As you consider your career brand management plan for 2016 there are some things you should NOT DO. I have written about these before, but as we enter a new year, and as executives and physicians attempt to wipe their career brand slate clean and start over, here are some important things to think about.
NOTE: The resume rules that people have abused and misused for eons have changed. Pay attention. The job search is now all about your ability to demonstrate to a prospective employer that you can do the job, that you have relevant prior experience, and that you are able to close the deal with ample examples of your quantifiable achievements.
- Do Not submit a Curriculum Vitae for an executive leadership position. Some people use the term resume and curriculum vitae — CV — interchangeably. Don’t do that. They are not the same thing. A resume is a chronological record of your executive/management jobs and quantifiable accomplishments. This is what executive recruiters are looking for when they are seeking CMOs or other physician executives. We do not care about your poster presentations or all your research papers. A CV is designed to highlight a candidate’s academic credentials, research and writing ability. That is not necessarily germane to hiring a leadership executive. There are times when you might submit both, based on the job description or the employer’s submission requirements, but if you think an executive recruiter will be impressed with an academically stunning CV for a CMO position, unfortunately, that is usually not the case.
- Do Not submit the same resume for every job. For my regular readers, this statement is obvious. Do not submit the same resume for every job for which you apply, it is not a smart strategy in our new healthcare economy. If you are trying to stand out, to emphasize your value proposition, this will not help. Most of the resumes I receive are generic. I am not impressed. Nor are my colleagues. You should customize your resume to speak to the issues employers are trying to address. Remember, the job search is not about you. It is about meeting the needs of a prospective employer.
- Do Not list your company without explaining what it does. I cannot tell how many times I look at resumes of candidates who only list the name of the company. I would like to think I am a smart guy, but so many of the names draw a blank in the dark reaches of my brain. I am not alone, let me assure you. Explain the company — what it does, its accomplishments, national recognitions etc. If you work for a top-tier company, tout it. It only enhances you brand. This applies to companies with obvious names.
- Do Not use dot points for scope of responsibility statements. The biggest mistake candidates make with their resume is to use dot points to list their scope of responsibility. What you were responsible for is important, but save the dot points for quantifiable achievements that relate to a future employer’s needs.
Send you questions to Ask the Recruiter and we will respond. I am a healthcare guy, but the content I discuss in this blog applies to virtually every industry.