Whenever I coach job seekers a common question they ask is whether their resume is responsible for their profile not attracting interview calls. While there are multiple steps for an effective job search, a resume certainly plays an important role because it is a branding document which promotes your candidature.
The majority of job seekers simply follow a template-based format with common and repetitive vocabulary. With the compelling attraction to use keywords that are common in the domain and industry, a job seeker tends to forget his / her uniqueness as an individual. Hence the hiring manager is not engaged with your resume and you miss out on the opportunity of receiving an interview call.
Am sharing 10 steps of writing a powerful resume which differentiates you as an individual amongst the thousands of look-alike resumes. Every individual has a story to tell and that is how you make it interesting and stand out.
1] Headline vs Name:
The reader needs to instantly know why he should read your resume. Your name is not as important as is a clear announcement of who you are which is in the title. Imagine a newspaper coming to your house without any headline. How would you identify which part should you read – politics, entertainment, sports and so on? Similarly without a headline the reader is lost. Keep your core domain expertise in mind and devise a crisp 3-5 word headline. For example an experienced sales professional can say any of these – Sales leader, B to B Sales expert, Banking sales professional, Media sales achiever, Sales head. Or a Business head can use Finance Business head or IT Business head and so on. It also depends upon your current career objective. You can tweak it accordingly.
2] Professional summary:
Bring out your unique strengths in this section and showcase your achievements, awards and recognition received. Let it clearly define your core domain expertise and let your soft skills be reflected through your achievements.
3] Core expertise (hard skills):
Next, pick only those areas of your core expertise which are your strengths. Do not keep adding multiple areas just because you have heard that they are part of an online search keywords vocabulary. It confuses the reader if for example for a hardcore mid-level sales professional, core skills are mentioned as – sales, marketing, business development, branding, conceptualizing, product management, relationship management, P and L. Instead mention – Sales, B to B Sales, key account management, vendor management, negotiation skills, closing large value deals, revenue generation…and so on. You need to always tweak your core skills and resume content to customise it according to the job applied for. That is crucial.
4] Stories of achievements:
90% of the resumes focus only on responsibilities and not achievements. It is your achievements which are integral to branding you and attract employers. For the responsibility part, your designation is indicative and you can add a very brief description alongside. Then focus on stories of achievements. As an example of a sales professional how to present stories, see the difference for yourself below:
Generalised approach: I have achieved my targets month after month and have been recognised as an outstanding performer.
Achievement based: The sales in the category of XYZ were way below targets for the previous year. With constant monitoring tools and innovative approaches, I ensured and delivered 110% of target the next year with revenues amounting to XYZ.
See the impact. What you as an individual achieved as a measurable result is important for the employer and helps in building you as a brand.
5] Recent 10 years is enough:
For experienced professionals, it is important that the detailing is done only for the past 10 years and not beyond. In such a dynamic world where things keep changing every second, what you did in the initial years of your career is not required to be elaborated.
6] Powerful vocabulary:
Repetitive words and common vocabulary makes the resume dull and boring and the reader would lose interest. It is critical to use unique words that define you, not the ones which throw up in the online keyword search. While keywords are important, the focus has to be on your individuality.
7] Formatting and font:
It is important to select a simple user-friendly one. It is not required to make it colorful, creative unless the job requirement demands it like for copywriters, models, and so on.
8] Grammatical errors:
Please ensure you proofread it 3 times for grammatical errors. Such mistakes affect your branding adversely.
9] 2 pager:
The resume needs to be crisp and not beyond 2 pages. The resume should be precise and effective.
10] Bonus Tip:
A strong Pitch Letter (commonly called a cover letter) needs to accompany the resume to customise as per each job applied for.
Do these and you are well on your way to branding yourself and will certainly attract the attention of a hiring manager.
Happy Job Hunting!!!
Sarabjeet Sachar
Seasoned Career Coach, Founder & CEO, Aspiration