Employers That May Read Your Resume
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Can Your Resume Capture An Employers Attention?
Okay. So you've found the job that you really want. You're sure that you're the best-qualified individual for the position. Now all you have to do is convince the person doing the hiring to select you from hundreds of applicants, all of whom believe they are equally as qualified as you.
You know that you have to find a way to make your resume stand apart from the others, your competition. But you may not know exactly what you need to do in order to fulfil this goal.
Perhaps you're sitting in front of your computer holding your head in your hands with your eyes popping out of your face and your mouth frozen in an "O" position. Kind of like a cartoon. Maybe you're so stressed that veins are popping out of your forehead, and you're frantically thinking, "Oh no! What to do! What to do!"
Well, maybe you haven't quite reached that state of panic. But seriously, there are several things you can do to get your resume past that first hurdle.
In order to get past that first hurdle, you need to go back to the basics. You need to understand exactly what the first hurdle is.
If a company places a job posting in print or online classifieds, they usually expect to receive many, many more resumes than they'll need. They also realize that probably 90 percent of those applications will be inappropriate.
Upper management really doesn't have the time to personally go through each and every application. For this reason, they'll get those not directly responsible for the hiring to go through the mounds of resumes.
The people who most often go through the first round of applications are usually assistants. The assistants who go through the resumes before they reach upper management's desk can often be referred to as "gatekeepers." This term, while not necessarily very flattering, can be quite accurate. The gatekeepers prevent any printed garbage from reaching the desks of busy upper management.
Assistants or gatekeepers are trained to quickly look for any disqualifying features that prove that a resume is unworthy of the attention of upper management.
You need to know about these disqualifying features if you want to increase your chances of your resume making it past the first hurdle.
- Type your resume on good-quality, crease-free white paper. Make sure there are no ink smudges, no coffee ring stains, no smears of mustard from the hotdog you had for lunch as you wrote the resume. You've heard this hundreds of times, but unfortunately too many people send in dirty resumes or handwritten resumes enhanced with glittery marker. Their argument? They want their resume to "stand out from the crowd." Well, do this and it's guaranteed to stand out. In fact it will stand out so much, a gatekeeper will cheerfully file it away under "G" (G for garbage) to someday be recycled into toilet paper.
- Put your full name on the first line of the page in a clear, bolded, large font. Spell your name correctly. (Yes, it's happened where those sending in resumes check out everything, but the correct spelling of their names.) Make sure you include all necessary contact information. Cell phone numbers and pager numbers aren't always necessary. For example, if you're applying for a shelf-stocker position, really, why on earth would your potential employer need to know your cell and pager numbers? They're not your buddies wanting to chat to you at midnight!
- Use a font size for the body of your resume that's 10 to 12 points in size. It's better to use the 12-point font because after reading just a few resumes, you can bet your life that the reader's eyes are getting tired and the person is getting sleepy.
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Can Your Resume Get Past The First Hurdle?
The first hurdle faced by every resume is the initial screening. A human resources specialist rather than the actual hiring manager usually handles this step, so you need to look at your resume from the perspective of the most likely screener.
There are some things you can do, though, to make your resume stand out from the rest of the crowd. You want to do whatever is necessary to ensure that the HR screener puts it in the "keep" pile.
Order of key information
An important first step is to make sure that your key information is presented in the best order possible. Thinking about the specific requirements and qualifications for the specific job you are seeking, tailor your resume to put the most relevant information first. The idea is to make sure that the resume screener comes across the most pertinent details at the beginning of their visual scan, making them more likely to keep your document in the running for an interview.
Emphasize key information
It is not enough, though, to have the most important information toward the beginning of your resume. The layout of the content must be such that the screener's eye is naturally drawn to the words and phrases that are most relevant to the job. You can do this by using bold type, italic type, or bullet points. Whatever form of emphasis you choose, remember that you will get maximum impact by using the emphasis sparingly. In this situation, less really is more.
Readability
The readability of your resume has as much or more to do with the formatting as it does with the actual words you use. It does not do you any good to keep your resume to two pages or less if you accomplish this by using narrow margins, single spacing, and type size that is 10 point or less. Think about the screener who must wade through a pile of resumes that can number one hundred or more - will he or she be likely to spend time on one that is difficult to read? Make the screener's job easier by using wide margins, double spacing between sections, and type size that is 11 points or greater.
Strong content
Formatting, layout, and order of information will not get your resume past the first hurdle if the quality of the content is poor. Poor content is a quick resume killer, so invest the time and effort into creating content that is strong and high in quality. Use active language rather than passive language, and make sure that you include solid descriptions of your accomplishments. It is good to mention a specific action or activity you have done, but it is even better to also mention the result that came from your action or activity. Write your results in terms that are measurable and quantifiable; numbers give greater weight and meaning to these statements and will tend to draw the attention of a resume screener.
