How to Get
Employers to Read Your Résumé
The secret
to making a C.V. stand out in a crowd? Hook the reader early -- and
trumpet results.
By John Marcus, www.careerjournal.com,
September 20, 2002
"I don't understand
it. I must have responded to over 50 Internet postings in the last month,
and I haven't gotten a single interview."
"I've answered over
a dozen ads in major newspapers, and I haven't heard from one company."
I often hear these complaints from job
hunters who sometimes become so frustrated by a lack of responses that
they give up. Adding to their difficulty is the fact that the job market
is tougher than it's been in recent years, making interviews harder
to come by.
It likely comes as no surprise to anyone
laid off in the past year that the U.S. economy has been in a recession
since March 2001, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research
in Cambridge, Mass. The tight market puts employers and recruiters in
the driver's seat once again. Fewer jobs are available, and there's
a larger talent pool to choose from.
Companies that just two years ago had
to make offers on the spot to snare candidates now have the luxury of
time. They can postpone making hiring decisions until they find someone
who meets all their criteria. Except in the case of very high-profile
executives, employers won't have to lure candidates with hefty sign-on
bonuses and stock options, either.
Lengthen the First Look
How can you compete in this type of market? Your first objective is
to make sure your résumé gets read. One of the biggest
mistakes candidates make is assuming that just because they send a résumé
to a prospective employer or recruiter, it will be read.
No one will lean back in a swivel chair,
cross their legs and then slowly give your résumé undivided
attention. Instead, reviewers will pore through dozens -- possibly hundreds
-- of résumés piled in front of them, yours included.
Each résumé will be scanned quickly as the reader searches
for reasons to reject its owner or to schedule an interview -- usually
the former.
When your résumé moves to
the top, the scanner will give it a brief look -- perhaps for 10 to
15 seconds -- for anything that piques his or her interest. This is
your one chance to make an impression. Does your résumé
include a statement about your background that's so powerful that it
transforms your initial scan into a lengthy look?
A Résumé
Makeover
When Walt Disney Imagineering, an entertainment-construction company
in Glendale, Calif., completed building two new theme parks last year,
it announced that all future construction projects would be outsourced.
That left David Bill, a 45-year-old manufacturing manager from Oak Park,
Calif., without a job.
Mr. Bill began his job search right away.
For the next six months, he networked, answered Internet and newspaper
ads and contacted recruiters and prospective employers. He mailed more
than 350 résumés and had 10 interviews. None led to a
job offer.
Clearly, something was wrong. Mr. Bill
thought it might be his résumé, specifically the introductory
section. Here's what he initially included in this section:
Hands-on manufacturing, quality and supply
manager with over 15 years of diversified experience in aerospace, entertainment
and mining-equipment manufacturing supported by a Scottish engineering
apprenticeship, a B.S. in industrial technology and an M.B.A. in management
and organizational behavior. Excellent communication and analytical
skills and the ability to influence cross-functional teams through coaching
and mentoring. Internal and external leadership in formulating manufacturing
and quality strategy, policy and procedures. Experience in developing
world-class supplier relationships to achieve budget and schedule goals.
Demonstrated leadership in implementing strategic and tactical process
improvement initiatives that increased shareholder value. Key strengths
include:
- Project management
- Supply-chain management
- Estimating and budget development
- Contract negotiations
- Lean manufacturing
- TQM trainer/implementer
- International business development
- Employee development
Mr. Bill was correct. After reading this
introduction, few employers would likely want to meet with him. Like
most résumés, this gives readers a good idea of Mr. Bill's
past duties. However, it doesn't relate his successes to his work or
establish his value.
It doesn't say how he increased past employers'
output, decreased production costs or improved product quality. These
all are key responsibilities of a manufacturing manager.
Second, like most résumés,
the introduction contains many buzz words and phrases, such as "diversified
experience," "excellent communication and analytical skills,"
"coaching," "mentoring," "leadership"
and "strategic and tactical process improvement initiatives."
Still, readers don't know what contributions Mr. Bill made and how he
improved any company's manufacturing performance. They have no reason
to keep reading his résumé.
