Rachel Fletcher* says that impressing a hiring manager starts with a resume that sells the applicant at their best
Your resumè is your primary personal marketing tool in the job search.
You very well may have the chops for whatever role you’ve set your sights on, but you can still come up short if your resume is missing the mark on reflecting your skill set.
These five tips will provide essential marketing flair while ensuring you never have to exaggerate or bend the truth when it comes to your career.
Convert accomplishment numbers
Decreasing spending by $10,000 in a quarter might sound like a lot of money in your current role, but you may be applying for a role where $10,000 is a fairly insignificant amount.
However, updating your resume to reflect that you were able to reduce spending by 20per cent is a much more digestible statement, regardless of the sample size.
Converting all dollar amounts, page views, or revenue gains to percentages that reflect growth or year-over-year change will make all of your accomplishments sound much more impressive to hiring managers.
Don’t be afraid to brag
Think of your resume as an abbreviated quarterly report or project debrief that you’d deliver at work: It needs to provide context, details, and results to reflect the hard work that went into making something a success.
Therefore, being your own cheerleader is essential.
So is making sure your responsibilities or day-to-day tasks don’t outweigh the measurable accomplishments throughout your most recent roles.
If tooting your own horn isn’t something you feel particularly comfortable with, hiring a professional resume writer can help take the pressure off.
Stand out from the crowd
Rewriting your resume is the perfect time to think about what makes you unique as a professional.
Hiring managers see tons of cookie-cutter resumes with bland objective statements on a daily basis; identifying a few specific points about your individual skill set will set you apart from the rest of the applicant pool.
Are you a marketer with HTML skills? An operations manager with a background at Fortune 500 companies? A multilingual analyst?
Once you’ve found your specific edge, don’t be afraid to highlight it in your resume and cover letter (and LinkedIn profile summary, while you’re at it!).
Address specific points from the job posting
A common mistake job seekers make is not customizing their resume for every application they make.
Remember that a recruiter or hiring manager is looking for incredibly specific qualities in a candidate, and if your resume doesn’t address those points, it’s likely to end up in an application black hole.
For example, if a role will focus heavily on P&L or developing a loyalty program or managing a large team of cross-functional direct reports, make sure your experience tied to these focus areas are front and center on your resume when you send in your application.
Don’t leave gaps in employment
Periods of under- or unemployment are not uncommon in our current workforce, and there are several techniques to address them effectively on your resume.
If you’re stumped on how to work with these gaps yourself, a professional resume writer can work to equip you with the tools you need for your specific set of circumstances.
*Rachel Fletcher is a digital marketer who moonlights in helping job seekers reach their goals across a diverse set of industries.
This article first appeared at topresume.com