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Resume Help - Targeting your audience
Resume Help - A point that can often get overlooked in the scramble to piece together an effective resume is ensuring that you create the correct impact. Resume help and tips from experts are required.
Always remember what the aim of your resume is - to impress upon a prospective employer your potential, experience in addition to the contribution you will make at their place of employment.
Resume Help by AccuroResumes.com
A professional resume is an extremely important tool in this process so take stock of your experience to date, avoiding the common mistake that people often make, using the resume as a soapbox to trumpet past triumphs and achievements. Obviously your resume must acclaim your talent and skills but in a subtle way that demonstrates your personal character and lack of egocentricity.
Write your resume so that it becomes an answer to someone else's problem, quite simply you are telling an employer what you can do to help them resolve their needs.
Resume Help by AccuroResumes.com
Target your resume to the job you are seeking, very often candidates make the mistake of detailing aspects of a previous role that bear no relevance or significance to their current job search.
Proofread each section for completeness and accuracy, invest your time effectively to ensure that the final document you produce details the very best of your attributes, skills and experience.
Resume Help by AccuroResumes.com
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What Do Hr Professionals Want In A Resume?
Creating an effective resume is all about writing with the reader's perspective in mind. Of course, you want to emphasize your strongest skills and attributes, and show why you are an excellent candidate, but if you do not do it in a way that catches the eye of the HR professional who reads it then you will not be successful.
Think about this common scenario: a recruiter has a pile of two hundred resumes on their desk and is faced with the task of screening them to pick out the top four or five for the interview phase of hiring. How are you going to make sure your resume stands out from the rest and gives the HR professional the information they want and need?
Make their job easier
If you want your resume to be noticed, make it easy for the screener to read it. This means:
Wide margins - White space is a good thing on a resume because it keeps the material from looking cramped and crowded
Easy to read font style - Script, calligraphy, and other non-standard fonts are difficult to read. Stick with a basic font that is clean and clear.
Font size - The font size should be 11 point; any smaller and the print becomes extremely difficult to read and makes the page look crowded.
Highlight key information - Your resume should highlight the key information that matches up with the qualifications and requirements of the job posting. These are the elements a screener will be looking for, so make them readily apparent with just a quick scan through.
Plain paper - Some people like to be trendy and put their resume on paper with a unique color or texture, but this is not what a HR professional cares about. Stick with a good quality white paper that makes the printing really stand out and be noticed.
Give them content
A HR professional will look for strong content that relates to the needs of the specific job opening, so use active statements that are very specific to describe your skills and attributes. Include actions and results that are measurable and quantifiable.
Strong content does not mean fluff. Avoid complex, flowery statements like:
"bottom-line, results-oriented professional with a positive attitude and ability to motivate teams of all shapes, sizes and experience levels"
This will turn off a screener faster than you can possibly imagine. Statements like the one above do not really say anything about you or what you offer to a potential employer; rather, they sound like an attempt to pad your resume with words that sound good because you do not have any solid experience or qualifications to highlight.
Give them the truth
Another common thing that HR professionals hate is statements that embellish, exaggerate or outright lie about your skills and attributes. They have seen it all and experienced screeners are adept at picking out things that are not always what they seem to be.
For example, do not try to pass off a lower level job as something with more responsibility by giving it a fancy title. If you were a cashier, do not say you were a "money handling specialist"; if you were a team leader, do not say you were an "assistant manager in training via team project coordination". HR professionals are not fooled by titles and phrases such as this, and often view them as a negative thing. After all, if you try to exaggerate the information in your resume, what else will you exaggerate during the interview or during employment?
When in doubt, use simple, clear language that is truthful. A HR professional will recognize this and give you credit for being forthright and concise.
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What Do Potential Employers Really Want In A Resume?
When you write your resume, you are focused on putting your skills and attributes down on paper, in a way that communicates clearly to a potential employer. When a potential employer reads your resume, though, they are looking for something different.
The screener's job
The job of a resume screener, whether that person is a human resources specialist or the hiring manager, is to ascertain which resumes represent candidates who meet minimum requirement and set those aside for more in depth consideration. As they examine a resume more closely they are looking for holes in the content, trying to decide if it is worth the time and effort to bring you in for an interview. They are looking for fabrications, exaggerations, and embellishments, anything that will give them some indication that you are not the person you purport to be in the resume.
The first screening
In most cases, the first reading of your resume will not be a thorough reading, but instead a quick overview of the highlights to determine if you have the basic qualifications for the open position. The HR specialist or hiring manager will look for the required training, experience, or other attributes that the hiring manager has determined are critical.
