In This Section
Top Tips
- Keep it brief. Short, concise and convincing is what works in a resume.
- A good resume is about what you can add to a new employer's business.
- Focus. Ideally, customize your resume to every job application.
Top Blunders
- Do. Not. Lie. So many resumes are exaggerated or have 'white lies.' Don't. It is a career killer.
- Your resume must suit the role you are applying for. Sounds simple, but the majority of resumes fail this simple test.
- Boring, bland and dull. If you have a tedious resume, what does that say about you?
What do recruiters look for in a resume?
Recruiters - those paid a fee by an employer to find suitable candidates - are very busy people. For each role they are recruiting for, they will have an enormous number of applicants to assess. They will have a job brief or assignment specification that they have agreed with their client. That will set out the background, abilities and qualities that are deemed right for the position. Their task is to short-list suitable candidates to their client, but they will be swamped with applications. So what are they looking for? Candidates that have that combination of background, ability and qualities, of course!
Your task is to present that information to them in a succinct and attractive manner, but how do you do that? Do you write the best possible resume you can and just use that one all the time? Doesn’t such a generalised approach have the same chance of success as any other?
A good resume profiles you in the best possible light and should get you to the interview and ultimately the job. A bad resume will leave you in the reject heap with all the other bad resumes. However there is no such thing as a one-size fits all resume no matter how well it is written. Instead of using a single generalised resume approach, based on over 25 years of experience, ResumeRight strongly recommends a targeted and more effective approach.
FACT: It’s not always the best candidate who gets the job.
Have you ever found out who got that job you were going for and thought “Hang on – I’m way better than they are – how did they get it?”
Preparing your resume is the first and most important step in applying for a position. No matter how well a candidate can do a job, if he or she cannot communicate this effectively in their resume they will be passed over for someone who looked better on paper.
Your Resume is NOT a biography in which you spend pages outlining in chronological order the different positions you have held hoping that something will catch the eye of the reader. This kind of generalised resume is not going to be successful on the whole because:
This kind of resume gives the detail that a recruiter wants to read in less than 20 seconds. Specific, honest (of course) targeted and concise it will get you standing head and shoulders above the generic resume applicants and put you in the running for an interview.
So what are recruiters looking for? Having been one, I can assure you the answer is simple. The resume with all of the relevant experience, skills, achievements and abilities laid out in an eye-catching, easy to read and succinct format. The resume that says “Pick up the phone and call me”. In short - the right candidate for the job.
Your task is to present that information to them in a succinct and attractive manner, but how do you do that? Do you write the best possible resume you can and just use that one all the time? Doesn’t such a generalised approach have the same chance of success as any other?
A good resume profiles you in the best possible light and should get you to the interview and ultimately the job. A bad resume will leave you in the reject heap with all the other bad resumes. However there is no such thing as a one-size fits all resume no matter how well it is written. Instead of using a single generalised resume approach, based on over 25 years of experience, ResumeRight strongly recommends a targeted and more effective approach.
FACT: It’s not always the best candidate who gets the job.
Have you ever found out who got that job you were going for and thought “Hang on – I’m way better than they are – how did they get it?”
Preparing your resume is the first and most important step in applying for a position. No matter how well a candidate can do a job, if he or she cannot communicate this effectively in their resume they will be passed over for someone who looked better on paper.
So what should my resume look like?
The purpose of a Resume is to get you an interview. Your Resume is an advert about you and should be crafted to highlight the skills and experience that make you the right person for the job.Your Resume is NOT a biography in which you spend pages outlining in chronological order the different positions you have held hoping that something will catch the eye of the reader. This kind of generalised resume is not going to be successful on the whole because:
- It is generic and ambiguous with no specific target in mind.
- It will contain non-relevant information for that particular application. That is at best going to cloud the points you are hoping to make and at worst actually put in something negative that you did not need to.
- It will be too long and wordy. It will also probably be pretty boring!
Key features of the high impact targeted resume.
To make the best impression with your resume:- Short, clear and concise. Aim for no more than two A4 pages, at a font point size no smaller than 10.
- Clear and easy to access contact details on every page.
- It must contain relevant information – and only relevant information. Look at the job ad, if there is one. What are they looking for? If you have that background and those skills, concentrate on them.
- Relevant job titles. This sounds simple, but if you are recruiting for a Sales Director, you probably want to see resumes with ‘Sales Director’ in them.
- Outline your achievements, not your job description. Your resume should be about you, what you have achieved and most importantly about what you could bring to the new employer. A list of responsibilities just won’t do it.
- Achievements and scale/scope must be quantified. “Increased sales” is not as punchy as “Built sales from $3 million to $10 million over 2006-7”.
This kind of resume gives the detail that a recruiter wants to read in less than 20 seconds. Specific, honest (of course) targeted and concise it will get you standing head and shoulders above the generic resume applicants and put you in the running for an interview.
So what are recruiters looking for? Having been one, I can assure you the answer is simple. The resume with all of the relevant experience, skills, achievements and abilities laid out in an eye-catching, easy to read and succinct format. The resume that says “Pick up the phone and call me”. In short - the right candidate for the job.