"Nothing turns off executive recruiters
more than an introductory section that has no substance," says
Dave Opton, chief executive officer of ExecuNet Inc., an Internet-based
center for career management (ExecuNet is an alliance partner of CareerJournal.com).
Judy Rosemarin, president of Sense-Able
Strategies Inc., a New York career management firm, agrees: "Never
begin a résumé with statements like, 'A dynamic, results-oriented
executive with a record of achievement at driving companies to the next
level of success; also a creative problem solver and team player who
thrives on challenge, excels under pressure, and continually exceeds
corporate goals.' This is fluff, and readers know it."
Mr. Opton speaks frequently with executive
recruiters about job openings. "They tell me that introductory
sections consisting of generalized statements about responsibilities,
accompanied by verbose descriptors regarding a job hunter's capability,
do nothing to interest them in reading a résumé,"
he says. "What they want to see are factual statements about successes,
not fluff."
To make his introduction more powerful,
Mr. Bill organized it around his accomplishments, as follows:
Manufacturing / Quality / Supply-Chain
Management
Lean Manufacturing · JIT ·
TQM · Aerospace · Entertainment · Mining Equipment
- Directed $60 million Walt Disney manufacturing
operation, reducing production costs 20% to 40%, inventory costs 15%
and vendor costs 50%, while improving quality 63% and on-time delivery
54%. Introduced JIT and lean processes into operation.
- Managed tooling design and production
for $50 million manufacturer of control systems -- implemented TQM
and improved quality and delivery 23%. Established engineering and
manufacturing-engineering departments for start-up business that grew
to $12 million in sales within two years.
- An innovative and energetic leader,
skilled communicator/team builder and adept negotiator. Proven ability
to analyze production operations and growth opportunities, then introduce
strategic and tactical solutions that improve competitive performance
and efficiencies while reducing costs. M.B.A.; B.S., Industrial Technology.
This introductory section clearly showcases
Mr. Bill's successes. He used a banner headline to convey his strengths,
and he presents his most important achievements. He concludes the section
with additional information rounding out his background.
The change produced immediate results.
After re-entering the job market in August, Mr. Bill sent 50 résumés.
Within 15 days, he had eight interviews, which led to two firm and two
pending offers. He started work Sept. 1 as director of supply chain
and logistics for a Santa Ana, Calif.-based producer of capital equipment
for computer-component manufacturing.
"Don't tell readers how good you
are, show them," says Ms. Rosemarin. "Give them facts and
figures -- results. The results you show will excite the reader. Then
they'll read on."
If your résumé starts with
a convincing statement about your capability and successes, then in
the brief moment your résumé is scanned, employers will
be more likely to pause and call you for an interview.
Beyond the Initial Scan
Interviewers who are impressed with your introduction will read your
entire résumé. For the strongest possible presentation,
follow these guidelines.
Limit your résumé to two
pages in length, and never use more than three pages. Summarize your
early employment experiences to reduce length if necessary.
- Prepare your résumé
in 10-point or 11-point Arial or Times Roman typeface. Avoid fancy
fonts.
- For each employment experience, briefly
state your responsibilities, followed by a description of your accomplishments.
Precede each with a bullet. Focus your accomplishments on important
contributions for past employers. Nothing is more impressive than
explaining how you increased revenues and profits, improved product
or service quality, increased operating efficiencies or reduced costs.
- When discussing achievements, use
numbers to show their extent. Also use the jargon of your field. For
example, marketers should talk about brand management, market segmentation
and competitive intelligence. If you're in sales, discuss your strengths
in consultative sales, solution sales, CRM, relationship building
and management and closing. Manufacturing pros should relate their
knowledge of process improvement, efficiency enhancement and cost
reduction, including the technologies they implemented, such as lean
manufacturing, Kaizen, Kanban, JIT, TQM and cellular manufacturing.
- Use a strong action verb, such as
planned, led, initiated, grew, drove, increased, improved or reduced,
to begin each accomplishment statement.
Taking these steps can help you to write
a powerful résumé and improve your chances of landing
interviews and the job you want.
