Resume  Roulette or a Sure Bet?

Did you know there are certain unwritten rules that if you adhere to will increase your chance of getting the attention you deserve?

Your Resume must Give Your Readers 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” at the top of page one of your resume.   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.

 Keep Your Resume Relevant.

Presumably the reader has a job you’re interested in, so show how your experience fits their requirements on the first page of your resume. Don’t assume people can or will “read between the lines” on your resume – they don’t have time. It’s not their job and they don’t care about you – yet.

Target your Reader’s Hot Buttons with Your Resume.

You need to understand who your “reader” is because – different people read a resume looking for different things.

• Recruiters look for “hot” marketable skills because they want to make money marketing you. Your resume is your introduction to the recruiter.  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 -an you have to fit it all on your resume:-)
• 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 Resume should have lots of  Bullets

Sentences, that is. Short sentences are easier to write and easier to read. They also give the reader a sense of action and energy as they read the resume  [that's a good thing].. The reader can get the gist of your experience quickly. You can elaborate at the interview.  the resume is used to get their attention and heighten their interest… sort of like lingerie [wink wink] !

A REsume needs to Highlight your Strengths

Whichever strengths (accomplishments) are the most relevant to your reader – they go first on yoiur reusme.  DO NO T save the best for last.  They’ll never read it.  Always lead with your best foot forward.

Demonstrate Results

Use ###, %%%, and $$$ throughout your resume to emphasize your accomplishments. One million dollars is less likely to be noticed than $1,000,000. Numbers and symbols jump off the page of a resume.

Give it “POP”

Power verbs like those below give your resume “pop”, that crisp 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%.

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 – It’s  a resume not a user’s manual

Your resume should not contain one more word than it needs – to make your point. Ok?

Connect the DOTS for them

Make it easy for the reader to see your fit with 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 and grab the keywords used.

Ensure that the latest “buzzwords” are prevalent on your resume. Common key words and phrases like “JAVA or Audit Trail or channel management or DWDM” should map to the bullets in your resume – if those terms make sense on your resume..

Scientists and senior executives should prepare an appendix of publications and papers as well for the last page of your resume. Technical people need a separate Technical Summary page like this for easy identification of your skills.

How Can You Save $596.95
on a Guerrilla Resume?

Compliments of David E Perry and Kevin Donlin. For more creative job search tactics, go to the Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters blog and download the free audio CD.