Resume Success

A winning resume must concisely highlight your aptitudes and specific measures of success through effective, targeted, and well-organized content delivery. Other elements like cultural fit, presentation of soft skills and transferable talents, keyword alignment, and cross-functionality must not be overlooked to position you as the perfect candidate: an proficient, solutions-driven leader and team player with vision, creativity, longevity, and abundant potential.

In addition, online platforms such as job boards, career and recruiting sites, social media, and applicant tracking systems (ATS) have a substantial impact on the success of your job search from a technological perspective.

Did you know?…

Resumes are the beginning of being hired…

• 250 resumes are received on average for each job post

• 2 minutes or less account for the time a hiring manager reviews a resume; recruiters glance over a resume for just 7.4 seconds

• 78%+ of internal/external referrals lead to hiring, social media networks provide 58% of hire, direct applications represent 46% of hires, internet job boards have a hire rate of 37%, and mobile career boards provide only 19% of hires

• 42 days is the average amount of time for a company to fill a position, from posting the job to accepting a hire; candidate interviews are generally first scheduled within 2 to 3 weeks of posting the position

• 87% of hiring managers place the highest emphasis on previous work experiences; 87% of recruiters remember a candidate’s enthusiasm

• 2 pages is the ideal resume length

Technology plays a large role in the hiring process…

• 75% of hiring and talent managers use recruiting and/or applicant tracking systems (ATS)

• 33% increase in hiring chances occurs with proper use of keyword alignment

• Using the language of the job post increases a resume’s chances of passing through ATS scans

• 75% of resumes are discarded by automated software

• 92% of recruiters look at an applicant’s social media pages (87% of which head to LinkedIn first)

• 43% of recruiters like resumes as Microsoft Word documents for compatibility and editing

(the above statistics are from “60 Job Search Tips That Will Get You Hired,” https://careerswiki.com/publications/job-search-tips/)

So, how can you tweak your resume to find success?…

Resume Strategies

• Align with the job post: Make sure you highlight accomplishments and deliverables that are relevant to the job post, clearly showing how you would successfully impact the company.

• Illustrate with numbers and results: Illustrate your achievements and get them noticed by using exact quantities, metrics, and percentages; put this information at the beginning of each bullet so it stands out.

• Avoid overdoing jargon and acronyms: Recruiters and human resources professionals may not be experts in the industry at hand, so also spell out field-specific acronyms and ensure that industry-specific terms have transferable meaning. Include some to hit critical keywords while extending universal meaning so your resume isn’t unintelligible to a third party reading it first.

• Proofread: Take great care to avoid any grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Action verbs can increase your chances of hire.

• Include keywords: Keywords are important to have throughout the resume, whether it’s scanned by software or the human eye. Be sure to start impressing early on so that the rest of your resume is read.

• Consider technology: Save and send your resume in the format requested by the recruiter or hiring manager to ensure it opens properly; for example, some will request a Word document (saved in Word 97-2003, “.doc”), and others will require a PDF format (a locked document). Applicant tracking systems (ATS) usually prefer a Word 97-2003 document. Many companies have ATS software that could use an update, and they may not be able to scan images.

• Start with a cover letter: Make sure it is appropriately addressed and offers a quick overview of the position and what you bring to the table.

All About Writing is here to help with your resume writing needs, and extend related services such as resume updates, cover letters, post-interview thank-you letters, references lists, bios, CVs, and LinkedIn profiles. You are assisted at every phase of the process, from assessing your strengths and brainstorming strategies through to writing, revising, streamlining, and proofreading content.

My in-person consultations and commitment to clear, on-going communication are extremely beneficial in developing effective content aimed at achieving each client’s goals.

All About Writing also partners with Self-Empowerment Coaching. LLC, to offer our clients expert career coaching, whether you are searching for a new career, a promotion, or clarity on what your next professional endeavor might be. For more information on our resume-career coaching package, contact me today.