By Bill Kaufmann, President of My Greener Future
If you don’t have a compelling resume, there’s no reason for companies to interview you. Why should they interview an average applicant with no added-value strongly positioned in the resume? Here is how to diagnose and fix your resume to get a telephone screen.
What’s your response rate? At a 2% response rate you equal junk mail. At 10% you’re minimally adequate. At 50% you’re “hot”. Your resume must be compelling. You must be compelling with both your resume and interview to become a primary candidate.
You get very few screening interviews. That means you’re not meeting the minimal requirements of the job, or everyone else is better than you. You may be shooting too high and falling short. Readjust your target, industry, level or compensation. Something is off.
You get screening calls (that’s good) but no interviews (that’s bad). Your not hitting the key points they’re looking for in a candidate. Practice short powerful responses about the results you’ve achieved rather than long-winded monologues about activities.
Your contact list isn’t providing you with great leads. Find out why your contacts aren’t working. Revisit who you know that can refer you to knowledgeable people. Ask those contacts for a few of their connections to talk about what’s happening in their industry.
SOME ISSUES AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM.
Your resume is a “random walk”. No target. No focus. Key in on results. Match them to the position description or ad. Use an Executive Summary to put your best foot forward.
You are using a narrative form and give your life’s story. Define actions and outcomes, not just animation. Use bullets to highlight contributions in short, powerful ways.
No juice. Your resume is boring. Differentiate yourself from all others. Show your unique qualities or experiences that parallel the job to be done for today and tomorrow.
Put the most important things first. Use power words. Use metrics. Don’t highlight items that are less important, like community activities, unless they’re critical.
Make your resume easily readable. Crisp. Clean. No mistakes. Use spell check and a contemporary font rather than a dated font. Use “white space” to give a clean appearance.
Eliminate non-essential verbiage. Focus on the goal. Figure out what they want, not what you want. Get rid of peripheral add-ons unless they’re requested.
If you can’t put together a compelling resume, you’ll not get an interview. It’s that simple.
Get more insights at: mygreenerfuture.com Send questions to: Mygreenerfuture1@cox.net