What should I title my resume?
Posted Wednesday, March 24 2010 by The JobsBloggers
Dear JobsBlog:
When I apply via the Microsoft Career Site, it asks for me to give my resume a title.
What is the title of my resume used for?
Do recruiters see this when they search?
What would you recommend as a good title?
Answer:
You can submit different versions of your resume for different jobs (like the event planner and marketing coordinator examples I used in my previous post), the title field is there so that you can differentiate between your versions. Don’t sweat it for our sake!
In general though, the title of your resume should be something that is easily transferable. I personally like it when a resume is titled "Janelle Godfrey Resume 2010." That way if I forward it or save it on my computer, I always know it’s yours. Just make sure your name is in the file! I even like seeing the date so if you ever send me an updated one, I know which to use. :-)
12 commentsTagged as: janelle, resume-building, recruiter, dear-jobsblog
Comments
Good points!
Thanks Janelle :)
Did really person omit their name in the CVs?!?!???
Andrei - I think Janelle is talking about omitting your name in the filename, not in the body of the resume. A lot of people name their resumes something generic like "myresume.doc" or "resume v 5" ... and she's saying to make sure you save the file with your name in the title.
gretchen
But getting creative in the online resume name doesn't count AGAINST you right? Nudge nudge?
"Future leader of the free world and corporation Magnate"
"Taking Stevie B's job from him kicking and screaming."
"Things I plan to take over tomorrow"
"Geeky job for geeky guy"
Or maybe I should think about re-editing my resume titles...
Nuts!
Isn't it confusing if I title it "Janelle Godfrey Resume 2007" though? *duck*
Seriously, I did wonder what the point of that field in the MS resume builder was; I was expecting that system would keep track of versions, identity etc, rather than having the contents dumped out into a file on someone's PC. So, I was thinking more in terms of a heading to go near the top of a printed version, alongside the standard details like name, date etc...
Incidentally, when I create a resume on the site, is it searchable by recruiters in general, or only made available when I submit it to someone?
James - Just to reiterate what Janelle said, yes, the title field is there for *you* to differentiate between versions. But there are times when we as recruiters need to take your resume out of the system ... like to share it with a hiring manager. In that case, it's useful if the file is already named with a descriptive heading.
Your resume is searchable by all MS recruiters.
gretchen
You would not believe the number or CVs with no personal data.
Or a double digit percentage of CV’s with a file name CV?
Good post!
Ivan
Uhoh! Resume title is searchable by recruiters?
OOPS!
Name/Recent Grad/Date..... hope this works!
Thanks for the tips.
Rosalinda
Janelle/Gretchen,
Both of you have provided some great information in the Microsoft career blog, so I have a somewhat unrelated question for you but I'm not entirely sure where to address it. I always hear that 'networking' is key to any successful job search. Can you comment on how this plays into recruiting specific to open Microsoft positions?
I have several contacts at Microsoft, however, they usually have no knowledge of the positions/teams/hiring managers that I'm interested in. Given this fact, I'm reluctant to ask them to help me in my networking given their lack of useful relationships. Am I missing out on an opportunity here, or what is my best course of action here?
Ryan
thanx dear for ur healpful tips
Thanx dear for ur helpful tips