Movin' On Up Resumes

Samples

Sarah was a star. She had worked her way up from bartender to West Coast marketing manager of a major liquor brand. But expressing her career on paper for her next job search presented some challenges.

• She had no higher education and was going up against MBAs.
• Her entire professional career had been with one company.
• She was interested in working for a health-oriented beverage company, one with a very different brand portfolio, corporate culture, and marketing strategy than the liquor company she was coming from.

For the sake of clarity, I created an overall heading for her time at Jack Daniel’s. After that I delved deep into the titles she held, communicating each one as a complete “story.” Her most recent position was a seven-year project-based role, so I presented each project separately with a descriptive headline, the problem, her approach, and the results. I used charts to help the reader quickly understand her business performance.

These mini case studies show her unique approach and the fantastic business wins she delivered, counteracting any perception that someone with an MBA could do better. The variety of projects she worked on also paints a picture of diverse first-hand knowledge, mitigating concerns that she might not have a variety of experience coming from 17 years at a single organization.

Lastly, I made a strong case for her suitability as a candidate for a health-oriented beverage company in the space where education would normally appear. This is the only place in the resume where I break with convention and include personal pronouns. Her clear passion, purpose, and competitive drive are additional reasons for a potential employer to call her into an interview.

Kim_Mohiuddin_Sales_and_Marketing Proof

John’s goal was to continue pursuing executive-level PMO (project management office) positions.

Since the most recent five years represented the sum total of his PMO experience, I explored those deeply, including mini case studies to show depth and breadth of expertise. Because the case studies contained a lot of information, I made the results visually prominent so that the reader could easily pick them out on a quick initial read-through.

Because projects, accomplishment, and functional accountability overlapped at his most recent company, I listed his titles and dates together in order to tell a cohesive story. I used a graph to show the dramatic growth in business that the candidate helped cultivate and fully supported operationally.

Since security and international savvy were key factors in the positions he was interested in, I included brief summaries of his early experience in the automotive and defense industries, presenting only the factors important in his new career.

Kim_Mohiuddin_International proof

Satish was an accomplished software developer—so accomplished that it was overwhelming to present all of his wins in a two-page document.

Instead, I opted to make this résumé a true piece of marketing collateral, dangling the most tempting pieces of information to entice the reader to learn more (i.e. set up an interview). I put his technical skills, awards, and a chronological overview up front, on the first page.

I used the second page to present the most important of his many projects, including the reason for the project, the candidate’s approach, and the business results.

Kim_Mohiuddin_Technical proof

Charlene wanted to use her new MBA to launch her transition from a technically-oriented career as a network engineer and later a manager of sales engineering to a role more oriented to business process improvement. We reviewed her career history together and identified instances where she used business skills in her tech-focused roles. I translated those stories into career case studies for her resume.

Sales Engineer Management Sample