The last few weeks have been really hectic, let me tell you. I’ve rejoined ProMatch to sharpen my career management skills and taken several classes at the Connect Center, including Ace the Interview, Resume Facts and PSR 1.
If you’re having trouble relating your work accomplishments in a compelling style in interviews, on your resume or during networking events I highly recommend that you study the PSR method. It’s a TLA that expands to Problem – Solution – Resolution and means that rather than using simple bullets for past responsibilities you give them in a PSR. Except on resumes, where the problem is left off, the word I is implied and conveyed with the mimium number of words.
A resume example: Managed a three tier support delivery team becomes Implemented training and process improvements that reduced average case time to close from 5.5 to 3.5 days.
Same bullet given during an interview: I was promoted to manage the NetDynamics support delivery team because our customer base and caseload were growing faster than the team could handle. I instituted a much more structured case allocation process as well as several training and mentoring programs which enabled more effective analysis and resolution of customer issues and reduced the average case time to close from 5.5 to 3.5 days.
The problem statement is the first sentence, the solution is the first half of the second sentence and the result the rest of the second sentence (split that parts at the word which). Depending on the circumstance, particularly the relevance of this achievement to the context, I might expand this with more detail on the problem statement and then, without going past 90 seconds in all, more on the solution.
Note that even though this was a team effort the words ‘group’, ‘we’ and ‘our’ do not appear because the objective is to promote my value to the interviewer/resume reader; in a normal conversation I would of course not present this in such a self-centered way. However, it is important to practice your telling of them so you come across as conversational and not having memorized a script.
In all three classes the question of how many PSRs should one have came up since, to the novice they seem difficult to devise. The standard answer is 7-10 but I would recommend a minimum of four for each position you’re targeting; a PSR might be relevant for more than one position, with a slight difference in emphasis and detail.
To start working on your own read over your resume and try to see how those old responsibilities included (a phrase that should not appear on it, by the way) can be repositioned in this new form. While being able to mention a quantity in your result is a very good thing don’t fret too much if you can’t see how to get that concrete.
Once you have a few ready find someone, a friend or another participant in a job group or network, who will listen to you present them and offer feedback. I doubt the best version will be the first one you put down, so don’t worry about getting it perfect.
And you are in a job group or network, right? If you live in the Bay Area I highly recommend checking out CSIX and in the South Bay ProMatch, both are free of charge and full of people who will share their local knowledge and lend emotional support when frustration gets you down.
BillSaysThis 