While there are people and companies who offer resume writing and editing services (like myself!) I still believe in self-help and the ability to do it yourself. As you take on the task of writing and editing your resume yourself – I wanted to give you 4 key points while reviewing your resume prior to sending it off with your job application.
Stare at your gorgeous resume once complete and ask yourself the following questions:
- Did I sync the skills from the job announcement to my job experiences?
Read over the job announcement and pull out their top skills they are seeking. Now look at your job history and make sure to align your history with the skills within the job announcement. You should strive for 5-10 examples (bullets) of how you mirror exactly what they are seeking throughout your resume.
- Do those skills noted in the job announcement stick out in my resume?
Now that you’ve made sure you pulled out the top skills the job announcement is asking for and you know for a fact that these skills are illustrated throughout your resume – is it clear? You want to ensure it is blatantly clear to the human resource department and hiring manager that the points they put in the job announcement are highlighted and proven throughout your resume. A good tip? Use the exact wording from the job announcement and make sure you can back up these skills with actual on-job examples.
- Is my resume free of grammar and spelling error?
Don’t just trust that handy dandy button in Word – but actually READ it! One of the common errors we see is the correct spelling of a word just in the wrong context. Your Word’s Spelling and Grammar Check Button is not going to find that you wrote “Excellent writing and verbal communications skills” when you really meant “Excellent written and verbal communication skills.” Repeat after me – READ IT! Because what your Word doesn’t catch, the hiring manager will. And in the position of a hiring manager – yes, we laugh at poorly written resumes.
- Will a 16-year-old female in the middle of getting the latest scoop from her best friends on her crush be able to glance at your resume and reach a decision?
This is the most important tip. When going through my consultations I use the analogy of a 16-year-old teenager for a reason. The last thing hiring managers want to do? Go through the interview process. It takes away from the daily job, you have to prep for it, the actual interview is just as nerve wrecking to the interviewer as it is to the interviewee and more importantly – submitting review notes to HR after the interview is a process. Each company handles that differently, but HR requires interview notes to support the decision to hire or not to hire. And don’t let a company use a weight system – you have to take a half day from work just to fill those things out.
I say this to say – when the hiring manager gets your resume for the first time they do what I like to call a “60-second glance over” to determine if an interview is needed or not. They are looking for those specific skills requested within the job announcement – skills, education and certification requirements. If you have the skills, education and/or certification requirement matched 9/10 you’ll get called for the interview. But it has to be blatant in 60-seconds.
So can a 16-year old take a minute from her juicy story on her crush and be able to assess if you get an interview or not? In translation – can the hiring manager take 60 seconds out of their busy day and pull out everything they are seeking in your resume?
If you still have any questions or would like a free consultation on your resume, please feel free to contact me at Monique@RedInkd.com and visit our site for a list of complete services – www.RedInkd.com.
-M. Kendrick
Inking Corner 