3 Reasons Why Your Resume Is Missing A Competitive Advantage

If you find you’re sending out resume after resume and your phone still isn’t ringing it’s missing a competitive advantage. What your resume needs is to clearly show the hiring manager who you are, why you’re the best at what you do and how you’re going to meet their needs. You have to peak the hiring manager’s interest enough to get the call and below are a few reasons why your resume isn’t quite making the cut. NO FOCUS, CLEAR DIRECTION, OR JOB TARGET When a hiring manager views the first third of your resume they have no idea what you do. If they have to read down to the end of the first page to figure out what you do or where to put you they won’t invest the time. Spell it out up front through a personal branding statement and powerful career summary. IT USES DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES VS. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS Don’t just tell the hiring manager what you did while you were there. They can look up a job description any day. Show them through accomplishments and contributions that are quantifiable. Use clear statements that paint a picture for exactly what you accomplished and how you accomplished it. Professionals call it C.A.R. statements which stands for challenge, action, results. Clarify the challenge you faced, the actions you took to address that challenge and the results you achieved from the actions you took. PRESENTATION IS YOUR FIRST IMPRESSION Truth be told we all want to make a good first impression and in a job search it’s critical to do so. You have five to seven seconds to make a great first impression and your presentation is the FIRST thing the hiring manager will see. So it needs to be reader-friendly, balanced, and information needs to be easy to find. If a hiring manager has to go searching for the information they needs, chances are – they won’t. Give them the critical information up front. Take a moment to review your resume and make sure it addresses the three key points above. This is not an all inclusive list but is a great start on your way to an effective and successful resume.