Special Resumes for People with Special Circumstances

This article considers some of those special circumstances, whether they be a job problem related to age, a hiring advantage in being a member of a minority group, a decision to change fields or career direction, or perhaps a desire to surge ahead in the corporate world.

For Those over Fifty

If you are over fifty, there is no successful way of disguising the fact. Many "over-fifties" think that if they omit all dates they can evade the issue of age. Unfortunately it doesn't work; the evasion merely emphasizes the fact that something is being hidden.

People in personnel, the resume readers, tend to react adversely to resumes without dates, often discarding them without giving them proper consideration. To be meaningful, a resume must be factual. Resumes without dates simply are not informative. They can even be counter-productive by creating the impression that you are much older than you really are, or by leading the reader to think that you are trying to hide a difficult-to-explain time gap.

Some counselors advise older people to use a functional style resume and omit all dates. But personnel people are not stupid. They are quick to recognize any resume that tells only half a story, which looks as if it is being purposely evasive, and that is not straightforward. Usually such evasions only signal the very fact you are trying to hide. They waste both the reader's and the writer's time. Unless you are truthful, you may as well not bother to write a resume.

It really is a pity that so many mature people feel their age is a handicap. Whatever its drawbacks, age also has its advantages. Even if some employers are willing to train an inexperienced young person, others prefer the almost-instant productivity that an experienced, mature person can offer.

The advice to the "over fifty" is simple: in preparing your resume, follow your chosen format and put in all the appropriate dates. Be proud of your age and experience. State the facts truthfully and with dignity. Preparing your resume may take a little longer than it would a younger person, but ultimately you will find a satisfying job.

Personal:

Hobby Information:

Personal History:

Publications:

Information about Relocation:

Military Service:

Birth Date: Marital Status:

References upon request.

For Minorities

Most employers are doing their utmost to avoid hiring practices that could be interpreted as discriminatory. Often, as a result of this, previous employment practices are being reversed, and a member of a minority with a good educational background and/or work history is likely to be given preference.

Nonetheless, you try neither to emphasize nor conceal your minority background. Listing it as an item under personal data could work to your disadvantage, as it might appear as defiance. Treat it as a matter of course. If you belong to any organizations or professional societies that would indicate your minority status, list them under the appropriate headings.

For the Returning Housewife

The housewife returning to work, like all other job seekers, must have a resume. Its general format is the same as any other resume. And, like any other resume^ it must account for all time, even though ten or fifteen years were spent pursuing the functions and responsibilities of a wife and/or mother.

After the introductory identifying information, state the job objective or career goal, if using. This is followed by the dates that were spent at home. The employment history for that period can mention, as simply as possible, the functions of keeping house and raising children. It is of extreme importance to include any volunteer work such as PTA or fund-raising in which you were involved.

Never underestimate the value of your volunteer work. Not only has it helped an important cause, but properly described, it will increase your marketability. The very fact that you have done volunteer work tells a prospective employer much about your abilities and interests.

If you have been an administrator for any non-profit organization, it will be assumed immediately that you can offer the same talents to an employer wanting someone for managerial duties. Only a short time ago, we were asked to recruit a mature person with managerial potential to take on the supervision of a market research group. The person hired would direct a staff of interviewers, interview, and hire new employees for this market research function. The person would have to be well organized and have a background that showed managerial abilities.

Several placement counselors were reading resumes in search of such a person. We were looking for a returnee whose resume showed extensive volunteer administrative experience. We were aware, of course, that many of the people whose resumes we had rejected might have had such experience, but since the information wasn't indicated we could not ask our client to give them consideration.

Many of the returnees' resumes point out interesting and salable talents acquired in voluntary work. Writing an organization's newsletter, organizing fund-raising events, working with the handicapped, door-to-door soliciting of contributions, and other similar volunteer activities show abilities and talents that are very valuable on the job market.

In reviewing your volunteer experience, as in your employment history, list all activities with dates. If you were responsible for any special projects, describe them with the importance they deserve.

