In a job market that's growing more competitive every day, having an effective, impressive resume that stands out from the crowd is key. Looking to fine tune yours but not sure where to start? No worries, our Resume Rescue series is here to help! Your resume is supposed to give a potential employer an idea of who you are and what your skill set is, but often just ends up being a boring list of all your previous jobs and their responsibilities. Who cares! Realize that most of the people applying will have had similar responsibilities and experiences, so focus on your achievements instead.
What did you do besides the bare minimum that was expected of you? How did you stand out at each previous job and what did you accomplish?
Example:
Tired
Responsibilities included client retention, team reporting and new hire training.
Hired
Developed strong personal relationships with clients leading to higher retention levels, produced monthly sales activity report listing details for each of 12 team members, trained 3 new hires and taught successful closing techniques.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Alex Rudloff says: (5:17PM on May 19th 2009) Vote Up Vote DownReport2/5
Great suggestions! It's worth mentioning that it's probably worth while to do both. The responsibilities are what is expected, the achievements are what stands out :)
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Stephen says: (5:27PM on May 19th 2009) Vote Up Vote DownReport2/5
As a professional that reviews resumes on a daily basis I would have to say that there is some truth to this blog but only in moderation. When a recruiter searches for your resume they are looking for key terms that match what their client is looking for. If your resume is full of achievments and lacks the details to fully support your qualifications then you will be skipped over time and time again. This also depends on the experience you have as well.
For example: as a recruiter I know that if someone has a specific technology in their resume then the first thing a hiring manager is going to ask is "How did the candidate use this technology in their last projecy and what were their specific responsibilities with it?" They aren't asking what they did with the technology, they want to know how they used it and their level of expertise.
Of course this changes based on what you did. Marketing resumes are very different from IT resume and those are different than a teachers resume. The best resume tip anyone could receive is the following "Do NOT use the same resume to apply to every job, adapt your resume for each specific position and make sure to highlight your experience as it relates to the intricate details found in each differing jobs responsibilities and requirements"
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