How many emails go directly to your spam folder in addition to the ones you personally drag to that folder? Dozens upon dozens of emails go directly to the spam/junk mail folder of employers every day. In addition to these emails that only serve to bother while wasting valuable time, there is also the junk pile or the recycling bin for resumes that are just that, junk resumes. One look at those resumes and they are quickly clicked and dragged to the recycling bin. Along with that resume goes your conviction that you were in fact the best candidate for that position. All of your goals and wishes for each job posting are dragged to the recycling bin in less than 2 seconds.
“This is not a junk mail resume market. In a recent glassdoor survey, 36% of employers said resumes are too generic.” ~ Career News, 2014
Can you imagine the number of times you have sent your resume to employers only to be dragged to the recycling big and then deleted (or stored in their database for future positions you never hear about)? So much time is wasted on writing and revising your resume hundreds of times to no avail leading to the same old boring resume that fails to show the valuable asset you truly are. All of that wasted time is also money you could be earning in a new position you can be enjoying.
Below are three steps you can take to keep your resume out of the “recycling bin.”
How to maximize your job-search time and efforts.
Focus on targeting a few positions. You should personalize your resume for each position you pursue, because each job advertisement will have unique requirements. If you are spreading yourself too thin by chasing after many positions, you will find yourself spending too much valuable time personalizing your resume. Remember, employers want queens and kings, not jack of all trades. Narrow your job search and focus on a few similar positions and then expense all of your efforts discovering opportunities for your prefered jobs.
With a good marketing resume and this job search strategy, you should be on your way to more quality interviews and a job offer that will give you the return on the investment you made to secure your desired position.
The first activity I engage my clients in is brainstorming and research. This helps define and clarify their professional goals and transfer them to some sort of reality, rather than having them floating around in their minds without any structure. This exercise also ventures them to research and consider new information and goals. This truly is the basis for all of the career marketing documents I create for each and every one of my clients.
Problems VS. Qualifications
Does your resume only show your qualifications, as opposed to the problems you have solved?
If the bullets on your resume only contain one line, then you are not providing enough information about the problems you have solved. If the bullets include three or more lines, then you might be elaborating and focusing on more than one point. (This is appropriate for government resumes, but not for resumes targeting private companies.) This causes the reader to skim through the bullet to start the next. I like to develop two-line bullets.
The idea of a resume is to quickly convey the work achievements and problems you have solved. This should be executed strategically to have the employer call you for an interview. It is likely the employer will not have thoroughly read your resume from top to bottom until the day before or a few hours prior to the interview.
You, on the other hand, should be ready to maneuver the interview to your benefit. Because my clients have engaged in my thorough resume writing process, they know the stories they will elaborate upon during their interview. People remember stories and you need to ensure your interview is memorable. When you hold your resume next to the job ad, there should be an obvious match between the two, as if the two were meant to be together. The interview should result in an “aha” moment for the employer.
The Funnel Writing Process
I follow the funnel format when developing resumes by developing as much content as possible and then trimming it down to the most important and impressive points. This is one of the most challenging steps of the resume writing process. However, this content development and trimming process also helps my client learn how to elaborate on these points during interviews.
I know some of you are proud of almost everything you have done in your 25 year work history and want to include all of it on your resume, but this is not the best strategy. Employers simply care about what you have done during the past 10-15 years and that which is relevant to the position they need to fulfill. A good rule of thumb to follow is if you have 0-10 years of work experience, a one page resume will suffice. If you have between 11-20 years of work experience, a two page resume will be appropriate, and if you have 21+ years of work experience, then your resume should be between 2 and 3 pages long; 2.5 pages would be ideal, but 3 is okay for those with this depth of a career.
Within these valuable pages, you want to maximize the use of every word. This leads to removing the use of personal pronouns and articles to make the sentences as tight as possible without breaking the sentence flow. There is a lot of strategies that go into developing an interview-winning resume starting from the content and ending with the design, which is what makes the first impression. The same concept goes with physical appearances, such as grooming and being presentable for job interviews. First impressions really do matter and the resume is not the exception.
What goals can I help you achieve? Is it a promotion within your current company? Is your goal to secure a new position (private or government) at a new organization? Are you about to start an application package for graduate school which requires letters, essays, and a resume?
Contact me to see how I can market and position you to achieve your goals at OrganicResumeCreations@gmail.com.
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Yuleni Pulido: Professional Resume Writer
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OrganicResumeCreations@gmail.com
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Resume Writers & Career Coaches
