Posts Tagged ‘resume blunders’

The Importance of Including Quantified Accomplishments

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

With so many individuals competing for jobs these days, the only thing that will differentiate you from the rest of the equally-qualified crowd is what you achieved while on the job. But be warned – an accomplishment must be quantified in order to hold any weight with the hiring manager or recruiter.

Too many times I see resumes where the individual writes: “Reorganized an entire department per management instructions.” That’s not an accomplishment, that is a daily duty. An accomplishment would read like this: “Generated savings in excess of $25,000 annually by reorganizing the marketing department and employing temp workers, rather than full-time staff.”

The above speaks to what a hiring manager and/or recruiter wants to see – how you can make them money and how you can save them money.

To further strengthen your resume, make certain to put at least one, preferably two, quantified and relevant accomplishments in the opening summary. This is especially true if you use the word ‘proven’ to describe yourself. For example, you write:

Accounting professional with comprehensive experience and proven results in negotiations with the IRS.

Proven by whom? You? That’s not enough proof for a hiring manager or recruiter. They want more. It’s better to write:

Accounting professional with comprehensive experience and proven results in negotiations with the IRS as evidenced by the $.5 million in savings, resulting from the 2009 audit.

The above clearly states that you saved your company a half million dollars through your expertise. That speaks volumes to hiring managers and puts you well above the others competing for the same position.

10 Resume Blunders You Cannot Afford to Make

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

 In this stagnant economy, every line of your resume – from your name down to the last line – needs to promote and sell your candidacy. Each job has hundreds, perhaps thousands, of equally-qualified candidates. Many of these applicants have no idea of the blunders they’ve made on their resumes. The smart job seeker knows what to avoid which invites an interview.

Let’s go through our “don’t-let-this-happen-to-you” list:

1. Using a suffix after a family name. If you’re a Jr. or a Sr. leave it off. It makes you sound too young or too old. Have a family nickname? Keep it in the family. A resume should have your given name only.
2. Funky email addresses: HateMondays@email.com may sound cool to your friends. To an employer it’s unprofessional.
3. The What-I-Want Objective: A resume is not the time to give an employer your wish list. Use a summary of your skills, instead, to tell them what you can offer.
4. Generic Phrasing: Adept professional, seasoned manager, dynamic candidate. These phrases take up valuable space unless you support them with a quantified accomplishment.
5. Accomplishments That Aren’t: Without the results, they’re daily duties and lose their impact. Always include dollar figures, percentages, and time periods. For example: Grew sales 38% within six months, representing an increase of $100,000 in revenue, through targeted cold calling.
6. Buried Skills: The end of a resume is not the place for important certifications, licensure, or multilingual capabilities. Put them in the opening summary where they won’t be overlooked.
7. Listing Hobbies or Interests: If it’s not pertinent to your career goal, leave it off. White water rafting may make you a liability to the employer’s health care plan.
8. Haphazard Organization: List your most important skills first, followed by the next most important, and so on. Education doesn’t always go at the top or at the bottom of the resume. It and the other sections go where they will most impress.
9. Failure to Target: Consider an employer’s needs when writing your resume. A one-size-fits-all model will likely fail.
10. Use of first person and slang: Resumes are business documents written in the third person. Keep yours conservative and businesslike.

Ten easy reminders to get you started.