Here are 7 reasons why hiring managers don’t read your resume. If one or more apply to you, change your resume to make it compelling!
1. It’s BORING!!! Doesn’t create excitement in the first 10 seconds – Your resume should read like a word-picture so the hiring manager can visualize your results. Action words, like directed, produced, increased (production, sales), decreased (costs, inventory) are more powerful than passive words like “utilized” or “conducted”. Use numbers when possible.
2. You didn’t connect your experiences to the published job description – Broad resumes don’t connect with the explicit open position. If you’re serious about the job, tailor-fit your resume to the position description. Hiring managers are looking for candidates that have successfully done something similar, somewhere else.
3. Your resume is too generic and doesn’t focus on specifics – Resumes that get tossed into the trash bin usually are too general to capture the imagination. The hiring manager has to search for the direct relevance of your background and experiences. That can only be done with precise skills or proficiencies applied to the job opening.
4. Your resume is difficult to read: Dense narratives with small font – When scanning 100 or more resumes, hiring managers don’t have the time to read dense narratives. Also, with small fonts you may cram more information into your resume that won’t be read. If you use bullet points, make your case in no more than one or two lines or it will be skimmed over.
5. You can’t seem to get it to the hiring manager – At times you can make your resume so full of gobbledygook that a recruiter can’t decipher it. If others can’t understand it, your resume will never get to the right person. Document your results from key descriptive words.
6. The initial scan of your resume is unimpressive – When you define your activities without the results achieved, your resume will fall short. Show your impressive results with a summary of your most relevant career experiences at the top of your resume. Consolidate your accomplishments and “show-off” your relevant experiences.
7. Your experiences and results don’t stand out above your competitors – You’re in competition with other applicants who want the same job. The objective of a resume is to get an interview. Focus on the results you have achieved that parallel the top five elements on the position description. That’s what the hiring manager is looking for.
If you never hear back from an organization, either you didn’t parallel what they are looking for, or you’re missing the results that the hiring manager needs. Look at your resume objectively like a hiring manager would, and give them what they want and need.
I’ll provide a FREE assessment of your resume. Send to: wkaufmann44@gmail.com
Help a colleague to find a new job? Refer them to: Mygreenerfuture1@gmail.com