter, believe it or not, you can do the same thing. 

All kinds of people are saying “No one reads cover letters anymore.”  Well, of course no one is reading them – because they are stilted and boring and no one can get through them!  Have you ever considered that if you write a good enough story in your cover letter that it really *will* get read!

Do you have an example of a time when a project was failing, and you stepped in to fix it?  That makes a great story!  Is there an example of something you achieved that relates to the job you’re applying for?  Don’t be afraid to tell these stories in your cover letters!

On your resume, too, tell as much of a story as you can in a bulleted line. 

What not to write:  “Assisted scientists with their research.” 

What to write: “Conducted genetic, epidemiology, and behavior research on sport fish in Illinois, Canada, and the Bahamas.”

Ah, now that sounds kind of interesting!

For an example of a bio that tells a great story or two, see Senior Investment Analyst Bio on The Essay Expert’s website.   This client reported to me that she loved her bio story so much that she kept reading it to herself after it was done!

Whatever the reason, we all love a good story.  Tell one in your college and job applications.  Tell one in your bio.  If you do it well, your intended audience will keep reading…  and reading…  and reading.

I STRONGLY recommend against both tactics.

1. Copying current job descriptions:

Your current job description is just a list of job duties.  The cardinal rule for resumes in today’s job market is to write your resume as a list of achievements and accomplishments, NOT as a list of job duties!  I would go so far as to say that your job description has very little to do with what you actually do and accomplish in your position.

I’ll take myself as an example.  The job description for my current position at the University of Wisconsin Law School says that I counsel students on their legal career search.  It doesn’t say what my success rate is, or how creatively I work with students’ cover letters and resumes, or that I created a PowerPoint presentation on Resumes for Law Students.  It doesn’t mention the 5 job search resource manuals I created for various big cities across the United States.  It doesn’t mention the positive feedback I get from the students I work with.

It is my job to put these successes, which are nowhere to be found in my job description, into my resume.  They speak much more to what I will accomplish in my next position than that I “assist students with resumes and cover letters.”

Guess what?  You don’t need your current job description to write your resume.  Just write about the things you’ve really done that will be relevant and impressive to the reader.

2. Copying future job descriptions:

I’m willing to bet that a lot of people make this mistake.  If you make it too, you will have a lot of company from people who do not get called for interviews.  Copying and pasting requires no creativity and actually makes it appear that you did NOT do the things you claim you did.  All it does is show a hiring manager or HR person that you can cut and paste.

Instead, FIRST write your resume to highlight your accomplishments.  Create the best document you can create.  AFTER you have put together a great resume, THEN see if there are small tweaks you can make to include some of the keywords from the future job description.

For instance, I recently worked with a client applying for a Senior IT Director position.  The position description listed “Develop and approve exceptions to policy…”  His finished resume did not have the phrase “exceptions to policy” in it, but he worked with exceptions to policy regularly.  He was able to add this phrase into an already existing bullet regarding his program management accomplishments.

In general, when crafting a winning resume, truth and honesty are the best policy.  Don’t get lazy or think you’re “working the system” by using the cut and paste functions on your keypad.  What will get you an interview is your unique accomplishments.  Focus on those and you will see success in your job search.

WHY?

90% of hiring managers now use social media, with LinkedIn as a primary resource, to research candidates.  So your email address and LinkedIn URL have become more important information for employers than your street address!  In fact, some people are omitting their street address from the header and including just city and state, since correspondence happens most often by email.

CRAFT YOUR PUBLIC PROFILE URL

Make sure that before you put your LinkedIn profile address on your resume, or on a business card, you make sure you have the address you want.  You can edit your “Public Profile URL” through the Edit menu on LinkedIn and get rid of all those distracting letters and numbers at the end of the URL.  www.linkedin.com/in/brendabernstein looks so much better than www.linkedin.com/in/brendabernstein/16/b93/429 doesn’t it?  And it takes up  LOT less space on your resume!

Remember, if you have your LinkedIn profile URL on any documents or email signatures and then you change it, update your documents and signatures!

HOW TO WRITE AN EFFECTIVE LINKEDIN PROFILE

Whether or not you put your LinkedIn URL on your resume, hiring managers will search for you on LinkedIn.  It is therefore essential that you have a LinkedIn profile and that it is written to impress.

My LinkedIn e-book, LinkedIn Power Tune-Up:  17 Expert Tips for a Highly Effective LinkedIn Profile, is just $9.95 and will help you craft a profile that keeps you in the “Yes” pile when a recruiter or hiring manager finds you on LinkedIn.  The Essay Expert also offers individualized LinkedIn Profile Reviews, as well as LinkedIn Profile Construction and Rewriting, for more in-depth service.

Don’t send potential employers to a half-done or sloppy profile.  Get assistance if you need it to clean up —  and step up – your LinkedIn profile.  Contact The Essay Expert for help.