Looking to send out a resume any time soon? The resume is the first impression, as we all know. But from an HR Manager’s perspective, it is the only impression that we have of prospective candidates before proceeding in the interview process.
When you sit to write your resume … consider these tips:
- Start sentences with an action verb. Seems easy, right? Many resumes, however, aren’t consistent throughout. They’ll switch and start a sentence with “Responsible for …” or “Responsibilities included …” Be sure every sentence consistently starts with a power verb. And, the verbs “Worked on …” or “Managed” don’t carry the excitement that “Launched” or “Compiled” do. There are, of course, the stand-bys (and good) “Created,” “Facilitated” and “Coordinated.” Just be sure that the whole sentence packs a punch.
- And in that sentence, quantify why what you did is so important: “Launched a cost-saving program for the company to increase company profits” isn’t as powerful as “Launched a cost-saving program saving the company $3,000 the first year, $10,000 during the last three years.”
By putting exact dollar amounts, you show that not only do you know the value of your contributions, but that you also offer to the “new” company specifics of what you could possibly do for them. You’ll explain how you did it during the interview; here, on the resume, just give the facts. - Proper tense in your sentences is important, too. Use past tense for past accomplishments; use present tense for what you are doing currently.
- If you’ve had, say, three places of employment during the last ten years doing the same type of responsibilities, then it is better to group achievements by section rather than by place of employment. Create headings like “Sales,” “Marketing,” “Financial,” “Employee Benefits,” etc. — whatever pertains to you — then under each heading list the task at hand.
For example:
Employee Benefits
–Facilitated benefit programs for up to 1500 employees.
Maybe one of the three companies only had 25 employees, the other 700 employees, the third 1500 … but, therefore, you have facilitated for up to 1500 people. It is much more succinct and on-point when the information is under one heading rather than three separate listings (by company heading) with three different numbers, yet saying the same responsibility. Your goal is to articulate to the hiring manager with “easy reading” (in a stack of 100 resumes) why to hire you. Painting the vivid picture is key. - Consider finding ways to create quantitative data to include following information:
1. How many employees report(ed) to you?
2. What percentage or dollar amount of growth, sales or saving have you been responsible for?
3. What specific solutions to problems did you help generate?
4. Have you turned around a bad situation to good? How? What program did you create, facilitate, etc. to do so?
5. Have you been part of facilitating a downsizing effort at the company? What was your role? How did you ensure smooth transition?
6. What specific value have you added to the company? Whether with a product, cost-saving, revenue-generating or new program addition, what was your part? - Avoid industry lingo. Sometimes companies use outside recruiters who may or may not understand the terminology. It’s better to err on the side of universal, professional language.
- Definitely use bullet points when listing out achievements.
- Because you are listing your responsibilities under a heading, be sure to create a separate section to indicate for which companies you worked for during what time periods.
- If a professional edit is outside of your budget, then be sure to ask several people to proofread it. There shouldn’t be any spelling errors and all verbs should be in correct tense. The worst is a resume with a bunch of errors. It only tells the HR Manager you’ll make a bunch of errors at the company, too.
Ask the proofreaders to ensure as many statements/achievements as possible are quantified, using details to demonstrate how you did it. - As tempting as it is to embellish, restrain yourself! It may get you in the door, but it will only come back to haunt you. It will either trip you up in the interview or worse, cause termination after hiring if/when the truth comes out.
- Employers want to see a well-rounded candidate, so you can add a section of outside activities. If you’re an avid marathon runner or on an intramural soccer league, add that. Your resume can also show off a little bit of your personality, too.
And lastly, to write a good, inclusive resume, first list out every achievement, award, recognition, idea you’ve ever been a part of. Edit out on paper, not in your mind. Because once on paper, you may realize it really does belong on the resume.