Your resume is one of your most important marketing tools. But remember, no matter how good it is, your resume will NOT get you a job. However, if it is spelled correctly, the odds are much higher that you could win a recruiter’s interest and be invited to interview.
As a senior recruiter for small businesses and large corporations, I have reviewed thousands of resumes during my more than 15 years of recruiting and human resources experience. My experience is that applicants often tend to overlook these most important aspects that could make their resumes more effective in attracting the attention and interest of recruiters and hiring managers.
Purpose of the curriculum: to market and sell your background, skills, achievements, and experience to those who need your experience or a problem you can solve.
Resume paper: to create interest, to demonstrate that you really have the required skills and experience, and to get a recruiter and / or hiring manager interested enough to invite you to interview.
Top ten tips for writing an effective resume (from a recruiter’s point of view):
1. You can (and should) have more than one resume! Create a separate resume for the two or three main areas of your experience. (For example, a resume for marketing, one for sales, one for engineering). Each resume should highlight specific examples of your accomplishments, skills, and experience from your current and past roles that directly relate to that particular area of expertise.
2. Two pages in length, max. Condense, condense, condense! Suppose each word costs you $ 100 and you will write less, allowing you to fit your most important information on two pages. (Exception: Doctors and other published professionals often need a few more pages to list their published credentials and jobs. But they should even make it as short as possible.) Have someone you trust correct your resume and edit it as needed before sending it out.
3. Choose an appropriate format. The best and easiest resume format to review is chronological (starting with the most recent job and date and going back through your work history). However, a functional resume format is often suggested as an option, especially for those who have been out of the job market for a while or want to change careers. But it can generate red flags that could stop your resume review. Recruiters know that a functional format is often used to hide gaps in employment dates. Also, details of skills and experience are grouped into separate functional areas, rather than under each particular job done in the past. In many cases, due to the time and difficulty of reading a functional resume, recruiters often pass them on and on to the next.
4. Focus your attention on the most important “real estate” on your resume: the top half of the cover. Why? Because today’s recruiters are awash in resumes, especially in these tough economic times when many are out of work. Often, recruiters manage up to 50 jobs at a time anywhere, each with hundreds and hundreds of resumes. The average time an experienced recruiter spends initially scanning a resume to determine if it is relevant to the position is approximately 7 to 15 seconds. If the top half of your resume doesn’t quickly differentiate you and sell you as a viable candidate with recent skills and experience relevant to the specific job you’re applying for, the recruiter will simply move on to the next one.
5. Develop a keyword rich resume. Be sure to add the main keywords for your skills and experience, as well as the keywords for your industry and organization throughout your resume. Recruiters use various types of search tools in ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) where they type the main keyword terms for the specific job and position qualifications to search for related resumes. They also conduct similar searches for keywords online on major job boards and even on some social media sites. Only resumes containing those keywords will appear in your review box and those are the only resumes they will analyze for your consideration. If your main keywords are not on your resume, chances are your resume will not be reviewed, even if it is highly rated.
6. Create a short bullet summary. At the top of your resume’s main page, list 5 to 7 bulleted phrases that highlight your most compelling skills, experience, achievements, training, and education. This summary should be located somewhere within the top third section of the resume below but close to your name and contact information. Critical: Avoid hackneyed or fluffy phrases like “Good at multitasking” or “Detail oriented”, etc. The reader’s eye should be able to quickly scan the summary section and determine at a glance that your resume is one. It is worth reading through to the end.
7. Quantify and rate your experience. Recruiters and hiring managers highly value proven achievements and results. The more you can quantify or qualify your bullet points in each of your position listings, the stronger you will be perceived as a person of action and results. After each statement, ask yourself, “What did I accomplish?” or “What was the result?” Try linking a measurable result to the end of each statement if possible, such as “and as a result, saved the company $ X” or “increased revenue by X%”, or “sold the most widgets on the team and was selected as Employee of the Year. ”
8. Focus on your most recent and relevant job information. Recruiters and hiring managers want to know what you have done most recently that is relevant to the position they are hiring for. Write most of your resume information about your skills, experience, and accomplishments during the last 5 to 7 years of your work history. Unless your experience beyond that point is unusually helpful in presenting your case, minimize that information to save valuable resume space. Beyond 7 to 10 years of work history, you can only list one or two line entries for each position held. Save the rest of those job details for the application form and interviews.
9. Post your key credentials, certifications, and educational experience sections in a conspicuous place. A bachelor’s degree should generally be located near the end of the curriculum below the educational section title. However, do you have an advanced job-related degree, such as an MBA, PhD, or other certifications or credentials that you want to make sure you see a recruiter or hiring manager? Position them toward the top front section of your resume, just before or after the summary section. Why? If you bury them at the end of your resume, you may never see them. (See Tip # 4)
10. List of organizations, associations and affiliations of which you are a volunteer or member. Often overlooked, this information can be a great way to show an employer that you keep up to date with information and contacts in your industry. If you volunteer for positions, especially leadership roles, be sure to list them as well. This information is especially important for those applying for roles in financial services and sales and marketing companies who need to demonstrate that they already have an established network. Place this information section near the end of your resume.
This final tip is a bonus. However, it is THE most important tip of all when writing an effective resume.
Always tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth on your resume … always! Never, ever misrepresent what you did or are tempted to tell a “little white lie” on your resume or in a recruiter. Take special care with the titles and job responsibilities you list. Make sure the job title and responsibilities you include on your resume can be verified if someone calls your current or former employer or colleagues and asks for you. False and false statements, innocent as they may seem, are a violation of integrity and can come back to haunt you many years later. He could even be fired as a consequence! It just isn’t worth it.
Use these ten tips to fine-tune and refine your resume, and then you can send it with confidence!
(c) Copyright 2009 Dresser Search and Consulting, Inc.
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