Even though fifteen years may have elapsed, your past employment history should be noted. Give dates, job titles, and responsibilities. List any skills such as stenography, typing, bookkeeping, etc. Even if they are a bit rusty, these skills are very useful to prospective employers.

Your educational history should be included, even though there's been a several years' lapse. If you have received a graduate degree and kept up, through journals or books, with the material in your field, this should be mentioned, too.

A returnee's resume, like any other, should not be sent out without a covering letter. The covering letter should state clearly that you've made provisions for taking care of the home and of any young children. There is no need to go into detail concerning the nature of those provisions, however.

Do not be disheartened. Returnees don't always find work easily. But work is available and there are many employers who appreciate the qualities - stability, respect for the work ethic, willingness to accept responsibility that you can offer. An employer might show some concern about the seriousness of your intentions to remain at work, but these doubts are only dispelled after you've made a good impression. In addition, you must recognize that employers often look for what they consider the gentlest way of refusing to hire someone. They are liable to think it is more brutal to say, "I'm sorry, but you don't have what we're looking for," than to tell you, "We'd like to hire you, but we're afraid you'll be concentrating on your home rather than the job."

You are entitled to your privacy, but an employer's concerns some-times conflict with right. A married man with three children is not questioned about the care of the children. Nor is he asked whether he would be able to continue working if something should happen (or has happened) to his wife. Habits die hard, unfortunately, and some employers still cling to the belief that a mother with dependent children is an employment risk. Your protestations will be useless.

There is a way, however, of demonstrating that you are not a risk. That is by taking temporary employment before looking for a permanent job. Working as a "temp" for a month or two is an excellent idea for a returnee. It serves a threefold purpose: it gives you time to iron out home problems; it gives you a chance to polish up rusty skills; and it gives you a recent reference, proving that your home doesn't interfere with your job. Not only would you want to be able to put those two or three months of temporary work into your resume, but you could also mention them in your covering letter - they might be the factor that would tip the scales in your favor.

For the Disabled

Effective and convincing publicity consisting not only of paid advertisements but of news stories as well, has done much to
alleviate the problems the disabled had in finding employment. Employers are coming to recognize that many of their fears are not only unjustified, but are demonstrably false. Recent studies have shown that, as a group, disabled people suffer less from absenteeism, are involved in fewer work-related accidents, and are more productive than the average abled worker. Some companies, recognizing the benefits accruing from hiring the handicapped, are modifying their offices and plants to remove physical barriers.

A disabled person's resume does not differ from another person's resume. It serves the same function: it is a summary of the educational background and work history of the applicant, listing his or her qualifications and assets. As such, it is not the place to discuss a handicap as a problem or as an impediment to employment.

While we do not feel that a handicap should be mentioned in the resume, we do think it should be briefly discussed in the covering letter. Being straightforward and honest is always the best approach. A personnel director of a large office recently said, "The fewer surprises in an interview, the better." Another personnel director told us. "It's like meeting someone whose resume fits a job's specification perfectly, and then learning he speaks only Chinese."

Remember: In your covering letter, your lead should be your assets -not your disability.

Changing for the Softer

At any given moment, someone, somewhere, feels as if he or she is on a treadmill going nowhere, and is pondering a radical change of career. Someone else, either laid-off or phased-out, feels that the answer to his or her employment problems is in a field different from the previous one. Whatever the reason, be it choice or necessity, the techniques of a career change are much the same.

The decision should not be capricious. You have to give serious consideration to your prospects, and make an honest evaluation of your abilities and talents before you can even attempt to change your career. You will have to read your resume carefully and note which of your skills, interests, and previous responsibilities are appropriate to other fields. You are planning to exchange the commitment and expertise you have acquired in one area for the opportunity to prove your abilities in a new field.

We often see an attorney become an editor, an engineer become a sales manager, and an executive secretary become an administrator. Teachers usually have a talent for personnel counseling; journalists have much to offer a corporate public relations department; and architects can become superlative display designers. Adele's agency has placed an ex-pilot in a sales program and a nun who left the convent in a job counseling program for international exchange students.

