One of the Chosen Ones: You and Your Resume

If you are a job seeker, pretend for a moment that you are a seasoned hiring manager. Imagine that as a hiring manager you work long hours for less than you believe are worth and that you lack sleep and that you desperately need a vacation. Yet, here you are, your Starbucks in hand getting ready to start another day. Imagine that your mission this day is to find the best pool of candidates for that VP job you posted. You spend the entire morning reviewing resumes, resumes and more resumes from eager job seekers. Your eyes grow weary and tired and blurry…pretty soon, all the resumes become one – a blur of sameness in a sea of competition. Imagine that you believe you have seen just about everything there is to be seen as it relates to resume submissions:

Long resumes.

Long-winded, verbose resumes.

Wordy resumes.

Jam-packed content on resumes.

Three-page resumes.

Misspelled words on resumes.

Font so tiny you cannot read it resumes.

Typos on resumes.

Poor grammar on resumes.

Messy, disorganized resumes.

No contact information on resumes.

No email address on resumes.

No clue what this person wants to do resumes.

Lack of results, achievements or accomplishments resumes.

Endless blocks of information resumes.

Resumes with attachments you did not request.

Two-page cover letters with two-page resumes.

Resumes that in no way convey the candidate’s brand relevance.

And then, just like that, you come across a professional resume that jumps out at you! Makes you put your Starbucks down. Grabs your attention for longer than five or 10 seconds. Keeps you reading to the bottom of the page. Prompts you to hop on your cell to connect with the candidate.

Does your resume standout?

Homework Exercise for You, the Job Seeker:

Take a look at your existing resume document. Carefully review it through the laser-like lens of an experienced hiring manager. What, if anything, can you do to improve your resume and your chances of being one of the chosen ones?

posted by: billiesucher 

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