Resumes...Stop Making 3 Mistakes
If you want a high-impact resume, avoid three simple things:
No clear objective. I have to guess what you want to do or sort through a "personal statement" about how you are "highly motivated" and a "quick learner" (remove “Happy Words” from your resume). State clearly what you want to do so I know if you fit my job.
No impact / No data. People write what they are doing and it makes them look like low-level administrative aids or gophers.
"Created reports covering ABC" means "paper pusher" to the reader.
So does "Developed XYZ module as a part of project ABC." Tell me why your work mattered with numbers. How much money did you generate? How much of a better system did you develop?
Doers get hired to take orders and do. People who make an impact get hired to make a difference for their companies (and that pays a lot better than taking orders).
Words. FAR TOO MANY. Our resumes represent our lives, so we want to tell people all we have done. We feel that if the reader would just understand us and our struggles, they would hire us. But the reader is not there to care about our lives. They are there to answer a simple question: should I call this person to fill the job I am working on?
By using fewer words, you make it easy for the reviewer to quickly see what you want to do, and the few key high-impact things you have done that show you are qualified.
If the reviewer wants to know more, they will call.
Audience Insights
I have consolidated additional ideas worth considering from my LinkedIn audience, including:
The purpose of a resume is not to get the job. It is to get the phone call.
Try the XYZ Formula: Accomplished X as measured by Y by doing Z.
You start with a data-driven result, followed by a comparison benchmark, and the action you did to achieve it.
What exactly gets resumes passed a screening system is a mystery. The best option is to have a strong internal reference. If you do not have connections at your target company, develop it. This means provide value first (e.g. share insightful content on LinkedIn, volunteer to help, proactively give feedback), connect with them on platforms like LinkedIn, develop a meaningful relationship over time, and then ask for help on engaging the hiring manager.
Bullet Points > Sentences. Why? Majority of the world is PowerPoint, Tweets, and quick summaries. Tailor your resume to the most common situation.
"If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter". Effective brevity is difficult. If you can show this on your resume, it signals you are an effective communicator.
Leadership Resumes That Get Results
Common resume questions I get:
How do hiring managers evaluate resumes?
What does a great Before/After resume look like?
How do I tailor my resume to get the phone call?
How do I create an effective LinkedIn Profile using my resume content?
I developed, Leadership Resumes That Get Results, an online course that covers these questions and more from having reviewed over 10,000 resumes and conducted more than 2,500 interviews over my career.
Quote from a past client:
”Ethan looked over my resume and was quickly able to identify and amplify my strengths, and made me much more confident about my application after working with him. Without Ethan, I would have never thought to add certain elements [social media] to my resume that I now understand to be of critical importance.”
Watch the course introduction video below to see what you will get.
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