You can increase the likelihood of making it past this first reading by laying out your resume with key qualifications listed first. You can use bold or italic type to make important statements stand out, but be careful not to overdo it. The effectiveness of bold or italic type diminishes as you use it more, so make sure that you emphasize only the most important elements. This will draw the reader's eye to them and make it more likely that your resume will pass the first screening.
The second screening
Once the pile of resumes is reduced thanks to the first screening, the reader will go back and look at the surviving documents in more detail. This screening is generally more detailed and more in depth, looking for incongruence and inconsistently. The reader is looking for your current position, the functions you are capable of performing, past experience, and any current expertise that is noteworthy.
You can increase the likelihood of making it past the second screening and into the interview round by making this information as easy to find as possible. It is also important to express these details in terms of how you fit into what the employer wants and needs, not how the employer fits into what you want and need.
Be specific about your actions and the results you have achieved. Provide facts and figures, easily understandable measurements that quantify objectives and goals you have met. Avoid flowery words that do not speak directly to your accomplishments and eliminate unnecessarily complex words. Do not hide behind ineffective descriptions because these do not mean anything to a resume screener.
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Why Your Resume Never Makes It To A Hiring Manager
The number one reason why resumes don't make it to a hiring manager is because they haven't passed basic resume rules that managers tell their assistants to watch for.
Hiring managers are busy. They honestly don't have the time to go through the hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of resumes they'll receive for each job application. That's why a lot of the time they get their assistants to go through all the resumes they receive and weed out the ones that are below par.
For example, resumes that are too long won't make it to the hiring manager. It doesn't matter how qualified you are (or how qualified you think you are) for a position, no one is interested in reading a manual about your skills. On average, resumes that exceed two pages are usually set aside and never reach the hiring manager.
Sometimes resumes never even make it to the company you send it to. It's happened where people have surface mailed a resume, but didn't put enough postage on it. So then, of course, the resume won't make it to the hiring manager, let alone the company!
Sometimes resumes don't make it to the hiring manager because the applicant didn't follow the guidelines outlined in the job posting. If a company doesn't want faxed resumes, don't think they're going to overlook this rule to examine your stunning resume!
If the job posting says no phone calls, please don't call. Your name will be remembered once, and not in a good way. Your resume, once you send it in, won't even be considered because you've shown you can't follow simple instructions.
If a company accepts e-mail applications, but doesn't want attachments, don't you're your resume as an attachment. Who cares that your resume in Word or PDF format is laid out beautifully on lovely letterhead that can't be transferred to a simple text e-mail message!
These are a few examples of why resumes never make it to a hiring manager. Be prepared, use common sense, and follow directions and you increase your chances of the manager actually seeing your resume.
Find Your New Job Faster With A Perfect Professional Resume And Cover Letter.
Satisfaction Guaranteed. Call Or E-mail Now To Start. Discover How You Can Have Your Phone Ringing For Interviews In Just 48 Hours.
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Why Your Resume Won't Make The Grade
The number one reason why resumes don't make it to a hiring manager is because they haven't passed basic resume rules that managers tell their assistants to watch for.
Hiring managers are busy. They honestly don't have the time to go through the hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of resumes they'll receive for each job application. That's why a lot of the time they get their assistants to go through all the resumes they receive and weed out the ones that are below par.
For example, resumes that are too long won't make it to the hiring manager. It doesn't matter how qualified you are (or how qualified you think you are) for a position, no one is interested in reading a manual about your skills. On average, resumes that exceed two pages are usually set aside and never reach the hiring manager.
Sometimes resumes never even make it to the company you send it to. It's happened where people have surface mailed a resume, but didn't put enough postage on it. So then, of course, the resume won't make it to the hiring manager, let alone the company!
Sometimes resumes don't make it to the hiring manager because the applicant didn't follow the guidelines outlined in the job posting. If a company doesn't want faxed resumes, don't think they're going to overlook this rule to examine your stunning resume!
If the job posting says no phone calls, please don't call. Your name will be remembered once, and not in a good way. Your resume, once you send it in, won't even be considered because you've shown you can't follow simple instructions.
If a company accepts e-mail applications, but doesn't want attachments, don't you're your resume as an attachment. Who cares that your resume in Word or PDF format is laid out beautifully on lovely letterhead that can't be transferred to a simple text e-mail message!
These are a few examples of why resumes never make it to a hiring manager. Be prepared, use common sense, and follow directions and you increase your chances of the manager actually seeing your resume.
Find Your New Job Faster With A Perfect Professional Resume And Cover Letter.
Satisfaction Guaranteed. Call Or E-mail Now To Start. Discover How You Can Have Your Phone Ringing For Interviews In Just 48 Hours.
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