Creating an Effective Resume - The psychological rewards from it as well as resume tips
The Covid situation has been new to all of us and some people are experiencing a lot of uncertainty and anxiety. Perhaps they have lost their job, they may be worried about losing their job, or they may be concerned that their work environment will be much different once life gets back to “normal.”
Regardless of your situation, creating an effective and resume is essential and it is also therapeutic. It can help you:
1. Better understand your strengths
2. Remind yourself about what you have accomplished by revisiting your business successes
Both of these are fantastic for building your self confidence. (especially if you are currently in transition)
3. Remind yourself of when you most enjoyed your work
All three of these insights will help guide you moving forward and will help you work towards having more of those special moments in the future where you were both happy and successful.
Have some fun with the process and the self awareness that comes with it.
In addition, here are my tips for an effective resume.
1. Use an executive summary format for your resume (maximum of 2 pages)
If a successful 30-year CEO is expected to keep their background and accomplishments on only 2 pages, the same should be expected from anyone. Keep it tight and keep your audience in mind while showing them that you do not get lost in details. A 10-bullet point section of your work experience in a position that you held 10 years ago is a waste of a reader’s time and a waste of paper. Devote the bulk of your experience on the resume to your most recent work experience while sticking to your highlights. Pretend that your resume is your “greatest hits” for each job position.
2. Use effective communication
Most companies will hire a person with a lesser IQ than another, if that person has very strong communication skills. Effective communication can also be shown on a resume. Powerful action words should be used to emphasize the work that you have done. Orchestrated, oversaw, managed, controlled, designed etc. are some examples that distinguish an individual’s involvement and responsibility versus that of a team or a group. Be sure to add verbal colour to your resume. An example, “Passion for training” can be changed to “Passion for creating live interactive training.”
3. Quantify your resume
The world is now data driven and there is evidence of this in every industry. Employee performance is now measured on KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators.) If your job doesn’t’ have KPI’s, you may want to start looking for a new job because your position may soon be automated. Simply writing your job description under your work experience will not yield any results. Companies want to feel confident in their investment into a new employee’s salary. By only placing your job functions or job duties on a resume, that only suggests to a reader that you kept a seat warm for your past employer rather than produce any meaningful results for your company. A resume should include percentages outlining how you increased revenue or productivity, how you decreased costs or how you delivered versus your targets or overall mandate. It is not bragging. It is communicating to the resume reviewer that you are task or mission focused and that you understand what is important to a company and its management.
4. Be sure to utilize “Key Words”
This has become a vital piece of the resume. It is much more important now than even two years ago. Each job advertisement by a company can generate hundreds of resumes from interested applicants and even more moving forward because of this current crisis. More and more companies are now using an ATS (Application Tracking System) for all levels of their opportunities. An ATS is a resume scanner that looks for key words before a resume is even sent into a human’s hand. Technical skills, certifications, licenses, specific soft skills and action words are all part of this category.
Imagine that you are already in the position that you seek. Close your eyes. What do you see in that position? What is required? What skills are needed? Be sure that you highlight your qualifications that align to those positional needs. It may take longer to apply to a single job this way, but your success probability will increase immensely.
5. Replace your “Career Objective” section with a Core Competencies” section
Career objective statements are usually ignored by a resume reader as it has likely been manipulated to tie a person’s background into the position for which they applied. All resume readers know this trick so don’t waste this valuable real estate on your resume. Use this section for listing your core competencies in a one to two keyword format so that both the ATS and a resume reader will identify them quickly.
*Note, make sure that if you are using an acronym for certification and/or license, that you also write it out in full form as some H.R. departments may not know/understand the acronym, or the ATS may register the acronym under a different meaning.
Remember, the bottom line is if you don’t have the required skills for the position, you have very little chance of being called in for an interview. There is just too much competition today. Only apply to positions to which you are qualified, otherwise you are wasting your time and the lack of responses you receive will likely begin to frustrate you, reduce your confidence and not place you in the correct frame of mind. It also suggests that you are not self-aware or that you are desperate for work or possibly both.
Good luck.
Mike