1. Readability (or perhaps “scan-ability”). Your resume says a lot about you and its format makes an immediate first impression; just like your appearance makes an impression. Recruiters and HR professionals are overwhelmed with responses for even the most obscure job openings these days. Resumes that are easiest to read/scan get viewed first. That may seem arbitrary but if you’re trying to narrow a tall stack of resumes you would use any reason to eliminate them. If your resume is confusing, if the formatting is inconsistent, if you overuse word processing gimmicks (italics, underlines, bolds, font types and font sizes, etc), or if you have wall-to-wall words with very thin margins you make your resume more difficult to read. You risk it being placed at the bottom of the stack, or worse, placed in the rejection stack without a word ever being read. Yes, formatting does matter. But only during the first few seconds. Beyond that it’s about substance, which leads me to point #2.

2. Credible Content. Content is credible when it’s defined. The more detail you use to describe your experience the more believable it becomes. It’s impossible to overstate how critical this is: your creditworthiness as a job applicant is directly tied to your ability to communicate your career story. This is hard work and when we don’t know what to write we resort to what everyone does. We rehash the job description creating a resume that’s bland and contains little, if any, content that makes us unique. Another popular mistake is the use of what I call Hallmark Words. Hallmark Words look good on paper (i.e. greeting cards) but don’t have much meaning. Common Hallmark Words include: strong communication skills, team player, quick learner, detail-oriented, and out-of-the-box thinker. Do we really know what these words/phrases mean? Hallmark Words do not distinguish you from other applicants. My advice is to distinguish yourself by writing credible content which demonstrates how you are qualified for the job. But being qualified for a job is no longer good enough, which leads me to point #3.

3. Personality. We’ve all been conditioned to believe that the resume should not reflect our personality so as not to bias the hiring decision. So we write resumes that are objective and factual. But this approach strips the most important element from your resume. YOU. The more personalized your resume is, the more opportunity you have to make a connection with the reader. I’m a strong proponent of listing hobbies, volunteer activities, community involvement, etc. on your resume. (To be clear, I’m not suggesting you include anything that would give rise to discrimination and strongly advise you to stay within the limits of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.) If you like reading 20th century fiction, include your favorite authors. If you play golf disclose your handicap. Another way to personalize your resume is to define your working style. Explain how you executive projects and why people like to work with you. Include anything relevant to the job that someone may find professionally intriguing. This is not a radical point, just a reminder that hiring decisions are emotional to a large degree and the more interesting you are on paper, the more likely you will be to continue progressing in the interview process.

1/ Readability/scan-ability. 2/ Credible content. 3/ Personality. These are the three criteria that your resume is evaluated on to determine whether or not you should be considered for a job. Your resume is your silent sales force in the 30 second interview. It should speak the same message that you would speak in a face-to-face interview.

For questions contact: David Pinkley, The Resume Sage at (704) 358-6000 or david@theresumesage.com To learn more about The Resume Sage visit: www.TheResumeSage.com

What is a Hallmark word?  Example: You go to the store to buy a greeting card for your Sweetie whose birthday is approaching.  You are overwhelmed because there are so many cards to choose from.  You select your first one and it says something like:  “May you experience all things bright and beautiful on your special day.  Happy Birthday.”  It’s a nice try but the message is contrived so we put the card back and pick another.  The second one says: “Here’s a card just for you.  You’ve always been tried and true.  Happy Birthday.”  Again, nice words but the message isn’t meaningful.  (Who writes this stuff!?)  You repeat this process numerous times until you find one with a message that resonates:  “It just always felt right…and it always will.  Happy Birthday.”  Found it.  You’re done.

Hallmark words are words that look great on paper but don’t have any real meaning.  It’s the same with resumes.  Certain words look great on resumes but they are meaningless.  If everyone says they’re a quick learner those words become diluted.  (Whether it’s true or not is irrelevant.)  Using Hallmark words on your resume will make it seem just as contrived as most greeting cards.  The reader (i.e. hiring manager) won’t believe your message and will continue reading other resumes in search of one that resonates.

The reality is we really don’t know how to describe ourselves.  So we borrow words from other resumes and convince ourselves that these words really describe us.  We don’t realize they have no meaning.  Great resumes find authentic ways to communicate familiar themes.  How do you do that? 

If you are really honest with yourself – you probably don’t know what you really do anyway.  The only way to discover exactly what makes you unique is to look closely at your job.  This takes introspection and self examination; a process most people dread because it seems like hard work – hence why most resumes are homogeneous.  This is difficult to do for yourself.  Self examination much easier if you do it with someone else. But that’s another blog.

Blow the dust off your resume and take a look at the words you’ve used to describe yourself.  Are they Hallmark words?  If they are you need to recognize that you are not saying anything unique.  And no matter how true they are, they are not as meaningful or impactful as you think.

For questions contact: David Pinkley at (704) 358-6000 or david@theresumesage.com.  To learn more visit:  www.TheResumeSage.com

It’s not something we pay much attention to when writing or updating our resumes.  We tend to focus on the essentials: career objective, education, employment history, accomplishments, etc.  But a resume is more than the sum of its parts.  What impression does your resume really make in the mind of the reader?  Are they impressed?  Confused?  What unanticipated questions they are left asking?

The Resume Sage’s blog will attempt to take you inside the mind of hiring managers, executive recruiters and others who might read your resume during your job search.  We will examine real resumes from real job seekers whom we’ll encounter along the way to demonstrate techniques of how to write an effective resume.  You won’t find top 10 lists, summaries of do’s and don’t or other pithy resume writing rules.  We will expose the mistakes others have made so you can avoid doing the same. 

Maybe you’ll find someone like yourself in one of our examples.  Perhaps you will begin to ask: what does my resume say about me?  Alas, you may be surprised at what unintended (subliminal?) message may be imbedded (lurking?) in your resume.  We want to have some fun demonstrating the crazy things people do in their resumes, but our ultimate contribution is to help you get the job you want!  So let’s go…

-David

The Resume Sage.  What does your resume say about you?

www.TheResumeSage.com