By Cynthia Wright, Author, Sr Technical Recruiter
It is a competitive job market out here. Your resume needs to stand out, without being unprofessional or ostentatious.
Today, most resumes are e-mailed, so the days of résumés on hot pink paper scented with perfume are over. How do you make your resume stand out so that you’re the candidate of choice for the interview?
Try these suggestions that may help you differentiate your self from the pack:
Research Companies
Use the Internet to research the companies that are doing well. You can do this by reading the financial reports on the Internet, checking out company stock prices, and talking to people in your network. Find out what companies just got VC (Venture Capital) funding. Often, these companies will be hiring. Send these companies a resume explaining what your skills are that can benefit them. Tell them in your cover letter that you researched the company and can help them. Follow up with a phone call a week later.
Hint: When looking for a company contact, www.linkedin is a great way to find the names and titles of hiring managers and people who are in a position to make hiring decisions. Calling Human Resources is not the way to go.
Phones Are Not Obsolete
E-mail seems to be the preferred way to communicate these days. Try calling a hiring manager after an interview (after you send a thank you note) to find out where the company is in the process and where you stand as far as next steps, etc. In my experience, following up is not done, and by doing this, you will automatically stand out. Also, a person’s phone manner is one of the skills managers look at when making a hiring decision.
Match Your Resume to the Job That Is Posted
Regardless of economic conditions, it is not a “one size fits all” world out there.
When I tell people that writing a resume and cover letter to match the job is the way to get an interview, they look at me like I am nuts. Nobody does this, and it still puzzles me as to why. The process is a contrived one. If a job posting says that they are looking for someone with Account Payable and Accounts Receivable experience, these words MUST appear frequently on both you cover letter and your resume. Do not use one resume for every job. If it means have several resumes at your disposal, create several resumes. It could mean the difference between being unemployed and employed.
Easy to Read
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve read a resume with a small font. It seems like folks still think that a one-page resume is the way to go. A two-page or even a three-page resume is fine. How else can you fit all of your relevant experience on a resume if it’s one page? The format I really like when I am going through a stack of resumes is: Arial or Times New Roman 11 point font. Since we read left to right, I like to see the format look something like: Company name, City State with your title below it, and dates of employment on the right.
Use bullet points and leave white space so it’s easy on the eyes to read.
Successes
Write down several career achievements you are proud of. Choose one or two of these career success stories to go on the resume in very brief form, near the top of page one. These stories can grab a prospective employer’s attention right from the start, and will encourage the person to keep reading.
Buzz Words
Develop a list of keywords from other similar job postings that you can incorporate into your resume under a subheading entitled core competencies. As an employer, we search our databases using keyword or buzzword searches. Having industry or job specific key words on your resume increases your chances of your resume being selected for further review.
About Cynthia Wright
Cynthia Wright is an experienced Recruitment professional with 16 years of Recruitment experience in both corporate and agency environments. She is currently a Senior Corporate Recruiter with a large defense company. Cynthia has interviewed and hired hundreds of candidates in disciplines such as: Engineering, Finance, Marketing, Sales, and Information Technology.
For five years, Cynthia wrote a weekly column called The Wright Stuff for The Telegraph (Nashua, NH) and is a contributing career expert for The Employment Times in New England. She also wrote a syndicated column with Knight Ridder’s News2Use feature and continues to publish her columns nationally. Her book, 366 Tips for a Successful Job Search is available through Rosstrum Publishing www.rostumpublishing.com , www.amazon.com and other fine booksellers everywhere.
Cynthia can be reached at thewrightstuffnh@gmail.com.
