Dear Rachel,
I am what you'd call a media newbie. I've worked at a small agency in a small town for two years and performed a variety of duties. I'm now ready to move on to a bigger agency and a bigger city, but I don't have a ton of experience. How do I make sure my resume doesn't get lost in the shuffle? Should I include the job I held at the school library during college and other non-media experience, or do I skip that stuff? If I do, my resume looks pretty thin.—
Just Getting Started
Dear Started,
Every applicant wants to make her resume stand out. Unfortunately, many do it the wrong way. They try to make it appear as if they have more experience than they do. A puffed-up resume is something any experienced media person can see through.
It is tough when you are young and just beginning to figure out a way to stand out. But the truth is, many agencies are looking for people just like you.
Indeed, young media planners and buyers with several years' experience are more in demand than people with far more years under their belt. To see that you need only look at the classifieds in Media Life.
"Many of the agencies in major markets like to hire people with prior agency experience, even if it's not specialized in media planning, buying or research," one New York media veteran tells me.
"Although they probably won't be able to bring you in at the same level as someone with major agency media training and experience, they won't necessarily have to start you at the bottom."
In putting your resume together, keep this one thing in mind: Simple is better.
Someone who's looking to hire will churn through dozens of resumes, and his or her eyes will quickly glaze over staring at a lengthy resume.
That person is looking for several key things, depending on what the job is, and the resumes with those qualifications will go in one stack and those without in another.
Your job is to make that person's job easier by putting in your relevant experience and leaving everything else out.
The risk with a lengthy resume is that the relevant material gets buried among the extraneous and passed over, landing you in the reject heap rather than the let's-have-this-person-in pile.
Leave out why you are looking for another job. Save that for the interview, if one should come about.
Leave out your college and summer jobs unless they are directly relevant.
No need to mention that you were top sandwich artist at your local sub shop during high school, or that you were paid to dress up as the Easter bunny. No need to mention that you've been working since you were 16. No need to mention that you paid your way through college, for that matter.
People put those things in because they think it makes them look industrious. It's just clutter.
What will get you in for an interview is your last two years of professional experience.
So make that work for you.
"Since you've had the opportunity to cover a variety of tasks and see different departments and processes, tailor your resume to target the specific area you are looking to move into," advises our New York media maven.
"If it's planning, stress your involvement with the planning department. The same goes for buying and so forth. Since many agencies have unbundled, having someone on board who understands the process from beyond the media walls also is important. So don't forget to mention those responsibilities as well."
One other caution: Don't get fancy with how your resume is presented by going for bizarre fonts and wacky colors. It will make you stand out but in a way you're not going to like. It will look tacky sitting next to all the crisply printed black and white resumes.
As for your cover letter, also keep that brief and simple. Its purpose is to introduce you and your resume. It ought to say, quite briefly, that you are interested in the job and feel qualified based on your experience, which you can then briefly summarize.
Keep it to three paragraphs, max.
Then wait for the phone to ring.
