There is no quicker way to get your resume ignored than to create a document with (narrow or nonexistent) margins, and block after block of uninterrupted text. No one wants to read a text-heavy document with sentences that run on for four or five lines. In today’s fast-paced world, you must get your point across quickly, with a minimum of words presented as bulleted sentences within special sections (i.e. Professional Experience, Education, Qualifications Summary), separated by well-placed white space.

Think of white spaces as necessary pauses -- a chance for the hiring manager or admissions director to catch her breath, collect her thoughts, and digest (and appreciate) the data you’ve presented.

Prioritization of Data

Imagine you’re a hiring manager.  It’s 7:30 on a Monday morning, and an important position needs to be filled in your company’s legal department. Over the weekend, 200 resumes came in from eager applicants all wanting to fill this one job.  Most of the resumes are attractively formatted and use the appropriate font type.  So far so good.  But on closer inspection, most of the candidates have relegated their willingness to relocate for the position -- a core qualification -- to the very end of their two-page resumes.  More than a few have buried accomplishments within the text, figuring this will force the hiring manager to search for that data, which means the entire resume will have to be read.  Some have placed bar admission, another important qualification, dead last on the resume, believing that where they can practice law certainly isn’t as important as the fact that they are attorneys.  And a few misguided souls simply list company names and dates of employment, assuming that the hiring manager should know without asking what legal duties they performed at these firms.

It’s enough to drive a hiring manager to distraction -- or another career.

But then, at last, there are those few resumes that list the important data at the top of the first page. In less than five seconds the hiring manager knows that the first candidate is willing to relocate and assume the cost of those expenses, if required.  This candidate also provides a special section beneath the Qualifications Summary that indicates where she is licensed to practice law.  The second candidate does the same, while also pulling out Career Accomplishments and placing them at the top of the first page.  After all, why keep a 100% win rate at trial a secret, or the fact that one can practice before the state’s Supreme Court?

Given the above scenario, it’s clear which applicants will be called in for an interview.  No hiring manager will read every single resume that comes across his desk.  Nor will a hiring manager search for data.  In today’s tight job market it’s up to the candidate to prioritize data so that a hiring manager knows at a glance what the job seeker has to offer the company in terms of achievement, work experience, education, licensing, certifications, and special concessions, such as relocation.

STEP THREE:  Qualification Summary & Skill Set

Picture yourself at the market after a long day at the office. You’re in a rush, of course, and want only to purchase those items on your list, if they’re on sale.  Hurrying into the store, you glance around for the weekly advertising piece that indicates which items will be offered at a discount.  Trouble is, there’s no advertising piece this week, and no one to answer your questions.  If you want to purchase the items you most need at a discount, you’re forced to walk up and down each and every aisle until you find what’s available.

Doesn’t sound like much fun or an effective use of time, does it?  And yet this is the same type of frustration hiring managers are exposed to every time an applicant sends in a resume that fails to open with a well-written Qualifications Summary and/or Skill Set.

What is a Qualifications Summary?

It’s a brief paragraph that showcases your most effective skills and experience as they pertain to your job search. More importantly, it’s your chance to convince a hiring manager of the skills you can bring to the position.  This is essential, given that hiring managers generally afford no more than 10 seconds to an applicant’s resume, unless they’re compelled to read further. 

So, how do you compel them to keep reading?

Let’s use this example: You’re an accountant who has worked at XYZ Company for nine years and been promoted every time you’ve come up for review.  Because of your organizational efforts, the company is saving $2500 monthly.  You’ve passed the CPA exam.  You’re skilled in Profit & Loss (P&L), audits, taxation matters, and internal controls.  Now, you want a Controller position.

Rather than including all of the aforementioned data in the body of the resume, where the hiring manager would be forced to look for it, but won’t (remember, you’ll be given 10 seconds before the hiring manager moves on), the wise candidate would write something like this:

Results-oriented, detailed professional with comprehensive accounting experience. Background includes consistent promotions to positions of increased responsibility. Skilled in P&L, audits, taxation, internal controls, and streamlining procedures, effecting a monthly savings of $2500 at XYZ Company. Recently passed the CPA exam; currently seeking a Controller position.

