Make your Resume stand out by Covering these Seven Areas

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Make your Resume Stand Out by Covering These Seven Areas

  • Are you struggling to capture compelling information for your resume?
  • Does recruiter or hiring manager inquiries and interviews for your target position seem to evade you?
  • When you review your resume does it make you feel as if your experience is not properly represented?

If you can answer "yes" to any of the above questions, the issue could be within your resume. The good news is that with a little time investment, you can improve and achieve your desired results. While many struggle with writing their own resume, the process can be simple while optimizing its effectiveness. The key is understanding the value you bring and simply giving the companies what they are looking for by outlining their key criteria within your resume.

Many people are unaware that there is a strategy to writing a targeted resume to attract hiring managers and get the interview. Most people try to write a resume hoping to attract recruiters. While the recruiter’s role is very important in the process as gatekeepers, they usually don’t make the final hiring decision.  That is why your resume has to perform beyond the recruiter. An effective resume will accomplish the following:

  1. Get past the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) by using relevant SEO/keywords.
  2. Attract recruiters to get through the screening process by meeting key position requirements.
  3. Impress decision makers through accomplishment statements to get through the interview process.
  4. Generate lively discussions during the interview by outlining results from problems solved.
  5. Provide evidence of your skills and experience to maximize your salary potential.
  6. Using verbiage, formatting, and design to reflect your personality and differentiate you throughout your resume.
  7. Most important: Boost your confidence so that you realize the IMPACT of your career wins/lessons.

The strategy employed will make the difference. The following provides a brief outline on ways to cover the seven accomplishments. 

  1. Get past the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) by using relevant SEO/Keywords. 

Over the years, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) have gotten a bad reputation. Once the role of the ATS system is understood, the concept won’t feel so intimidating.  Simply, the ATS is a tool to organize applicant resumes. The tool stores and filters applicant resume relevant to specific criteria for the targeted position.  Companies filter their data differently and may choose to review all of the available resumes or review a certain percentage of the top resumes that meet the criteria. As the process may differ across companies, applicants should do their best to include as much similar relevant data or keywords throughout their targeted resume. Key criteria information is easily found within the job posting, vacancy announcement, or job description especially under “requirements.”

  1. Attract recruiters to get through the screening process by meeting key position requirements.

Recruiters serve as gatekeepers. Once the resume has gotten past the ATS criteria, it’s likely that the recruiter will review it. The key is that many will initially scan the resume for key criteria relevant to the position. If the key requirements aren’t found, then the resume journey will likely stop there. The key is ensuring that the resume can illustrate the skills and experience necessary to fulfill the position responsibilities. While recruiters are not necessarily the final decision maker, they can often influence decision makers. It is wise to build an amenable relationship with the recruiter.

  1. Impress decision makers through accomplishment statements to get through the interview process.

The goal is to impress the key decision makers prior to the interview. The way this is best accomplished is by doing due diligence through research. Understanding the problem that the position can solve and by sharing how you solved it within your resume. This is best achieved through writing accomplishment statements using PARS: Problem-Action-Result (some use STAR method). Essentially, it’s outlining What you did, how you did it, and the result, preferably using metrics. If you can solve their problem, they’ll want you as a part of the team.

  1. Generate lively discussion during the interview by outlining results of problems solved.

Strategically including information in your resume that solves common industry problems, or share unique experiences can lead to lively discussions during the interview. For example, a common problem in a dishwasher position is handling the volume of dishes quickly. An accomplishment statement that shares a record number of dishes washed within your previous role as dishwasher or a special formula you created can lead to an interesting discussion during the interview. 

  1. Provide evidence of your skills and experience to maximize your salary potential.

Sharing the challenges you have solved and outlining your career accomplishments demonstrates your experience level. The greater your experience, the higher salary you will be able to achieve. Even when companies have salary ranges, the greater your experience, you can achieve the higher end of the range. 

  1. Using verbiage, formatting, and design to reflect your personality and differentiate you throughout your resume.

This area can often be challenging. Simple updates like using colors, graphics, formatting and other information to reflect your personality and differentiate yourself from other candidates. There is a balance. Adding too much information or “bells and whistles” can be distracting.

  1. Boost your confidence so that you realize the IMPACT of your career wins/lessons. 

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The Steps to Writing an Effective Resume

The process of writing your resume and listing your accomplishments can be a confidence booster once your experience level matches key position criteria. Having confidence in your abilities is key during an interview.

Writing a professional resume takes a lengthy time investment, but can result in significant salary increases, promotions and improved career opportunities. It can also be frustrating for those who are unsure in how to capture the correct information. The following are steps to consider when writing an effective resume.

  1. Establish your target position.  Generalized one-size-fits all resumes will likely not meet most position requirements. Keeping the resume focused on a specific position provides clarity on what the candidate is targeting. For positions within the same industry or that are similar, you may be able to use the resume for more than one position. 
  2. Identify key position requirements by reviewing multiple job descriptions and vacancy announcements for the target position and making note of consistent requirements.
  3. List all of your professional work experience.  Make note of position titles, dates started/ended, key responsibilities, and notable achievements.
  4. Outline the remaining information for your resume including education, relevant volunteer experience, professional affiliations/associations, certifications, relevant technical proficiencies, and relevant specialized skills you may have.
  5. Begin writing your accomplishment statements relevant to the target position requirements. 
  6. Write your career summary or profile summary last (located at the beginning of your resume). It should highlight your key career accomplishments and briefly tell the reader why your skills and experience bring value to the organization.
  7. Assemble your resume format to include each of the standard resume areas; The summary, skills, professional experience, education/technical proficiencies and professional associations/affiliations. Note that relevant, but earlier (more than 10 years) professional experience can be separated and listed under the “relevant experience” section.

Writing your resume can be overwhelming, however it can be one of the most satisfying experiences you can have. It can also prepare you for the interview as you consider how you qualify for your target position. From the information shared, one can write an effective resume. The tools listed below can also help you ask the right questions or make the process easier. If you need ideas on what to include in your resume, we offer detailed resume critique information that can also make the process easier.

 




      




Nanette Kirk is the President of NetKi Enterprises, LLC offering career coaching services. Nanette has supported career professionals across all levels in achieving their career goals and increase their salaries by up to 50%. She can be contacted at www.netkienterprises.com

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