My HAPPO Resume Review

As you may know, I participated in the first ever HAPPO Day last month where PR pros helped their unemployed colleagues and entry level graduates network and find new job opportunities via Twitter. I spent four hours monitoring HAPPO tweets and, luckily, my diligence paid off. I met a few great peers, a Philadelphia area PR pro offered to help me with my job search and I was one of 10 participants to win a HAPPO resume review.

HAPPO paired me with reviewer Jessica Smith, veteran blogger and VP and Digital Integration Specialist at Fleishman-Hillard in Sacramento, California. Jessica graciously took time out of her weekend to thoroughly review my resume and provide me with some great advice. Having her fresh eyes take a look at a document that I've been revising myself for quite a long time was an amazing opportunity. As someone who has already been successful in the industry her insight gave me a great new point of view.

The first thing that Jessica made me realize is that my resume should act as my ambassador to a company. I originally thought of it simply as a way to convey my credentials and have always used a cover letter to communicate more directly with a prospective employer. Jessica suggested that I think more deeply about what my resume alone can communicate. She made me realize that I should tailor my resume to every job opportunity just as I would with a cover letter.

She suggested that I think about what my strengths are and what my dream job would be, and then generate a list of corresponding attributes that will set me apart from other candidates. The purpose of this list is to help me stop and think about what I want from a job, how my skills can fulfill the requirements of the position and, ultimately, how I can personalize my resume for a specific job opportunity so that I stand out in a sea of applicants.

The second important thing that Jessica's review taught me was that yes, I have experience from internships, my work with PRowl Public Relations and my education at Temple University, but that is only the foundation of a great resume. The icing on the cake comes from the results that are attained from that experience. For example, I have media relations experience that I've gotten from my work with PRowl Public Relations, so I need to take my resume a step further and explain what news coverage I've generated for PRowl's clients. Another example comes from my work as an special events intern at the National Kidney Foundation. I list event planning experience on my resume, but could take it a step further by listing how many people came to the event and what steps I took after the event to ensure their repeat participation.

Working with Jessica has allowed me to see my resume from a different point of view. I know that after considering all of her advice and making revisions to my resume I'll be able to send it to prospective employers with confidence. I hope that this advice will help you as well! Do you have any other resume writing tips to share?