Your resume is the most important tool in your toolbox when looking for a new job. The purpose of a resume, however, is to get an interview, not the job itself. With millions of people applying for new jobs in the midst of the worst economic downturn in decades, it has never been more vital to draft a resume that highlights your accomplishments and strengths. Does your resume measure up? Here is a list of tips to consider when writing yours:
Skip the objective. Everyone’s purpose for writing a resume is the same: to get a job. An objective is a waste of space and irrelevant to the job you are applying for. A potential employer does not care that you are “seeking a fulfilling position that will enhance your existing sales skills.” His goal is to find the best-qualified candidate for the job, and, whether you get an interview or not will depend on your professional experience and accomplishments, not your objective.
Stick to one page. A resume only gets ten to fifteen seconds to impress whoever is reading it, so every line must prove you are an amazing candidate and deserve an interview. Whether you are a CEO or are just starting out, if your resume is longer than one page, it tells a potential employer you are so consumed in the details of your job that you are unable to summarize it in one page. This, obviously, does not set the stage for future professional success, so keep your resume to one page.
List accomplishments, not responsibilities. One of the biggest no-no’s in resume writing is the use of the words “responsible for”. We are all responsible for something in every position, whether we are the janitor or the president of the company. What’s more important, and what potential employers want to see, is what you accomplished for previous employers. Did you develop a system to decrease operating costs by 25%? Did you identify new business opportunities that led to increased sales for the firm? Including only the job description proves your inability to see the big picture and guarantees your resume will end up in the trash.
Use numbers whenever possible. This may well be the most important tip to remember when trying to get an interview. How many people did you manage? What was your sales volume in previous years? What percentage of the total annual revenue did you generate? How many clients did you build into your database? These figures support your successes in previous positions and prove you are capable of getting the job done. Using numbers also distinguishes your resume from the rest of the applicants who, most likely, only cited their job description.
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