Writing a resume can be a labor of love, but all too often in today’s uncertain economic climate, love can go unnoticed when it comes to job applications. If you had a dollar for every time a client said they hadn’t received a response to a job application, they would be considerably richer.
Just like a first date, making a good first impression is critical when it comes to writing a resume. Employers and recruiters tend to work in strict love (or at least an attraction!) On the first site. politics, and if your resume doesn’t measure up, you can expect immediate rejection.
Writing a good resume is challenging. In a few short pages, the author is required to distill a lifetime of work experience, accomplishments, and aspirations, while convincing a third party of your value as a potential employee.
It is not unusual for applicants to spend a significant amount of time writing and rewriting their resume. And given the potential benefit a good resume can deliver – that is, getting the job you want – agonizing effort over the right words, phrases, and content is time well spent.
Given the amount of time and effort the author can spend on writing a resume, many job seekers still hold to the idea that employers or recruiters will reciprocate, spending a fair amount of time on the details of their resume.
Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth, especially when it comes to the first evaluation. With hundreds and potentially thousands of resumes to review, recruiters will generally give a small resume on the first pass, while trying to eliminate numbers at a manageable level. It seems that when it comes to early resume detection, it’s more of a case of ‘wham bam’ # than a considered & # 39; meet you.
In all likelihood, a recruiter will look at a resume and decide within the first minute, often within thirty seconds, whether to accept or reject a resume. Due to the high volume of applications, employers and recruiters simply do not have time to carefully Review all resumes the first time. They are actively seeking to remove the list of potential candidates, and will mercilessly remove resumes that do not meet their expectations.
While a good resume should hit the mark on many levels, it’s crucial do not to give recruiters any obvious reason to throw their resume on the early rejection pile. Below, I have listed some important elements to address to ensure you avoid any obvious or obvious deficiencies, making it more difficult for recruiters to exclude your resume in early detection.
While this is certainly not an exhaustive list of ‘do’ # s; and & # 39; don’t ts & # 39;, the elements discussed below capture the key factors responsible for early rejection of the resume;
Brevity – A concise resume is a good resume, and you’ll get early brownie points from the reviewer, while an overly long resume will have the opposite effect. If a reviewer has to actively search for key information, they will have already received their first black mark.
If you can conveniently capture information on a single page, do so. Even if you are very experienced, try to keep the number of pages to a minimum. Recruiters are time sensitive and will penalize unnecessarily long resumes accordingly.
First page format – When it comes to writing a resume, the first page is ground zero. Before a reviewer begins reading the details of their resume, they will make conscious and unconscious evaluations of the document design. If the competition is tough and you compete with many well-presented and well-written resumes, a faulty cover can often amount to rejection.
The first page of a resume should always be presented well. This can be tricky because you need to capture as much remarkable information as possible, while keeping the layout neat and easy to read. You can accomplish this by adhering to the above brevity rule and also being ruthless with what you must include / exclude. Too many front pages of the resume contain information that is superfluous or could be included later in the document.
In terms of design, there should be a constant use of headings, paragraphs, bullets, and white space to clearly delineate between document sections and highlighted key points. Along with using the appropriate font and size, the document should not only be easy to read, but it should also be easy for a reviewer to identify key information.
Contents of the first page – The content of the first page of a resume will vary according to the candidate’s experience and the role in question. The first rule of content on the first page is to make sure you capture whatever critical information you might hire. There is no benefit in burying important information in the last part of a resume, since it can never be seen.
While complying with this rule is simple enough for a one-page resume, it requires more thought for highly experienced, high-level roles. With years or even decades of experience behind a candidate, serious consideration should be given to including versus excluding information.
Some things to consider with the content of the first page include;
Contact details – The name and contact details must be easily identifiable at the top of each page. Contact information must include, at a minimum, address, email, and phone details.
Job title – Include the current role or position at the top of a resume, under Contact Details. It will add value to an application, particularly if you are applying for a similar or related role, indicating that the applicant already has practical experience.
Profile Summary – It is useful to include a well written Objective statement or profile summary near the top of the page. An objective statement should be a concise statement that describes what type of job an individual is seeking and is preferred for less experienced candidates. Alternatively, a Profile Summary for experienced people should be used and clearly describe what the candidate has to offer. A profile summary would generally include a high-level statement of key experience plus some important strengths and achievements.
Expertise – It is useful to follow the Summary of the objective or the profile with a section that describes the primary of the individual. Areas of specialization & # 39; (also known as Core Competencies, Key Capabilities, etc.). These are often represented in bulleted form and must be clearly aligned with established requirements or role selection criteria.
Work experience – Job history will generally start on the first page of a resume and for most people it will make up the majority of the resume content. Work experience should first list the most recent roles and include organization, position, and dates of employment.
Responsibilities and achievements should also be included. This should not be an exhaustive list, but should include those of greatest importance and those aligned with the job description. Be sure to include achievement results and metrics if possible as they will weight your claims.
More emphasis should be placed on recent roles or previous roles that are aligned with the position being requested. The oldest and least relevant roles simply need organization, position and dates used.
Ratings – The inclusion of academic achievements on the first page will depend on individual circumstances. Academic information will generally be included in advance if work experience is limited (less than 2-3 years). If the relevant work experience exceeds 3 years, education should appear towards the end of the curriculum.
However, like all rules, there are exceptions. You may want to include early education if you think it is positively differentiating you from the competition or if you are applying for an academic position that places great emphasis on academic qualifications.
Photographs – The general rule is to avoid placing your photograph on your resume unless the recruiter stipulates. The weight of opinion suggests that adding a photograph is a gamble, as it may work for or against the applicant, depending on a variety of factors related to both the recruiter and the applicant (including gender, age, attractiveness, photo quality, etc.). Because submitting a photograph is ultimately a gamble that won’t necessarily come out, it’s best to let the resume speak for itself.
A resume should not be a static document. Must be reviewed and redrafted each time an applicant applies for a different position. Different roles have different selection criteria, and a resume must be constantly modified to suit the requirements of each new role. Recruiters are quick to identify and penalize instances of static cover letters or resumes.
The most important reason for immediate rejection of a resume remains spelling and punctuation errors . Given the advantage with automatic spell checking applications, one would expect fewer errors of this nature, however these spelling and grammar applications come with an unfortunate (albeit sometimes humorous) side effect if not used correctly. Some well-known examples include the banker who had “a lot of experience in all taps Finance & # 39;, or the Project Manager with & # 39; extensive fillet headline management skills.
My advice is to just verify and verify your work. Better yet, also hire a third party to review your resume. You’d be surprised how often someone else detects a problem on your resume that you’ve missed.
For many people, I would suggest getting some help with evaluating your resume. This can be as simple as having someone you know and trusts review your document, or perhaps enlisting the services of a professional resume writer. A resume writer can add significant value for many reasons, including lack of language understanding, intermittent work history, returning to the workforce after a long break, or simply seeking an edge over the competition.
In my experience, a Independent or experienced eye Often errors, irrelevance or miscommunication will be identified that the author may lose. People often ‘get too close’ to their resume to fully appreciate all the nuances of the document and as a result can’t see the forest for the trees & # 39;.
Just like a first date that went terribly wrong, if a resume is not correct the first time, don’t expect to be called for a second chance. As described above, there is little sentimentality when it comes to the harsh realities of resume detection.
However, by following these helpful tips or enlisting help from an independent third party, you will greatly improve your chances of your resume surviving first round detection. And by avoiding early denial, the opportunity to promote any potential relationship with a potential employer will not end even before it begins.
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