1. Overview
Consider that Human Resource Manager weed through anywhere from 30 - 300 resumes or CVs for a single job opening and that your resume gets only about 10 to 20 seconds to be accepted or to end up in the reject pile. This makes your resume your very own 15-second advertisement with the principal goal of securing a personal interview with the recruiter.
Resumes should ideally be a one to two page document depending entirely on each candidates level of experience, expertise and profession. Professional resumes are long on facts but short on words! Imagine a three or four page resume coming on the desk of a recruiter who needs to read hundreds of other resumes – it holds no attraction at all. Put yourself in the shoes of the recruiter and only include information that is really relevant to the job opportunity.
Your resume should provide potential employers with a brief description of who you are, what you've done, and why you are the right person for the job. It should formulate a clear picture of your career goals and competencies in an easy-to-read style. Simplicity is here the key in order to get attention and to capture interest of the potential employer. Make sure that your resume is well organized so that the reader can identify your strong points at a glance. An effective resume markets your skills rather than simply listing responsibilities, with the goal of securing an interview.
The general format we advise is as follows:
Job Objective (optional), Summary of Qualifications, Professional Experience with Accomplishments, Additional Headings (optional)
Put your accomplishments right up at the top of the resume so managers can easily find them. Always include a cover letter when mailing, faxing, or e-mailing a resume. You should keep in mind that your resume serves as a guide for you and the interviewer in an interview while deliberating your background and acts a reminder of your professional identity in the ensuing discussions.
Here are some quick tips to get you started:
- Get
someone who knows absolutely nothing about your prior experience to review your
resume to see if it makes sense to them. Most people fail to realize that they
use "industry-speak" that makes sense only to those with a similar
background. The simpler and clearer the resume, the better your chances are of
getting an interview. Read our article "When should I hire a Professional
Resume Writer?"
and decide if a professional resume writing service might be the correct choice
for you.
- Emphasize
teamwork, leadership, passion, and creativity. Many marketing firms believe
that if you worked on a team before and you were in previous leadership roles,
it is likely that you will continue to grow these attributes. Having a passion
for anything translates well in an environment where you must believe in your
brand. You may not have been in a "creative field," but if you can
prove that you are capable of "out-of-the-box" thinking, then your
chances at a marketing career are improved.
- Scatter
marketing terminology throughout your resume regardless of your background.
Words like "cross-functional teams," "customer needs,"
"strategic direction," "portfolio management," and
"communications platform" make you look like a marketer even if you
were a banker.
- Focus
on results. If you lead a cross-functional team through a budgetary process,
quantify your results. (For example, "I saved the firm $30,000.")
This shows that you can succeed when given a task, and that you are
action-oriented.
- Illustrate
your love for consumer behavior. Maybe you majored in psychology or cultural
anthropology at your undergrad university. Maybe you were a manufacturer, but
your favorite part of the job was understanding how to make things easier for
consumers to use. Maybe you were a banker, but really enjoyed understanding why
people invested the way they did. Whatever angle you take, make sure that
consumer understanding is clearly demonstrated in your resume.
- Spelling
and Punctuation. It really goes without saying that orthographic errors
are the faux pas of all faux pas when writing a resume! It does not matter that
you created the almost perfect resume if your text contains poor punctuation or
spelling mistakes. The reviewer will think that your are a careless person and
with a lack of education, neither of which are attributes that will endear you
as an appropriate candidate. Use in first place the spell-checking option of
your word processor and then get your document proofread by several
people.
Below
we present some helpful tips on writing effective resumes that will grab
attention and land you the required interview. If you want to improve your
chances of getting positive response to your resume, you might prefer to
use the service of Professional Resume Writers or using Professional Resume Software.