Many job seekers who send in a resume don’t seem to realize that they have about 15 seconds to be noticed. Hiring agents scan 200 or more resumes and put them into 3 piles: A, B and C. Only the A resumes get read in detail.
So what does a job seeker need to do to get noticed and be put in the A pile? Design your resume so your major results and achievements are positioned at the top half of the first page. How do you accomplish that? Easy. Define your measureable results in a Summary Performance Statement right after your name and contact information. Here’s an example from a recent client of mine:
CAREER SUMMARY OF RESULTS:
• 10.2% annual profit increase by implementing a digital marketing plan
• 22.4% annual customer growth over 5 years through innovative strategies
• 8.6% reduction of costs by implementing value analysis to the operating budget
• 83% increase in revenue by converting manual to real-time customer interactions
Why is this approach a powerful influencer to the hiring manager?
1. It summarizes multiple jobs and the results that were achieved
2. It documents the actual outcomes of the candidate
3. It communicates a serious, results-driven candidate
4. It positions the hiring manager to say, “This is someone I definitely want to talk to”
You’ve now gotten the positive attention of the hiring manager, who wants to find out:
1. How were these results achieved?
2. Can these results be duplicated in my organization?
These questions can only be answered through an interview. Of course, after this Summary Performance Statement are the individual companies, titles, dates, responsibilities and results of each employer. In that way the hiring agent can see where these results were achieved.
I’m sure you probably spent hours writing your resume, making sure that every detail was covered. But you probably focused on your responsibilities and activities but failed to document your results. If you assume 200 people are applying for this same job, probably 50% of them had similar responsibilities. The only thing that differentiates you from all others are the results you’ve achieved Without a measureable outcome, everyone else’s resume is a matter of judgment as to who can do the job.
You need to lead the pack of applicants in order to get an interview and become a candidate. Your results are the only indicator to a hiring manager that sets you apart from the rest.
Want a free assessment of your resume? wkaufmann1@cox.net
Ready to test the market? Email: Mygreenerfuture1@cox.net