One of the biggest hurdles to creating an achievement-based resume can be that your titles and accomplishments just don’t fit together all that well. When you go back
through your outcomes, you might feel like these accomplishments seem circumspect given the title you had at the time. As I talked to people going through career
transitions, I found that many people chose to make-up new titles that reflected the actual work they were doing or supplement their real title with a more descriptive one in parentheses.
Personally I’ve addressed this situation using the parentheses idea and by using a brief sentence or two to highlight my responsibilities in a way that makes sense of the title, description, and accomplishments. There are probably as many solutions to this
problem as there are individuals out there applying for jobs. Just be aware that there is room to be flexible in your job titles.
If you are flexible with your job titles in your resume, be sure to inform your
references. If a potential employer contacts someone, they are likely to reference the title on your resume. Be sure your reference understands how you are presenting that position and are comfortable supporting that characterization so they don’t mistakenly botch a reference-check.
Putting it to Practice # 24 Update your Resume
Using your new list of outcomes, rework your resume into an outcome-based resume.
Include the outcomes you starred in a prominent position to help ensure they are noticed and trigger the questions you want to answer.
Ask at least 2-3 people review it and provide feedback before sending it to a recruiter or hiring manager.
REFERENCES
Many employers will ask to check your references. These requests often come on short notice. As you start your job search, begin compiling your references list. Contact each potential reference personally to ask their permission to use them as a reference, confirm their contact information, and explain your target position.
Ideally you want to build a list of potential references that is longer than you need so you can select the 2 or 3 most appropriate references for a specific position.
Consider including the following types of people on your list:
· Current or former managers
· Anyone you worked with on the “business” side to elicit requirements
· Anyone you worked with on the “technical” side to implement requirements
· Business analysts with whom you’ve worked
· Trainers, mentors, or others who understand your potential capabilities as a business analyst.
Related to references, it is commonplace for job seekers to request recommendations on LinkedIn. Recommendations appear on your profile and often provide co-workers with opportunities to say how much they enjoyed working with you or express a unique perspective of your talents. Consider customizing your request for recommendations by explaining the types of positions you are looking for and asking people to highlight their experiences with you that would best apply to your target position. When seeking recommendations you can cast a broader net and include formal co-workers at all
levels.
Putting it to Practice # 25 Develop a references list
Get a head start on your references list. Identify a target list of references and begin communicating with them about being a reference. This can also be a great
opportunity to touch base about potential opportunities of which they might be aware or to seek advice on your career path. Keep your list ready at hand and nicely
formatted. You’ll never know when you need it.
Career Management Tip
Don’t be caught by surprise if you are escorted out the door during an unexpected layoff without any of your files. Save your work off into a personal storage device at least once every six months. In addition to providing work samples, your files can help you trigger accomplishments
for your resume.
WORK SAMPLES
On occasion a hiring manager will request work samples. What are hiring managers looking for when they ask for work samples? Managers are looking for proof that you can do what you say you can do. It’s one thing to talk about a use case, it’s another to show them a use case you created. If a specific methodology is critical to a position, they might ask for deliverables that fit within that methodology. Otherwise the request might be more generic.
As a hiring manager, I’ve also had candidates bring work samples with them to an interview and get them out when I asked a question about a specific deliverable. This often created a favorable impression of the candidate, especially if the example was relevant and they could speak in detail to how they created it.
If you were able to take on any BA type tasks, the deliverables you created as part of these tasks are obviously the best candidates for work samples. Go through them and clean them up so that none of the information exposes anything about the company that would be inappropriate or violate a non-disclosure agreement.
See if you can’t create 3-4 samples to meet different situations. Examples include:
· Requirements document / features list
· Use Case
· Diagram
· User story or acceptance test
· UI mock-up or wireframe
A note on samples: Do not try to cheat or copy something off the Internet. A good interviewer will ask you to talk in detail about the sample and ask you questions about how you created the sample. Be prepared to talk through how you took “nothing” and created “something” from the initial assignment through to the delivered end product.
Good managers know that a deliverable itself is not nearly as important as the process you went through to create it and the sum value it provided to your organization.
If you are at a loss for samples, go back to the fun tips for integrating business analysis into your personal life and create one. An honest sample showing personal initiative to learn the ropes is better than none at all or one hacked from the internet.
Another idea is to create a sample for a specific job. If their product is available on the web or for a free download, go through and document a use case or diagram for a feature as you were able to experience it via their product. For an added kick,
interview someone you know who uses the product or a competitive product and elicit their “wish list” of features.
Putting it to Practice # 26 Prepare a set of work samples
Use the guidelines above or your personal experiences to prepare a few work samples illustrating the business analysis experiences you have accumulated so far. Remove any information that might be considered confidential or proprietary. Practice speaking to how and why you created these deliverables.
THE JOB SEARCH