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It’s a common myth that your resume is about you. It’s not. In this episode, I discuss:
- What your resume is really about
- The changes you need to make now to get noticed
Your resume is not about you. Think about it as a marketing document for your brand of you.
Mentioned on the show:
Grab a Strengths & Strategy Session HERE.
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Check out my Recent Article on FastCompany.com: 4 Ways to Fight Ageism in Your Job Search
Check out ExecuNet for your resume writing support
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Visit JillGriffinCoaching.com for more details on my private and group coaching programs.
| Read the Transcript |
| Hey friends, How are ya’ll doing? This week’s episode is short, sweet, and very direct. As if I am not always direct. It’s about your resume. When I worked for a global holding company, I think I saw a few hundred resumes a year. And now as a career strategist, I also see a few hundred resumes a year. Today I want to share 8 tips that you can implement right now to improve your resume and networking. Your resume is not about you. Think about it as a marketing document for your brand of you. You have seconds to get past the screener –the gatekeeper–- the internal or external recruiter – you want to make sure that you are a low-risk candidate. The last thing the screener needs is for the hiring manager or interviewer to say, why did you send me this person? 1. Please remove your street address from your resume 2. Your resume is supposed to show the employer that you are the person ready for the challenge. Too many resumes are focused on a list of your previous roles. Sure those need to be on the resume, but the key is to have a few bullet points on your results and accomplishments. Think of the list of bullets as the key themes for the rest of the resume. At the senior level, it’s not a credentials game, it’s about how you differentiate yourself and be remembered. This is about your branding 3. You also want to think about the list of key strengths and skills that will be attractive to the skimmer – oh, I mean the screener –We read left to right but 25% slower on screen so the skimmer is going to find the bullets that are relevant. If you’ve seen a job description make sure you’ve aligned these bullets to the JD. 4. Then you can list the various roles and companies that you’ve had. This is more of the standard resume just make sure that you are not simply providing a list – this should be more about where you are leading not just DOING. I want words like developed, generated, drove, achieved, secured, led – all action words. Not managed. Show the challenges you faced and the value you brought to the role. I want numbers, percentages, and impact – like 10X 5. A networking resume. So many of the opportunities at there are on the underground job boards or the completely unlisted. The purpose here is that we don’t want someone to have to figure out how to connect you to another. We don’t do invisible labor and we certainly don’t want to have someone have to figure out how to describe us to their network. I go into more detail in the article I wrote for fast company I’ll put the details in the show notes but at a high level, it’s about the desired position, possible positions, a summary of your background, strengths and skills, high light achievements. 6. Consider hiring a resume writer who focuses on helping you extract and tell your story. You need someone who can help you with your elevator pitch and find the way to really convey your point of difference. I have found the execunet is one of the best services out there for this – I will put that link in the show notes. 7. Lastly, after you’ve done all of this make sure you update your LinkedIn. Often I get a resume and the LinkedIn profile is different. 95 job applications are submitted on LinkedIn every second. 6 people are hired from LinkedIn every minute. 8. There was an 88% year-over-year increase in confirmed hires on LinkedIn last quarter. I have created a top 10 tips to help you stand out on LinkedIn. I will put that link in the show notes. Ok, my friends, I appreciate you so much. Have a great week. |