Sometimes a few small changes can instantly improve your results.
Sally came to me frustrated. She had put together a solid resume. It was well written, had no mistakes and contained all the key sections a good resume should. Yet, she was getting zero interviews. The problem wasn’t that there was something dramatically wrong, but that it just wasn’t good enough to demand the hirer’s attentions. Sally’s story isn’t uncommon.
“There is nothing ‘wrong’ with a lot of resumes. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make them effective. Only the top few get selected for interview.”
How do you lift your resume from middle of the pack?
01.
Pimp your
value.
Hirers are looking for a specific type of candidate. Mirror the hirer’s objective in your opening profile.
Go narrow. Focus in on why you are their ideal person and share this in clear language in your opener.
If they read nothing else, your opening summary should convince them ‘why you’.
02.
Appeal to
human
motivators.
People are motivated to action by two things – avoiding pain or moving toward reward.
Create emotion-driven impact by headlining past pain/reward career highlights.
Parade where you have saved money, mitigated risk, won contracts, lifted profits, avoided costs etc.
e.g Led Acme Widgets from start-up operation to market leader with 7-figure revenues in under 18 months.
03.
Lead with the punch.
Start with the WOW by flipping your achievements.
Pique their interest by leading your bullets with the result rather than the action.
Increased sales 40% in three months through five new marketing campaigns aligned with user demographics.
04.
Make it easy to skim.
We have short attention-spans.
Short and sweet makes it easier for the reader.
Keep bullet points to just 1-2 lines. Use clear headings. Bold key words.
If it’s unnecessary or distracting – ditch it!
05.
Scan your resume.
Many hirers use applicant tracking systems to rank your resume.
Integrate the language in the job advertisement into your resume within relevant content.
Check your resume performance by scanning it with a technology like Jobscan.
Need help improving your resume’s impact. Speak to our award-winning resume writing team about what we can do to assist you getting to interview.