Résumés: Words and Worth

When I was writing Happy About the Career Alphabet, I wrote that particular book in a tweet-style format. Each and every one of the 805 entries in the book complies with Twitter’s 140 characters with spaces. There were times when I thought it would be easier not to do the book than to verify, re-verify, check, check and double-check 805 tweets, putting them in the ‘Twitter box’ and then rewriting again and again to ensure preservation of the essence of the tweet.

When the book was finished, I was ecstatic and grateful that I had persevered. Patience. Endurance. Tenacity. And word count. And Twitter. And thinking tweet. Writing that book made me more mindful of how to better serve clients. Whether I am teaching someone how to write a résumé, or partnering with them to build it, what I learned from writing a tweet-style book is that each and every word (and character) counts, matters and is of importance. Brevity works. Less is more. 

If you are writing your résumé on your own, here’s something to consider. How about considering the number of words contained in your résumé document and the dollar value each represents? If you read Career Hub routinely, perhaps you read the post on The Unemployment Line where I did a little calculation. Today, however, I have been thinking about the number of words on a résumé and return on investment (ROI). So here’s my next mathematical calculation… 

I performed a word count of three two-page résumés I had completed for three different clients: 

Résumé 1: 824 words

Résumé 2: 559 words

Résumé 3: 785 words

Average words per résumé (WPR): 722+. For calculation purposes for this post, I used 720 WPR. Let’s say that you are a job seeker, seeking a job that will pay you $55,000.00. How much will each word you put on your résumé matter, if you are measuring it in terms of the green stuff? 

$76.38 per résumé word

Further, for the sake of this exercise, let’s say that you are targeting a $150,000 job, what then will each résumé word be worth to you, based on 720 WPR?

 $208.33 per résumé word

Whether you are writing a résumé with 412 words or 892, each and every word matters – each and every character is important. Before you blast your résumé into cyberspace, drop it off to a recruiter, or submit it to a Hiring Manager, why not do a word count? Why not review each word, each line and each character to make sure it counts, to make sure it is conveying the most valuable, compelling message you can possibly deliver? In the long run, what might it be worth to you?   

cross-posted billiesucherblog

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