Mistake #1: Focusing on you and your
needs.
This is the
worst mistake you can make. Unfortunately, it's also the most common.
Look, no
employer wants to hire you. Employers hate hiring! They only hire employees
when they have problems to solve. And no employer wants to spend a lot of time
hiring you, either, just as you wouldn't want to spend more time in a dentist's
chair than you had to.
So, your
résumé must quickly answer the one question that's on every employer's mind:
"What can you do for me?"
Unfortunately,
most résumés don't.
Most
résumés start out like this: "Seeking a position where I can utilize my
skills in an atmosphere with potential for career advancement ..." And so
on. This sounds fine and logical to the person writing the résumé. But it
completely alienates the person READING the résumé. Because this person -- your
potential employer -- has his own problems. He could care less about your
career aspirations or desire to make more money.
Instead,
tell the employer how you can add value to his/her operations, or contribute to
efficiency. Notice this opening summary again:
SUMMARY
Seeking a
position where 10 years of sales, marketing and management experience will add
value to operations.
Now, what
employer wouldn't want to talk to someone like you, who's offered to add value
to his operations? You could also say: "... will contribute to
operations" or "... will add to profitability." The exact words
don't matter. What does matter is your focus on helping the employer meet his
goals. If you do that, your career will advance and you'll make more money.
Mistake #2: Focusing on
responsibilities instead of results.
While it's
important to tell the reader what you've done at each job, it's far more
important to spend most of your time talking about what you accomplished and
how you made yourself valuable to past employers.
It's easy
to do. Just think back on your daily duties. What good things happened when you
did your job well? Write them down! Focus on results. The more specific, the
better!
Instead of
saying this: "Responsibilities included (but were not limited to)
implementation of policies and procedures, training of new employees,
interfacing with subordinates and vendors, and light correspondence
duties."
Say this:
"Worked with staff and vendors to increase product turnover by 15% and
sales by 23% in five months. Also trained 14 new employees, five of whom were
rapidly promoted."
Action Step: I’ve read close to 5,000 resumes over the years, and more
than 80% made one or both of these blunders. Avoiding them will put your resume
ahead of the pack.
NOTE: you can download a proven how-to guide on resume writing, with dozens of copy-and-paste examples. It’s called Resume and Cover Letter Secrets Revealed and you can find it at this link – www.gresumes.com/book.htm
Compliments of David Perry and Kevin Donlin
Grab your Free Guerrilla Job Search Audio here.
