Okay, I'm shamelessly taking advantage of this blog by asking, but if I can gather some good tips hopefully they'll be of use to others, too. I'm applying for an internal promotion and need to submit my resume, and I have no idea what I'm doing! I've never been in this situation before, but I'm sure many of you have (and some of you are veritable career-advice gurus!).
What are the differences between a resume designed for an external employer and one for your current employer? Are there any pitfalls to avoid, or things to take advantage of? Or should I be following the standard resume-prep approaches and not treating this any differently?
(FYI, the new position is basically my current job with "Senior" tacked onto the front of it-- it has many of the same core responsibilities, but also involves more leadership, independent decision-making, and input on big-picture strategy.)
I've always felt a little uncomfortable with the "I'm so great" aspect of resumes. Obviously I want to highlight my accomplishments and put the best possible spin on them. But I have a hard time figuring out where the line is between phrasing things in the most impressive manner and overstating my case. And I feel especially sensitive about this since it's at my current place of employment; I keep imagining them reading the resume and thinking "Whoa, she's full of herself. Yes, she was involved in Project X, but I wouldn't say she 'played a key role.' She says she 'proposed and initiated important projects in her department' but some of those ended up being a waste of time. Sure, she 'helped train and integrate newer colleagues Y and Z' but they're quick learners and I don't think she made much of a difference." So I feel like I will then end up leaning towards understatement, which is probably also not the right move. Any tips on finding the right balance?
Also, I wonder how much I should focus on the aspects of my performance which are relevant to the new responsibilities (i.e. leadership-type stuff) and how much I should talk about my success in other areas of my job which I would continue to be responsible for. Should I act like I'm applying only for the part of the job that's new, or include the brag-worthy work I've done on things in my current job description?
(And tangentially, since I'm still in my first full-time job out of college, should the resume be entirely focused on what I've accomplished in this job? I assume I should stick with the functional-resume format, and I'm guessing they don't want to hear about what I did in college anymore.)
Share your experience and your wisdom, and I will listen avidly, I promise! And in an effort to keep this from being entirely take-take-take on my part, here's the only real article I found about this issue, so if you're in my shoes, take a peek.
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