The right resume format will convince prospective employers that you can do the job, make you stand out, and get the phone ringing with interview offers. But you gotta know how to do it right.
I see recent professionals, highly accomplished executives and recent college graduates making the same three avoidable mistakes. Let’s take a closer look at these mistakes and what you can do instead. If you see yourself in any of the 3 avoidable deadly mistakes, don’t panic. Be glad you discovered the mistake and then change your resume format!
Mistake 1 – Beginning with Boilerplate Buzzwords – This applies to every job seeker at every level. When you start your resume, avoid overused phrases like “team player”, “organized”, “reliable”, and “hard-working”. Everyone uses these bland words that don’t grab attention or make your resume stand out above the rest.
Most employers look at your resume for 10 seconds or less before they decide if they are going to read more of your resume or go on to the next one. Start your resume with a positioning statement that convinces them you can do the job by citing your best skills, qualifications and accomplishments. A powerful positioning statement will dramatically influence the way a reader sees you and the rest of the information you include on your resume.
How much interest would you have in learning more if a person you just met for the first time started a conversation with something bland and boring? Exactly.
Mistake 2 – Focusing Exclusively on Credentials – I see so many interesting people with resumes that read like scientific papers. While you do want to demonstrate that you’re a serious candidate, you also want to let your personality show. With so many qualified people vying for the same position, a resume with personaity is more readable, standouts and goes a long way to making a prospective employer like you.
Mistake 3 – Making Your Resume a Historical Document – Most resume formats focus on the positions a person has had and what resonsibilities they had in each position. These resumes read just like job descriptions. Worse, this resume format forces the reader to figure out if you could do their job.
Instead, your resume should be a future-oriented and strategic document that highlights your skills, competencies and accomplishments that you want the reader to focus on. Be sure this information shows up on the first page of your resume. Break up hard to read lines of text with short bullets. Emphasize key points by using caps, spacing, underlining, boldfacing and smart positioning.
The right resume format will go a long way to convincing prospective employers that they need to interview you.
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You’ll see four resume formats used successfully by job seekers to get more interviews by drawing fast attention to their highlighted skills, competencies and accomplishments.
