—here’s three ways to make yours better than any social media profile
Just
a few short years ago, the focus of job search advice was creating a
tip-top resume that would open the door to opportunity.
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Even
with many new ways of searching for a job, a well-crafted resume can
still be effective for getting over the first hurdle of the hiring
process.
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There are three things to keep in mind when crafting a resume in today’s job market:
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1. Results, not objectives
The average reader spends 5-9 seconds skimming a resume.
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In
these fleeting seconds, they want to see that you have the exact
experience to solve the kinds of business problems they are hiring for.
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For this reason, you need to update the format of your resume.
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Old advice: Write your employment objective at the top of your resume
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Example:
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“Objective: Obtain a position that would allow me to demonstrate my excellent project management, team and technology skills.”
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New advice: Write a hard-hitting skill summary at the top of your resume
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Example:
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Summary: Experienced project and team leader with demonstrated results such as:
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- Installed a new labor scheduling system, yielding $5 million of annual benefit
- Coordinated a global team across 15 countries, reduced attrition rate from 20% to 5% over 12 months
When
you begin your resume with results, you answer the main question in the
hiring manager’s head: Can this person solve my problems on day one?
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2. Find the threads in your work story
Our
career paths are no longer linear. Due to increased layoffs, market
shifts and new opportunities created by technology, more and more people
experience a number of different work modes in the course of their
career.
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You
can’t expect the hiring manager to understand how ten years as a
marketing manager at IBM, followed by a two years as a stay-at-home dad,
followed by three years as a coffee entrepreneur make you the perfect
person to head up their business development team.
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You
need to narrate your own story, and show the threads that weave through
your different work activities. Then tie these threads to the critical
skills and experience required for the job.
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To
find these threads, look at all the work you have done over the course
of your life and see if you notice overarching themes. You might find
themes like “pursuit of excellence,” “revenue generation” or “customer
service.”
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Use
these themes when you summarize your experience in your cover letter,
as well as the description of each job on your resume.
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3. Internal referrals, not resume factories
You
are much more likely to get noticed if your resume comes through an
internal referral, instead of submitting it through a large, anonymous
job site.
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Using
your own network combined with research on LinkedIn, see if you have a
contact inside the company who would be willing to put in a good word
for you, and forward your resume to the hiring manager.
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Many companies have learned that the best job candidates come from valued employees.
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Resumes
are not dead, but they are now one small part of a networked, social
environment where information is readily available about you on Google.
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