On Writing a Very Effective Resume
Friday, November 13th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
“If you’re using your company’s job description, you’re missing the point of your resume,” says Paul Schmitz of Hufford Associates. He adds that those skilled in resume writing know how to note their specific achievements and highlight accomplishments in a particular position. Far too often, people are misguided in what they think hiring managers are looking for and they miss the ball completely. Resumes can be too vague or inflated, or full of gaps. Other times, they’re too specific and filled with technical jargon that makes little sense to the outside world. To help job seekers, we’ve compiled some of the biggest mistakes people make on their resumes.
John Logan is a human resources manager for the ZS Associates management-consulting firm in Princeton, N.J. and he shares some resume writing tips to help job seekers stand out from the pack. “I find that most resumes do not provide enough details for me to understand the scope of the candidate’s work,” Logan complains. He says that a good resume will detail specifics, such as the number of people supervised, the size of a project budget, sales figures or the estimated cost savings. “Anytime you can quantify your accomplishments, you give them more credibility,” explains Brian Howell from The QWorks Group. Some estimates say that at least 40% of your bullet points should have measurable metrics in them. Think in terms of comparative sales volume, the number of people you hired or led, the amount of money you saved, your success in completing projects based on goals, revenue-generating initiatives, process improvement and cost containment.
With so many job applicants these days, many larger corporations are running resumes through keyword-searchable computer databases to weed out some individuals. “Job-seekers should know the key skills and software packages and list them as appropriate,” says John Logan. However, he carefully adds that using the right keywords “will get a candidate into the search pool” but will not necessarily get them the job. “There is still some art in the employment process,” he says, adding that employers will personally go over their final applicant pool in some detail. In your resume writing, you should list computer programs, action words and nouns that are important to your industry. Often, reading job descriptions in your field for some time will give you a clue as to what employers are looking for. Ultimately, the entry level jobs will be given to those who know what employers want.
There are certain resume writing pet peeves in HR offices that, if found, will send your resume to the waste basket before your star achievements are even read. For starters, misspelled words, typos and poor grammar will kill any chance of getting the job. Secondly, staff managers do not want to see exhaustive paragraphs of text, so keep it in bullet format. Thirdly, do not use copious acronyms or industry-specific jargon that no one can decipher. Additionally, don’t use over-inflated “puffy” language, like saying you are “the winner of many awards” or an “inspirational leader.” Lastly, do not use first or third person in your writing; stick to omitted pronouns and active verbs instead. Whether you’re after a paid internship or full-time position, you’ll be able to get ahead using these resume tips.
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