Posted under Resumes on July 27th, 2007
Ever wonder why you didn’t get an interview for that perfect job you applied for? You know you can do the job, you submitted your resume as specified, you just knew you’d get a phone call… but you heard nothing! Here’s what hiring managers say they’re looking for.
1. Relevant Experience - According to a CareerBuilder survey, 77% of managers say they want to see the match between your experience and the job posting. This sounds obvious, but a surprising number of people don’t take the time to customize their resume to “connect the dots” for the reader. A hiring manager recently complained to me that she had just finished reviewing resumes for a supervisory position she had posted, and more than half didn’t mention the word “supervisor” or “manager.”
2. Accomplishments - The content of your resume should be unique and specific to you. A common mistake people make is to paraphrase the job description and focus only on job responsibilities. The problem with that is that those statements then don’t distinguish you from anyone else with the same job title.
3. Accuracy - I know you know this. Everyone knows this. And yet, outrageous typos are still getting out there. Even with relevant experience and strong accomplishments on the resume, typos can be absolute deal-breakers. Two crossed my desk recently that fall into that category. One, applying for a job involving drawing blood, boasted “Tears of experience working with people.” The other was for a mental health assistant who probably meant to say she “assisted” mentally challenged adults but instead typed that she “assassinated” them. Would you hire those people?
Customize - and then scrutinize - your resume, and watch your success rate grow!
Submitted by Wendy Gelberg
Print This Post