IS YOUR R?SUM? WORKING FOR YOU?

[Badshah Mamun]

IS YOUR R?SUM? WORKING FOR YOU?

You know the feeling. You spend hours, or even days, creating a r?sum?. You pore over every word of your cover letter and agonize over what to say in your email. Then you hit 'send' and wait. And wait. And wait. No one calls. No one writes. You don't know if anyone even saw your r?sum?. When this happens, it's easy to get dejected and worry that employers are not interested in you. Don't! Remember, they haven't met you. They have only seen your r?sum? and that may be the problem.

An overwhelming majority of job seekers make basic mistakes with their r?sum?s - mistakes that ensure that they will not get the interviews they deserve. If you feel as though you're sending your r?sum? into a black hole, try this '10 Step Program' to diagnose problems and get your r?sum? working for you.

    Is your r?sum? the right length?
    You may have heard that your r?sum? should fit on one page. This is nonsense. Recruiters don't care if your r?sum? is one or two pages long. But they do care whether it is easy to read and gives key information upfront. Your r?sum? can be one, two, or (occasionally) even three pages. The only rule is that the length should be appropriate for you.

    Does your r?sum? clearly position you as someone who can meet the needs of the employer?

    Think of a r?sum? as an advertisement for a product, only this time the product is you. Just like any other advertisement, positioning is everything. The person who receives your r?sum? will scan it quickly - perhaps for no more than 20 seconds - to determine whether you can help her company. Your job is to say quickly, clearly and loudly that you can!

    Don't just launch into a chronology of your career history. Instead, determine your own positioning by spelling out your message at the start of the r?sum? and giving the reader your version of events straight away. For this reason, you should use the first 1/3 of your r?sum? to create a compelling personal profile which highlights your key strengths in an attractive, easy-to-read format.

    Does your r?sum? begin with an objective?
    Recruiters and hiring managers may not like them because they focus on the needs of the job seeker rather than the needs of the potential employer. Consider this objective statement:

    "Seeking a software engineer position with a progressive employer where I can contribute to the development of new technologies and work with bright, committed people."

    This may be very honest but it is irrelevant to the reader, who does not care what you want and only cares what you have to offer. Instead of an objective, try using a positioning statement that clearly and concisely explains what you have to offer.

    "Senior Software Engineer with 10 years experience developing leading-edge technologies."

    Now the reader can immediately see your value to the company. (For even greater impact, tailor this statement for each position so that the reader immediately sees a match between his/her needs and your skills.)

    Does your r?sum? contain specifics?
    You must place your achievements in context by providing specifics. For example, don't say something vague like "contributed to product design." This tells the employer nothing about your actual contribution. Instead be specific about what you did: "Conducted market analysis for (name of product) to determine design and mechanics. Led changes to original design spec. despite initial developer objections. Received critical acclaim and sold over 4 million units."See how being specific makes a difference? This level of detail shows the reader the contributions you have made in the past (and therefore the contributions you can be expected to make in the future.)

    Have you outlined achievements as well as responsibilities?
    Don't provide a laundry list of responsibilities without showing what results you achieved. Most employers already know what the main responsibilities of your job were. They want to know what makes you different from all the other applicants. An effective r?sum? summarizes job responsibilities in a few sentences and then provides details of quantifiable achievements.

    Focus most of your r?sum? on the results you accomplished, not the regular duties of your job.

    Are there any typos?
    Your r?sum? has to be perfect. Proof read it over and over again. When you are sure it's perfect, have other people proof it! If even one word is misspelled the reader will assume that you didn't know how to spell the word (this is bad) or that you didn't care (this is even worse!) Nothing puts the reader off more quickly than misspellings or typos.

    Is the r?sum? easy to read?
    At least 50% of the impact of your r?sum? derives from design. A strong r?sum? design will pull the eye through the document, making it easy to keep reading and will highlight your key strengths clearly. But if your r?sum? is badly laid out, disorganized or hard to read, it will be discarded before the reader knows how qualified you are. Take time to understand how the page has been laid out and then apply what you've learned to your r?sum?.

    Have you listed irrelevant information?
    Don't list your hobbies unless they directly support your qualifications for the position. Don't detail your marital status or the number of children you have. Don't mention non-professional affiliations such as political or religious volunteer work unless it directly relates to the position you are applying for. Any personal information runs the risk of turning the reader off. However proud you are of personal achievements, you should not run the risk of alienating someone before you even have your foot in the door.

    Are you too modest?
    Don't be uncomfortable about blowing your own trumpet. Too many people play down their achievements. While you should never exaggerate on a r?sum?, you should definitely take credit for the things you've accomplished. Some people feel uncomfortable boasting on paper preferring to explain in an interview. But if your r?sum? doesn't spark interest, you may never get that opportunity, so don't be modest!

    Have you created an internet-ready version of r?sum??
    If you have to post your r?sum? online, or apply to a job via an online system, you will need to convert your r?sum? to a text-only format. If you don't do this, your r?sum? will be almost impossible to read because most online systems cannot support the type of formatting used in a r?sum? (bold, italics, bullet points, lines etc.)

Source: http://www.timesjobs.com/candidate/careerresources/htmls/resumeworking.jsp