Is Your Resume Recruiter Friendly???

Experts say that we are in a recession. People are not spending because they have no confidence in the economy. And companies are trimming their workforce payroll so they are in a better position in 2009. The unemployment rate rose to 6.7%, while the economy shed 533,000 jobs last month. You are probably wondering where I am going with this? Simply this. If you are in the job market (meaning you have put yourself out there for interviews) you need to make sure your resume is marketing your skills and reads friendly in the eyes of the recruiter and hiring manager. I use to tell my clients that your resume is your advertisement and if it is written well it will get you in the door for an interview.

The sheer volume of resumes recruiters receive against a particular open position is huge. It's not practical to respond in receipt of every resume. Since a recruiter's time is at a premium, they must know your career focus within seconds of opening your resume. If your career focus isn't clearly stated, you can't assume the reader will take the time to search through your resume for clues. Most recruiters consider "Career Objective" statements worthless if they contain no real information about the specific position you are looking for and the industry expertise you offer. The best objective statements are concise, to the point (see my articleResume and Cover Letter Blundersand job specific. I've read objectives that are no where near the industry they are applying for (ex., applying for a job in the Financial Services industry and the objective says, "Seeking a position in the medical field"). Or expressing a desire to work for a competitor.

Once a recruiter understands your focus, he/she will want to know if you have the required core competencies or transferable skillsto accomplish the job. A thorough research of employer job descriptions will help you identify the core competencies your resume must feature. You cannot expect the recruiter to read between the lines. Make it clear so it jumps off of the page

Once your resume has made it through the initial screening for focus and skills, the recruiter will want to know how you stack up against other candidates. Remember, with record high resume response to job openings, recruiters need good, solid reasons to recommend you for consideration over the mountain of other candidates. Clear, concisely stated accomplishments are the best way to distinguish yourself from your competition.

If your resume lacks any of these crucial elements, then you are probably not capturing the attention you deserve, and you are missing out on important interview opportunities.

In today's extremely competitive job market, employers rely heavily on recruiters to screen out all but the top few applicants. With a recruiter-friendly resume you'll beat out your competition as the employer's first choice to interview.

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Resume and Cover Letter Blunders

~ RESUME ~

1. Too Focused on Job Duties. Your resume should not be a boring list of job duties and responsibilities. Go beyond showing what was required and demonstrate how you made a difference at each company, providing specific examples. Do not over embellish your resume
2. Flowery or General Objective Statement. Many job seekers lose their readers in the beginning. Replace the objective with a tagline stating what you do or your expertise.
3. Too Short or Too Long. As a general rule your resume should be one page, but that page should have substance. Make sure you’ve covered everything, but don’t be too verbose.
4. Listing Irrelevant Information. Many people include their interests, but they should include only those relating to the job. Personal information should not be on the resume.
5. Not Including Keywords. With so many companies using technology to store resumes, the only hope a job seeker has of being found is to sprinkle relevant keywords throughout the resume. Determine keywords by reading job descriptions that interest you, and include the words you see repeatedly in your resume.
6. Typos. Proofread. Use spellcheck or have someone else read your resume. This document is a reflection of you and should be perfect.

~ COVER LETTER ~

1. Not Using Standard Business-Letter Format. No recipient information, no return address and no date; unprofessional.

2. It's Not All About You. You need to tell the employer about yourself, but do so in the context of the employer's needs and the specified job requirements.
3. Typos and Grammatical Errors. Proofread every letter you send for typos and grammatical errors.
4. Unsupported Claims. If you make a claim about a skill and/or ability, give some examples; employers need proof.
5. Writing a Novel. A cover letter should be no longer than one page; 3-4 concise but convincing paragraphs that are easy to read.
6. Using the Same Cover Letter for Every Job and Company. It's time-consuming but worthwhile to customize each letter for the specific job and company. If you haven't addressed their company's specific concerns, they'll conclude you don't care about this particular job.
7. Not Sending a Real Cover Letter. Some job seekers -- college students, recent grads and even those with years of work experience -- don't bother sending a cover letter with their resume. Others type up a one or two-sentence "here's my resume" cover letter while others attach handwritten letters or sticky notes. Include a well-written, neatly formatted cover letter with every resume you send.

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Resume Formats and Overview

A well-written resume acts like a good advertisement and entices the Recruiter to learn more about you through personal contact. It should include your selling points that are relevant to the Recruiter’s interests and needs of their business.

1. Chronological Resume - In the chronological resume, job history is organized chronologically with the most recent job listed first. Job titles and employers are emphasized and duties and accomplishments are described in detail. A chronological resume is easy to read, and can highlight career growth. It is suited to those whose career goals are clearly defined and whose job objectives are aligned with their work history.

A chronological resume has it's advantages when:

• Your recent employers and/or job titles are impressive
• You are staying in the same career field
• Your job history shows progress
• You are working in a field where traditional job search methods are utilized (e.g., education, government)

A chronological resume is not advantageous when:

• You are changing career fields
• You have changed employers frequently
• You have been recently absent from the job market or have gaps in employment

2. Functional Resume - In a functional resume, skills and accomplishments developed through work, academic, and community experiences are highlighted. Your skills and potential can be stressed and lack of experience or possible gaps in work history de-emphasized. The functional resume is advantageous when:

• You want to emphasize skills not used in recent work experience
• You want to focus on skills and accomplishments
• You want to market skills and experience gained through coursework and/or volunteer experience
• You have a variety of unrelated work experiences

The functional resume is not advantageous when:

• You have little work experience or leadership experience
• You want to emphasize promotions and career growth
• You are working in highly traditional fields such as teaching, accounting, and politics, where employers should be highlighted

Be Strategic in Describing Unrelated Jobs - Employment

• Many students have part-time, seasonal or temporary work experience that is unrelated to future career goals.
• Don't pack your resume with irrelevant details. On the other hand, prospective employers value candidates who demonstrate dependability and a strong work ethic, even if the experience is in a different industry.
• Pull out the most important aspects of your work experience. Go into detail about projects you were involved in that show leadership, drive and determination. Extract the skills and achievements that are most relevant to employers' needs and leave out details that don't add value.

Think Like an Employer & Act Like a Job Seeker - Experience

• Study job ads or internship announcements that interest you.
• If an ad states that communication skills are important, think about times when your communication skills came into play. If you worked in any customer service-related position, you definitely used communication skills. You can emphasize these skills on your resume.
• Look at your experience through your own eyes. What work did you enjoy? While these skills and experiences may not be directly relevant to the positions you're targeting, they're good indicators of areas where you're likely to excel in the future.

List any relevant experience that establishes you have the background the employer is seeking.
The key word is "experience," not "employment." So consider your full-time paid experiences, of course, but also remember to consider your part-time and unpaid experiences of all types, as well.

• Experience listings are usually listed in reverse chronological order, which means that your most recent experience will be listed first. List the city/state of employment and the month/year of employment.
• You may choose to divide your experience listing into parts, such as "Related Experience" and "Additional Experience," or "Professional Experience" and "Student Employment."
• Put the information in order of interest to your targeted reader. Anything that establishes that you have the knowledge, skills, abilities, or personality traits that an employer is seeking should be featured before other experiences.
• You can place headings down the left margin to alert the resume reader to what is important about the experience listed to the right. Highlights such as "leadership" or "sales" help a reader to notice these aspects of an experience listing.
• Write the resume in the first person, but omit first-person pronouns such as "I“, “my”, “me”, or "we."
• Start your sentences with action verbs
• Verb tenses should be accurate. If you are reporting something that you continue to do, use the present tense; if you are discussing an accomplishment or task that has been completed, use the past tense.

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