Every year, we receive hundreds of resumes whose styles and presentations run the gamut from poor to excellent.  As executive recruiters who specialize in the hospitality industry, we naturally have opinions about what makes a presentable resume.  In the world of executive recruitment, a resume should make a strong first impression: it should make us want to get on the phone and call you.  When a resume sells your talents and experience in a compelling way, you can expect an employer or recruiter to be interested in talking with you.  Fortunately, with a little foresight and knowledge, you can create a resume that best reflects what you have to offer to a potential employer.  The following suggestions on style and presentation are compiled from our years in recruiting for leading hospitality companies and we hope that they help you with your resume: 

General Layout 

Keep your resume clear, concise, and easy to read.  Remember to leave space between paragraphs and around the margins to give your resume a crisp look.  Nothing burdens the mind like seeing a dense patchwork of words on a page with almost no margin space.  In a misguided attempt to make a resume stand out, some people enjoy using special colored or designer paper.  We don’t suggest that, simply because it may look like you’re trying too hard.  And in these times, most resumes are sent by email, anyway, which makes the choice of paper irrelevant.  Keep it simple: if you’re mailing the resume, then use a clear font on high-quality plain paper. 

Length of Resume

The myth of the one-page resume still resonates among certain applicants.  If you’re a senior executive with many years of experience, you’re not doing your career any justice by summarizing it in one page.   When recruiters scan resumes, they look for evidence of accomplishments, not simply a listing of responsibilities.  If it takes a few more bullet points to highlight your achievements, then go ahead and list them.  By the same token, it’s more useful to elaborate in greater detail on your most recent positions than to ascribe similar importance to positions held in the distant past.  But if you really must define a length, we suggest keeping your resume to no more than three pages as a rule of thumb. 

Type Size

Ah, the type size.  In the interest of clarity, we suggest a type size that will not suffer distortion when faxing or viewing on the computer screen.  Remember that faxes can sometimes be difficult to read if the type is too small.  In cases where you email your resume—which is almost de rigueur these days—a sans serif font such as Arial or Helvetica is typically found on most computer systems.  This type of font minimizes the risk that your reader will not be able to read the resume because it uses a fancy font. 

Dates of Employment

In keeping with convention, your most recent dates of employment should be listed first.  The correct presentation for these dates should be month and year of start and finish.  If you merely list the years, the reader may suspect that you are hiding either short tenures or long stretches of unemployment.  Either possibility is enough to cast aspersions on your character, and it is best to deal with this fact honestly and openly by listing dates by month and year.  On the other hand, if you have held more than one position with the same company, you should list the dates for each position separately. 

Employer Information

Brevity and accuracy in describing the properties where you have worked is always welcome and appreciated.  In the case of hotels, you should define it by the number of rooms, size of the banquet space, number of food and beverage outlets, and possibly the category to which it belongs, such as boutique or budget property.  In the case of food and beverage operations, you should include the style of cuisine, number of seats, and perhaps the annual sales volume, which will help the reader better understand the size and scope of the operation.  You should also include the city and state, but not the street address, for the employer.  Listing the name and title of your supervisor is probably better saved for your list of references and is inappropriate to list on your resume.

Job Description 

This is the heart of your resume.  You should think of each job description as two parts.  First, you should write 1-2 sentences that outline the scope of your responsibilities.  Second, you should list a bullet point summary of your accomplishments.  Use action verbs, leadership words, and phrases that emphasize strong, decisive actions that directly led to measurable results.  Focus on highlights in your career which, when taken as a whole, comprise a narrative of upward progression and advancement.  That is what the employer expects.  By upholding their expectations, you guarantee that a potential employer will value your resume as highly as it deserves.  If you want a resume that best reflects your skills and experience, then following this model will help you create a strong impression in the mind of the employer or recruiter. 

