This is it. I am listing my company’s (Career Insight) 5 tips that will change the way you prepare and read résumés from now on. This is the game changer. If you want to get an interview, then take note of this article. Save it, bookmark it, memorise it! Do whatever is necessary to ensure it can be referred to over and over again, until you perfect it.
The end game is simple: Stand-out résumé = interview. Period. Any country, any industry, any language, any culture! I have 10, 000 plus reasons (and counting) why it will work. My client, recruiter and employer contacts can attest to it.
Everything starts off with a well-presented résumé. If your aspiration matters to you, then the following 5 tips are the game-changers you need to get the right attention. A game-changing résumé should:
1.Be purpose built. You cannot have just one résumé and expect it to be like the “Lord of the Rings”- one résumé to rule them all! No way. In fact you need to ensure you create different versions of yourself by designing and customising a résumé that is specific to each direction, level and type of role you want to apply for. For example, if you are an accounting professional, you will need a different résumé where you are seen as a “specialist” and not a “generalist”- so a résumé for financial accounting, management accounting, accounts payable, accounts relievable, finance officer, bookkeeper, administrator may be needed to ensure you meet the specific criteria and level of each type of job vacancy.
2.Be achievement based. This means “quantifying” all your responsibilities with numbers. This is a philosophy I have developed over the last 10 years writing résumés for clients. Not every one has identifiable or explicit achievements. However, every one can write down the number of things they performed, the targets they achieved, or the time they efficiently saved to perform key tasks in their “Responsibilities Section.” Adding numbers, percentages, dollars, sizes of teams, scope of projects, scope of tasks, defines the depth / volume of a candidate’s ability to deal with pressure- especially in comparison to other candidate résumé profiles. Whether the reader is a recruiter, the receptionist or the CEO- everyone understands numbers. Period. When I talk about this to new clients there is an epiphany they experience- the look on their face is priceless, as no one, had ever talked about this before to them, but they instantly see the benefit of doing it. Quantify every responsibility and you will make it easy for audiences to immediately understand your value.
3. Have an online LinkedIn profile. At the very start of a résumé, in your personal details section, under your e-mail address, there should be another line that says “LinkedIn Profile”. This is where you list your LinkedIn address. In today’s job market, it is now inevitable that all jobseekers need to have a LinkedIn profile to guarantee you are seen as authentic. LinkedIn is public and can be viewed by everyone. Social media is driving how referee checks are being conducted. The endorsements and recommendations you receive will propel your standing in the job market and enhance your credibility as a genuine contender. Even if you are long term unemployed, or a parent returning to work, a LinkedIn profile is necessary in today’s job market, as you exist in the public sphere. Furthermore, it makes it easy for employers and recruiters to find you and verify your existence. I know many recruiters who refuse to consider candidates unless they have a LinkedIn profile. They use it as an authentication tool to ensure short-listed candidates possess immediate and recognisable integrity. Quite simply, you are not real without a LinkedIn profile.
4. Have skills ranked- basic, intermediate or advanced. That’s it. All these different / fancy adjectives used to describe, distort, manipulate, hide your true skill level should be stopped. Proficient? Adept? Hands-On? Demonstrated? Good? It all needs to stop. I am imploring you to practise the KISS methodology-Keep. It. Simple. Stupid. Basic means beginner- you need training, but can learn it; Intermediate means you have used it before or currently use it now as an end-user; Advanced means you are a genius and that you either are “administrator” or “trainer” level. Tabulating your skills on your résumé and ranking each one makes it easier for your audience to not only read your résumé, but also quickly process and assess you against other candidates. At the same time, it saves reading chunks of paragraphs by simplifying things under tabulated categories such as: Technology / Computer Skills; Back Office Skills; Frontline Skills; Technical Skills. Simple. Effective. Straight to the point.
5. Use language appropriate to the specific role. There is no point telling readers you can do everything when this isn’t what they want. The market today is a buyer’s market. Employers and recruiters are specific about what they want. Every vacancy has a set selection criteria. This means you need to only mention things that are appropriate to the criteria. The first priority is to use the exact language, terminologies, descriptions used in the position description and vacancy advertisement. Period. This isn’t plagiarism. This is about being seen as a candidate who speaks “the employer’s language.” Remove things from your list of responsibilities that obstruct readers from seeing you as a “specialist” in the advertisement’s vacant position. For example, if you are an accountant and are applying for a bookkeeping role (lower level), then it isn’t appropriate to mention things that are outside of what a bookkeeper can do. Plus, by ranking things outside the criteria, you open yourself up to being scrutinised as being over-qualified. Furthermore, there is a big difference between saying, “I led teams” versus “I supported teams.” Thus, the language you use dictates how your skills and experience will be judged “at the right level” against the criteria.
Overall, the intent of these tips is to encourage people to be as factual as possible in their résumés. By implementing these tips you are ensuring that when it comes time to have an interview, you already have presented tangible facts that speeds up the recruitment process and puts you at the front of the line. Therefore the foundation of these 5 game changing tips is simple: if you intend to be in the game, then change how you play the game, so you can end up with a different result= a job offer.
