One of the best resumes I ever saw had a short tagline for each employer the person had worked for. It gave a brief description of the company, key products/markets and total revenue, in no more than 2 lines. I loved it because even if I was not familiar with the companies listed, each tagline gave me a framework for understanding the sort of environment the person had previously sold in.
For example, if I were writing a tagline for ConMed Linvatec, I might write:
“ConMed Linvatec A division of ConMed, a $700M medical device manufacturer. Specializing in products for sports medicine, video endoscopy and powered instruments used by orthopedic surgeons and other surgical specialties.”
This can be particularly helpful if you are crossing industry lines, or if you work for a lesser-known company. By providing these nuggets of information for each employer you’ve worked for, you allow the person reviewing your resume an opportunity to relate to your work history. Even if your past employers are companies they’ve never heard of, by providing a tagline for each one, the reviewer now understands:
- the size of the companies you’ve worked for
- what industries you’ve had experience in
- what types of products or services you’ve sold
- what types of customers you have experience selling to
Even if you are not in sales, such information could be very helpful on a resume.The reviewer can better determine if your background is similar enough to the one they are recruiting for, instead of dismissing your experience due to lack of understanding. And believe me, the volume of resumes out there in the job market is so high, that providing that extra bit of information could make the difference between receiving a call back, or none at all.
