8 Resumes
Rules
There are certain unwritten rules that if you adhere to will increase your chance of getting the attention you deserve.
Give’ em
What They Want
You have
6-30 seconds to convince a reader that your resume warrants a complete read, an
investment on their end of 5-6 minutes.
A recent
poll I conducted among fellow recruiters revealed most spend less than 15 seconds
on the first page of your resume. Most,
in fact, never get past the email note or cover letter, let alone your
carefully worded “Objective” and, frankly, human resource managers are no
better.
No one has
time to waste waiting for a Job Seeker to get to the point… so the first rule
of resume writing is to construct your resume so the Reader gets the
information they need fast. A little
advance planning is called for.
Be
Relevant.
Presumably
the reader has a job you’re interested in, so show how your experience fits
their requirements. Don’t assume people
can or will “read between the lines” – they don’t have time. It’s not their job and they don’t care about
you – yet.
Target your
Reader.
You need to
understand who your “reader” is because – different people read resumes looking
for different things.
Recruiters
look for “hot” marketable skills because they want to make money marketing
you. If your skill set is not in high
demand, they won’t call unless you are an exact fit for a job order they
have.
HR folks
look for an exact skill fit with a job first, then your stability, then your
personality type.
Hiring managers look for skill sets first, then how flexible you are and finally your ability to learn on the job.
Keep it
Crisp
People are visual. They like looking at documents that are clean, neat and well constructed.
Use Bullets
Sentences, that is. Short sentences are less effort to write and easier to read. We live in a PowerPoint world. They also give the reader a sense of action and energy. The reader can get the gist of your experience quickly. You can elaborate at the interview.
Highlight
your Strengths
Whichever strengths (accomplishments) are the most relevant to your reader – they go first. Always lead with your best foot forward.
Use ###, %%%, and $$$ to emphasize your accomplishments. One million dollars is less likely to be noticed than $1,000,000. Numbers and symbols jump off the page.
Give it
“POP”
Power verbs
like those below give your resume “pop”, that crisp Joe Friday delivery of
“just the facts ma’a’m – just the facts”. They’re high energy and factual, making you appear to be a
“driver”! Just rewriting your resume
alone with these words will increase your chances of being interviewed by
50%. Here are 35 of the hundreds of
possible
- Accelerated
- Accomplished
- Achieved
- Activated
- Addressed
- Admitted
- Aided
- Allowed
- Amended
- Analyzed
- Apportioned
- Approved
- Arranged
- Assessed
- Attained
- Augmented
- Balanced
- Brainstormed
- Calculated
- Certified
- Collaborated
- Committed
- Compiled
- Conceptualized
- Consented
- Contracted
- Convinced
- Coordinated
- Correlated
- Created
- Increased
- Initiated
- Invented
- Led
- Negotiated
- Started
Be Concise
Your resume
should not contain one more word than it needs – to make your point. Ok? It’s supposed to create interest not bore
them to death. Be
a tease!
Connect the
DOTS for them
Make it
easy for the reader to see your fit to their job. Before you write your resume, research
newspapers, job boards and Internet ads for positions that are similar to the
ones you’ll be seeking.
Ensure that
the latest “buzzwords”
are prevalent. Common key words and
phrases like “JAVA or Audit Trail or channel management or DWDM” should map to
the bullets in your resume.
Scientists
and senior executives should prepare an appendix of publications and papers as well. Technical people need a separate Technical
Summary page for easy identification of your skills.
Personal
branding is where it’s at and the unwritten rules are fodder for Branding 101. Check out William Arruda’s site on
personal branding for more.