Once you have decided to change fields and have picked an appropriate area, you are ready to write your new resume. While basically the same as for your original field, this new resume has one important difference. The job objective or career goal is not optional; you must include it as well as a capsule resume In this manner you explain what sort of work you are seeking as well as how your past experience qualifies you for it.

For instance, if your background is as a patent attorney for an engineering firm and you want to change to a career in technical writing, you state your goal in your job objective:

Job Objective: An opportunity as a technical writer who would use the expertise acquired in ten years as a patent attorney with an electrical engineering background.

Follow the career goal with the same information you would have included for your original field. Remember that your new resume must be truthful as well as logical. Never put anything in your resume that is not honest. Stay with the truth even if you feel that a small exaggeration or distortion might make you more marketable. Any information that is not true can become a liability.

Employers are willing to train you in areas where you are weak, but not if you had claimed strength in that area. Dishonesty is likely to result in your loss of the job.

A law school instructor wishing to start a new career in litigation should write a complete resume giving the teaching background, but before the work history, insert a combined job objective and capsule resume.

Job Objective: A career in litigation which would utilize ten years of dealing with students and parents while a law school professor.

An assistant district attorney looking for a career in anti-trust work uses the same format. The combined resume capsule/job objective might read like this:

Job Objective: A position in an anti-trust firm in which I can utilize extensive trial and courtroom experience stemming from four years as an assistant district attorney in one of the largest district attorney's offices in the country.

Job Objective: To employ in the field of land use law the broad knowledge gained in six years' work in legal research.
Or an editor of a law journal wanting to leave the publishing field:

Job Objective: A position where my background as editor of journals and researching for articles can be used in the area of corporate mergers.

For the Returning Service Person

If you are returning from military service, you will need an up-to-date resume to land a good job.

Your military service should be treated as a period of employment and should occupy the most prominent position on your resume. If you decide to use a career or job objective, follow it immediately with a concise description of your military career. If you do not use a job objective, the description of your military service must contain the following information:
 

1. Date (year and month) you became associated with the military
2. Date (year and month) you left the military
3. Arm and branch of service
4. The highest rank received and military occupational specialty
5. Any service schools attended
6. Special training
7. Places you were stationed
   
   Bear in mind that the duties of military occupational specialty might not be known to a civilian. For instance, many civilians may not be aware that a Company Master Sergeant is primarily a managerial office worker whose major concerns are assignments of duties, maintenance of schedules, and supervision of other office workers such as company clerks, supply sergeants, and supply clerks.

Military experience can easily be translated to administrative or supervisory job opportunities.

For Jumping Salaries and Job Status

Since neither past salaries nor new minimum salaries should be listed in your resume, a jump in salary must be implied rather than stated. Remember that the purpose of the resume is to elicit enough interest in you to get an interview. During the interview is when your salary requirements should be discussed.

How Shall I Imply I Want More Money?

If your resume shows that you are presently employed, the reader will infer that you are probably interested in a new job because you are looking for a higher salary. If, however, you are looking for an increase in responsibility as well as salary, state that in your job objective.

For example, if you are an Assistant Public Defender and are seeking a new position as Public Defender, your new goal should appear in the job objective and your present (or past) job title should be included in your employment history. For example:

Job Objective: Public Defender

(Present or last employment): Assistant Public Defender

When looking for a higher (or different) level, you must use a job objective because it is the only way to explain what you are looking for and why you are qualified for such a position.

Promotion Resumes

It often happens that a person has held only one or two positions during a long course of employment, but that within those positions he or she has shown great advancement. In cases such as this, you will document your movement up the ladder with a particular company, rather than show advancement through moves from company to company.

A resume depicting your job career in one particular company can be very effective if done correctly. A very interesting resume can be written if you examine each job category individually, detailing it with dates, job titles, and descriptions. Your present or last job title is listed first and, in reverse chronological order, each descending position.
 

• See 6 Things Attorneys and Law Students Need to Remove from Their Resumes ASAP If They Want to Get Jobs with the Most Prestigious Law Firms for more information.