Edit Your Life
Resist the temptation to include all of your experience, starting with your first job. Instead, provide enough information so that your expertise is evident, but remember that less important details about your background can wait for the actual interview. On paper, discuss only the last 15 years or so of your experience, then conclude with a statement like the following:
Previously, held progressively responsible positions for manufacturers of consumer packaged goods and video products.
Don’t Date Yourself
Obliterate, annihilate and liquidate your graduation date from college. Yes, the absence of dates does send a signal to the reader that this may be an old geezer hiding age information. But at least it shows that you have sufficient faculties left to play the game.
Provide Translation Services
Assume that your previous job titles will be misunderstood and briefly explain them. Marketing manager may really mean sales, market research, advertising or all of the above. A regional manager at one company may be a district manager at another.
Take Credit Where Credit Is Due
Take responsible credit for your previous successes. Show how you made a difference. Don't be modest but do go easy with the adjectives you use to describe your achievements. Try and put an appraisal of your worth into someone else's mouth.
Omit Youth-Driven Personal Information
Many seasoned executives try to compensate for their age by including a personal section overflowing with youthful escapades designed to convey their high energy level and excellent physical condition. For example, they'll say they're an avid swimmer, skier or marathon runner; that they enjoy hiking and back-packing; or that they're studying Judo or Karate.
This doesn't work. First of all, no one's going to read this section that closely and make the desired interpretation. Secondly, many résumé reviewers see right through these remarks and say they reinforce the idea that an applicant is self-conscious about his age.
...Then Edit Again
Read through your entire résumé in search of anything -- from a few words to whole sections -- to eliminate or abridge. For very experienced executives, sorting out the most powerful résumé points can be difficult. It's like being a gifted child -- so many choices activities and you're good at them all!
Remember, your résumé has only one goal: To get people to want to meet you. By making the changes just discussed, you'll dramatically increase your résumé 's readership as well as the number of employers and executive recruiters who will want to interview you.
This article was adapted, in part, from Jean Erickson Walker's book, The Age Advantage: Making The Most of Your Midlife Career Transition, which is an ExecuNet recommended resource.
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