Resume tips that work
Here is an interesting observation to ponder, in fact, you might have thought about this already. Did you realize President Obama is having a difficult time finding the best candidate to hire for his cabinet? Is it possible his hiring criteria or formula is unrealistic? Or could it be that candidates aren’t putting their best skills forward? More importantly, what does that mean to the average job seeker looking to get hired in the work place today?
I recently participated in a job fair where over 1500 job seekers showed up with their proverbial hat in their hand. Downsized, fired or looking ahead before the axe falls, these folks were all after the same result. Get hired, NOW.
I was there to critique resumes and make concrete suggestions to the job seeker they could implement to propel the hiring manager to rush to their phone and call them for an interview. Unfortunately, this was not the outcome.
I felt like I was in a never ending game of where’s Waldo? I kept reading and searching for some phrase that would jump out and give me a hint as to what type of job they wanted. Sadly, the majority of the resumes I read looked more like an autobiography than a focused employment marketing tool.
I ended up giving the same advice to almost every person I spoke with that day. These basic tips will assist everyone in their search for the “phone call”.
Keep it simple and to the point. As in, what is your hook? What have you done in your past that translates to what your new boss that you are the person to call? This is written as a job objective or a career summary. Use one or the other-not both. It can be as simple as: Successful Office Assistant able to multi-task, problem solver and rapport build with staff and customers.
Make it easy to read. If it needs to be decoded, you have lost your audience. Learn the verbiage of the industry and use it. Giving yourself a fancy title and multiple paragraphs on your job duties defeats your goal. If you sell the glue that binds book jackets say so. Describing how you customize specific adhesives to meet the formulary configurations of various materials just sounds silly, doesn’t it? Your goal is to have the reader understand what it is that you do successfully. Unless you are a brain surgeon, what you do should be stated in simple terms.
Benefits sell; features won’t in the resume world. In other words, a resume with your job description does not highlight what benefit you will bring to the company. Make your resume jump out to the reader. It can look like: Recognized for exceeding monthly sales goals, receiving Sales Person of the Month award Feb. – December 2008.
To the reader it means that you are successful in your current position and it’s not a huge leap to think you will be successful with their company (if you are hired to do similar work).
Make spell check your bff (best friend forever). No kidding! The #1 sure fire way to have your resume go directly to the round file is having misspelled words, typos and incorrect homonyms on your resume. Have someone proofread before you hit the send button.
Take control of everything that is within your power. There are many variables that you have no control over when job hunting. What that means is perhaps they are really looking for a man instead of a woman. You might walk into the interview and look like an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend, and although no one would admit it, you get eliminated on a biased opinion. Face it, we are only human!
What we can control is which phone number we use. I suggest using your cell phone number. This is where you can be reached 24/7. You might consider a professional looking email address as well. Kickboxer001@yahoo.com or loves2shop@gmail.com is not the impression you want to advertise to your potential new employer. Email addresses are free. Get one with your name only and you will be surprised the amount of respect you will get.
And here is a bonus tip: If by chance you need to use two pages for your resume please do not staple it together. And, I know the world is trying to be greener, you need to use two separate pieces of paper to print out your resume. Front and back printing might be considered ecologically sound, unfortunately the only sound you will hear is that of your resume being tossed into the round file.
These are quick fixes you can implement on your own to get your resume placed in the “call pile”. Remember, your #1 goal is to receive a phone call. Presenting a clear resume will ultimately move you one step closer to getting hired.
Tags: Add new tag, interviewing, job search, resumes
