Resume Schrezume – What’s it all about?
One of the biggest challenges I hear from candidates in the job search process is how to write a good resume that will separate them from the dozens of other candidates who have applied for the same job. In a series of blogs, I will teach you how to write purposeful and intentional resume that will greatly improve your odds of getting noticed - and getting an interview.
Let’s start with the basics. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day, right? Neither is a successful Job Search Campaign.
► 1: What is the purpose of my resume?
► 2: Who is screening my resume?
► 3: Who is my resume for?
► 1: WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF MY RESUME?
Why do we write a resume? No, it isn’t to regurgitate every single accomplishment we have ever achieved right down to winning 1st place in our 4th grade spelling competition. The true purpose of a resume is to attract just enough of the right attention from the right person to get either a 1) Phone Interview or even better a 2) Face-to-Face Interview.
Keep in mind that attracting the “wrong attention” will fill your hotmail inbox with inquiries from multi-level marketing ventures, outdoor sales jobs or just about any line of work other than what you specialize in. I don’t know about you, but spending my precious 30 days left of savings reading and replying to jobs that don’t interest me isn’t what I have in mind.
Rarely will someone get a job offer site unseen and if you do, run Forrest, run.
► 2: WHO SCREENS MY RESUME?
So, you think you wrote a great resume and included every industry specific acronym since the beginning of time and wow’d them with your fancy spin of words and phrases. You click [send] on your email and wait by the computer. And wait….And wait…
New flash: I hate to disappoint you but the first person to review your resume isn’t usually your future boss. It’s an HR Generalist who is responsible for screening resumes for Accounting, Marketing, IT, Communications, Creative, etc. and has little or no experience in any of these fields. On top of this, they are usually overworked, underpaid and working from a job description that makes reading Japanese upside down sound a little more appealing.
Without personal experience in these industries, their screening process is highly subjective. That’s why YOU have to write your resume using terms and words that anyone can understand. Don’t let your Ego get in the way of landing your dream job.
Rule of Thumb: Write your resume with verbiage that is universal or more commonly understood by the masses & with the assumption that the reader may not be an expert like you. If there are certain acronyms that make sense to use, list those acronyms and put in parenthesis just once what that acronyms means. If you are proud of proprietary software that you learned at one of your companies, rather than say:
“4 years of experience with Ror-Tech 9000″
Say something like:
“4 years of experience using highly complex proprietary software designed to track sales and marketing orders (Ror-Tech 9000).
Don’t expect the HR Generalist to know what Ror-Tech 9000 is. If you do, you may as well print your resume yourself and toss it in the trash.
Need to test it out? Try this approach: Give your resume to your mom or good friend who doesn’t do what you do. If they can’t tell you in their own words what you do after reviewing your resume, chances are the HR Generalist can’t either.
► 3: WHO IS MY RESUME FOR?
We all know the answer to this question. You want your resume in the hands of your future boss, right? Right. While the HR Generalist prefers to skim over the resume and quickly discern if you have the required MBA and 7 years of Internal Communications experience in the energy sector, for example, the line manager has a different goal in mind. They assume you meet the minimum requirements; else you wouldn’t have made it past the HR person (in theory, anyway). They know what they are looking for and they can smell fluff a mile away. A little marketing spin is ok, but too much spin turns to fluff and it’s a sure fire way to land your resume in the trash can. Also, avoid using outdated phrases or words to describe your experience which is an indication to the line manager that you’re reaching to impress or haven’t acted on that skill in years.
So how do you keep it simple for the HR Generalist and still have enough “umph” to impress the Line Manager? Stay tuned for my next blog, “I’m Qualified, Now What? How to Guarantee Yourself a Phone or Face-to-Face Interview”
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[...] look different from everybody else’s. A related blog post from Raegan Hill talks about how to write a resume that avoids jargon and why that is [...]