Construction Veteran Breaks Resume Rules

Construction Veteran Breaks Resume RulesConstruction Veteran Breaks Resume RulesTo do justice to Tom Emils construction career, resume writer Dan Dorotik had to commit a few resume crimes.Rules are meant to be broken. Dan Dorotik, a certified professional resume writer who works with Ladders, has broken a few in his day, including the rule that said a resume should not exceed three pages.But not without great care, he said.Consider the case of Tom Emil, a 59-year-old construction project superintendent who recently turned to Dorotik for help with his resume.Dorotik wound up doing whats generally considered heretical He wrote a four-page resume. After going back and forth with Emil, whose original resume was six pages long, Dorotik checked with professionals in the construction industry, who confirmed Emils assertion that long resumes are industry-appropriate.Several told me they wouldnt have a problem with a resume that extended to several pages, Dorotik said. For a project superinte ndent, they need a lot of information about the specific projects he worked on, and they dont care if you go beyond the brde 10 years.Different industry, different rulesEmils experience and training spans mora than 25 years and includes the supervision of large, complex projects with budgets that range up to $70 million. He has proven experience managing government regulations, including Storm Water Pollution Prevention and dust control and state/local inspections procedures.He was trained in business-administration studies, attended a carpenter apprentice program, received OSHA training and more hes been in charge of the construction of a 21-acre, multi-use business office park complex received FBI clearance to supervise the construction of new airport buildings and supervised the laying of groundwork to build a new shopping center, complete with supermarket, a bank, two restaurants and multiple shops.Emils resume also included accomplishments and testimonials from successful clien t engagements.All that was hard to say without stretching resume conventions, Dorotik said.Dorotik knows the risks involved in breaking the three-page-resume rule. Some recruiters and hiring managers will simply refuse to read beyond P age T hree or will disregard the document all together.Thats why he and Emil decided to create two versions one for construction jobs and one for jobs in other industries.He fit Emils professional experience, credentials and skills onto the standard three pages. And used a fourth page to capture the accomplishments and testimonials. The four-page resume is now Emils regular resume, and the three-page resume, his alternate, shorter version for hiring companies outside his primary industry.Too many words, not enough contentDorotiks mission to shrink Emils resume ironically began by adding more to it. In spite of the six-page length, the content was lacking. It was too process-oriented, Dorotik said, delineating responsibilities without saying anything a bout whether Emil had done a decent job. He had to beef up the job descriptions without adding extra pages.Emils issues were common to senior executives who assume the reader knows more about their job than they do, Dorotik said.A lot of these things, I take it for granted that its covered in my job title, Emil said. All the work Ive done, Ive already assumed that Im a construction superintendent - thats my job description. Of course the job came in on time, under budget. If I didnt do it, Id be fired.In the new resume, Dorotik explained not just the elements of every project but detailed the accomplishments and budgets involved. Dorotik reminds all job seekers A resume isnt the place to assume anybody knows anything.