Photos, Birth Date, Salaries and…

While it is common in Europe and Latin America and most international locations for people to include photos with their resumes, here in the United States it is considered inappropriate.  In this litigious climate, employers want to avoid the risk of discriminating against potential candidates based on appearance.  The same is true of such information as marriage status, age, and other personal information which employers are forbidden to ask.  In the case of salary history, while it is generally not appropriate to list this information on your resume, this information is usually requested during the initial stages of qualifying you as a potential candidate.  From a recruiter’s perspective, knowing the salary history helps determine whether you would be interested in the salary range for a particular position. 

References
References are critical to rounding out the first impression made by your resume.  They can be listed on a separate sheet and submitted either with the resume or held at the ready.  Cultivating and maintaining relationships with former supervisors and colleagues can help your career reap strong benefits.  You should have a list of five to eight individuals whom you have previously contacted who have agreed to answer questions from prospective employers.  The list should include the name, title, employer, and phone number for each reference.  It is crucial that you keep this list accurate—nothing annoys someone more than having to track a reference down due to dated or inaccurate information.  That may be the difference between you or someone else getting the job! 

Spelling & Proofing

In this world of automated spellcheckers, it’s simple enough to check your resume for misspellings, typographical errors, and malapropisms before sending it off to a prospective employer.  If you don’t undertake this painless procedure, you run the risk of making a verbal blunder that may outrage some prospective employer. At the very least, it will appear that you don’t pay careful attention to details. 

Misinformation

The golden rule remains the same no matter what the topic: never lie or even exaggerate your accomplishments.  Aim for accuracy in all areas of your work history and professional life.  You cannot assume that the reader of your resume is uninformed, especially not in the hospitality industry where everyone really does seem to know everyone.  Many employers will check to see whether you really have that degree, so beware.  Assume that employers and executive search firms will always conduct extensive reference checks and sometimes even background checks on a candidate’s credit history, education, and criminal record. 

Resume Services

Many of you write your own resumes, which is fine if you spend some time with it and pay attention to the points we mention here. Otherwise, you may consider using a resume service that specializes in resume writing and production. Ultimately, of course, you are responsible for the content. A resume service will generally not be aware of our industry jargon, so pay attention. Do not assume more expensive is better—there are plenty of examples of poor work out there at outrageous prices. Remember, some of the mistakes we list here are from resumes prepared by professional resume companies. 

Email Tips

Here are a few tips on posting your resume via email: 

• Subject Line: Use the subject line to catch the recipient’s attention.  For example, writing “Sam Adams, 5-Star F&B Director” helps identify the type of property with which you may have experience. 
• Email Address: Select a professional, easy-to-remember, and permanent email address before you send out your resume.  Changing your email address may cause you to lose out on a great opportunity.  Do not use potentially embarrassing email addresses such as beerguy@yahoo.com --remember that you are selling a perception of yourself that must be kept as professional as possible at all times. 
• Attachments: Send your cover letter and resume as a single document.  This prevents loss of attachments and reduces clutter in a recruiter’s inbox.   Save the document in a format that can be read by most computers, such as Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF (as an example, our firm prefers to receive Microsoft Word documents).  Name the file with your full name (“Sam Adams.doc”).  Do not make the mistake of naming the file as “Resume.doc”—think of how many files we receive with the same name!
• Email body: Try to keep this short and to the point.  Mention the position for which you wish to be considered in the first sentence.  Highlight your background.  Most emails get scanned very quickly so you should keep it to one paragraph. 
• Avoid: Sending resumes as .zip files or sending multiple attachments in the same email are to be avoided.  Copy and paste your cover letter, resume, and references into one document before sending. 
• Keywords: Many companies place resumes into their resume databases and search for them using keywords.  So if you’re an Excel whiz, have experience cooking Thai cuisine, or speak French, make sure you place these keywords somewhere on your resume. 

A resume that sells the “real you” is a resume that presents your talents and achievements in a way that is trenchant and persuasive.  Should you have any questions or require a review of your resume, please contact one of our consultants at one of the offices below.  We would be happy to assist you.  Good luck on your career!

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