The Perfect Resume

The Perfect ResumeAs a former CEO, I've hired plenty of people. Only a few resumes stand out as exceptional. I'm not talking about how they were written or designed, but the experience and skills they reflected. A career trajectory that said simply, "I can excel at anything."So how does a resume show that? I'm going to tell you a story about a woman who was applying to work for me. She had worked at both large companies and entrepreneurial ventures. The conventional wisdom is that you need to do one or the other, that few people are well-suited to both. I vehemently disagree.Here's why.Big Corporations Train YouThis woman, who eventually worked as my Chief Financial Officer, had started her career working for Johnson & Johnson, a huge company with a great deal of process and many, many rules. There she had learned structure, order and why some rules really do matter. She got excellent training, both in corporate finance and corporate politics. But she was young, bright and energetic and so, not surprisingly, she eventually got frustrated at the slow pace at which things had to happen. So she left and worked for a start up.Start Ups Stretch YouIn Silicon Valley, she learned to do everything: find office space, negotiate leases, buy office furniture, do the monthly accounts - and speak up for herself. There wasn't any process so she put some - not too much - in place. She was very good at asking searching financial questions about some rather exotic strategies. Eventually the chaos of hyper-growth, combined with the CEO's preference for action over thought, led her back to a big company - this time Toshiba.Big Companies Give You CloutThis time, though, she had so much great experience on her resume that her work was a lot more interesting and she had far more responsibility. With clout, working in a big company is more fun. She was able to take more decisions and get more attention. Because she had had so much responsibility at her start up, she knew more than many of her more narrowly focused, process-driven peers. That meant she was included in more projects at a more senior level. But if big companies can be sclerotic, this Japanese company (she told me) was obsessed with detail - to a degree that even she eventually couldn't stand. Which is when she came to work for me.Flexibility Wins You FlexibilityAt my company, hers was a serious but lively voice. She didn't insist on process but she knew when we needed it. She was fierce in asking tough questions - but open to the answers. When she had her first child, she came to me with an immensely detailed plan of how she'd return to work and was visibly relieved to be told: Do what works for you and I'm sure you won't let me down.Of course, she didn't - but she enjoyed a far higher degree of flexibility than most conventional businesses would have afforded her.A Great Employee Can Do AnythingWhen, many years later, we parted company, she went to work for Fidelity. And yes, that eventually drove her nuts and she went to a start up. But by then she had such a dazzling resume, she could have worked anywhere. What her resume said was this:I can manage any kind of budget, large or small.I understand the timing and financial implications of long and short product cycles and their commensurate financial risk.I can operate with complete autonomy or under a great deal of scrutiny.I appreciate the cultural and emotional differences in groups and am nimble in navigating both.I can work with anyone.She had superb skills, honed in blue chip companies, combined with a brilliant and flexible attitude. Who wouldn't want to hire her?作为一位前CEO，我已经招聘过很多人了。

这之中仅仅只有一些简历因为写得特别好而脱颖而出。

我说的不是他们写或者设计得好，而是他们简历中所反映出的经验和能力。

理想情况是，你在职业道路上能够说出“我可以胜任任何事。

”那么，怎么样才能让一个简历显现出这些？我给你讲一个以前在我这里申请工作的女性的故事。

她在大公司和创业的小企业中都工作过。

传统的说法说你可以胜任其中之一，而只有很小一部分人二者都适合。

我强烈反对。

下面是原因。

作为一位前CEO，我已经招聘过很多人了。

这之中仅仅只有一些简历因为写得特别好而脱颖而出。

我说的不是他们写或者设计得好，而是他们简历中所反映出的经验和能力。

理想情况是，你在职业道路上能够说出“我可以胜任任何事。

”那么，怎么样才能让一个简历显现出这些？我给你讲一个以前在我这里申请工作的女性的故事。

她在大公司和创业的小企业中都工作过。

传统的说法说你可以胜任其中之一，而只有很小一部分人二者都适合。

我强烈反对。

下面是原因。

大公司培训你这位女性后来成为我的CFO，而强生公司是她事业的开始。

强生公司是一个拥有巨大规模的公司，它上上下下有非常多的处理进程和很多很多的法则。

在那里，她学会了架构化，秩序和一些确实重要的规矩。

在企业融资和企业政治，她都炉火纯青。

但是她年轻、聪明、有活力，不出人意料，最终她厌烦了这种慢悠悠节奏的生活。

她辞职了，转而去为一家自己创业的小公司工作。

创业公司拓展你在硅谷，她得去学做什么事情：租办公室，谈租金，买办公室的家具，每月做帐——当然，她还要学会为自己说话。

小公司里没有什么既定的处理方式，所以她根据自己的方式做事，并建立了一些合适的方式。

她非常擅长询问关于查询需要特别对待的金融问题。