The purpose of your resume is to convince a prospective employer to interview you. It’s a powerful marketing tool that promotes who you are, what you want to do, and the value you’ll bring to an organization.
While employers generally don’t make hiring decisions on the basis of a resume alone, they often use a poorly prepared or presented resume as grounds for rejecting a job candidate. Employers regard your resume as your best work and a key indicator of how you’ll perform on the job. They’ll associate it with your presumed work ethic, attitude and willingness to commit and succeed.
Sell Your Strengths
Your resume conveys a specific message to a target audience. Think about the position you’re seeking and the organization for which you want to work. Read the job description carefully and align your resume to it.
- Begin your bullet points with strong action verbs. Throughout your resume, starting at the top, include keywords that highlight your achievements and show your value.
- Tailor you resume to the position. In doing so, emphasize your relevant strengths and accomplishments. Quantify this information with numbers, dollar values and percentages.
- Emphasize your transferable skills. These will largely center on soft skills such as communications, customer service, organization, multitasking, organization and grace under pressure.
- Don’t be vague. Tell a compelling story and use detailed, specific examples to highlight your successes.
- Be honest. Never lie or embellish information. Employers and recruiters know a questionable statement when they see one. Plus, they will fact check themselves and reveal the truth.
Demonstrate Your Value
Up to 95 percent of resumes fail to survive the initial cut. Employers are looking for individuals who have clear ideas about themselves and what they do best. They want to know you can do the job, you have a strong attitude and work ethic, and you’re a good fit with their company culture and environment.
- Tell employers about the value you bring. Provide evidence that you’ve contributed value in the past, consistent with that which you will provide once hired.
- Be prepared to answer questions on every item. The qualifications you profess to have can and will be tested. This includes every school attended, course completed and certification earned, as well as work history accomplishments. Hiring managers will instinctively sense any claims that fail to add up.
As you perfect your resume and successfully implement your job search strategy, consider working with a specialized recruiter who will get to know you, your career path needs, and your short and long-term goals. Read our related posts or contact the team at Premium Staffing for more information.