In five lines and a mere 45 words, you’ve given specific examples of what you can do (P&L, audits, taxation, internal controls), quantified an accomplishment (streamlining procedures, effecting a monthly savings of $2500 at XYZ Company), indicated past performance (consistent promotions to positions of increased responsibility), provided data on certification (recently passed the CPA exam), and provided your career path (currently seeking a Controller position).  And you’ve done all of that in a well-written paragraph that’s interesting and easy to read. (Note that personal pronouns are not used here.  In business writing, which includes resumes, personal pronouns such as I, me, or my are never used).

Three examples of outstanding Opening Summaries:

IT Professional, Webmaster

Government Consultant

Foreman

Fine, you say, but what about an Objective?  Where does that go?

In the modern resume, an objective statement is no longer used. The reason for this follows.

Qualifications Summary vs. the Objective

In the outmoded Objective, the candidate told the hiring manager what he wanted, whether that was a job at the company, room for advancement, a chance to use a new college degree, or any other reason an applicant could think of and the hiring manager could dismiss as self-serving.  On the other hand, the Qualifications Summary proactively declares what the candidate can do for the targeted company, which places the hiring manager’s needs first.   A wise applicant always uses a Qualifications Summary, either by itself or combined with a Skill Set.

What is a Skill Set?

Generally speaking, it's a list of your core competencies as they relate to your targeted career goal.  Again, let’s take the example of the accountant who has just passed the CPA exam and now wants to be a controller. Rather than presenting all of that data in the qualifications summary, a portion of it would be showcased as a tag line (professional title or title of job you’re targeting) and skill set, and might look something like this (followed by a reworked qualifications summary paragraph):

Results-oriented, detailed professional with comprehensive accounting experience. Background includes consistent promotions to positions of increased responsibility for notable achievements, including $2500 in monthly savings at XYZ Company by streamlining procedures.

This time, the first two lines, which contain just 15 words, present core strengths quickly and effortlessly.

STEP FOUR:  Accomplishments and Special Skills

Accomplishments

There is no data on your resume more important than your accomplishments.  Why?

Think of it this way: you’re a hiring manager with one position to fill and 10 qualified candidates clamoring for the position.  Each candidate has the same basic educational and professional background.  So, who gets the job?

The candidate who contributed the most at past positions.  Accomplishments are all that separate you from other equally qualified candidates, with one caveat. Your accomplishments must be quantified.

What is an Accomplishment?

1. Increasing the company’s bottom line (i.e. facilitating its growth)

2. Streamlining procedures

3. Promotions

4. Special projects successfully completed

5. Decreasing costs

6. Company- or industry-sponsored awards

7. Certifications and licensure

What is not an Accomplishment?

1. Daily responsibilities that are included in your job description

2. Regular attendance at work

3. Getting along with co-workers

4. Working full-time while going to college at night

5. Volunteer or community service unless it has a direct bearing on your job search

In other words, an accomplishment is service that goes beyond your usual job description.  But for an accomplishment to have the most effect, it must be quantified.

What is a Quantified Accomplishment?

One that includes dollar figures, percentages, and time periods.

For example: Our accountant has streamlined procedures, realizing a $2500 monthly savings for his company.  The dollar figure quantifies the accomplishment, while the “streamlined procedures” explains how he did it.  Now, if he achieved those savings within three months of hire, that would further strengthen his accomplishments, and it might be written thusly:

• Achieved a $2500 monthly savings for XYZ Company within three months of hire by streamlining procedures.

Imagine the hiring manager’s reaction to the above as opposed to this entry:

• Streamlined procedures for XYZ Company.

Doesn’t say much, does it?

Special Skills

Special Skills should always be presented up-front so that a hiring manager knows what you can do.  In some instances, a special section (i.e. Computer Skills, Languages, Office Procedures, etc.) should be created to showcase these special skills.

Special skills will include:

1. Computer proficiencies

2. Office procedures (i.e. answering multi-lined phone systems, taking dictation (include speed), transcription, typing (include speed), 10-key, etc.)
3. Linguistic capabilities (i.e. fluency in a foreign language, ability to translate, etc.)
4. Any skill that’s industry-specific for the job you’re seeking

Here are a few examples of resumes with outstanding accomplishments and skills showcased effectively for hiring managers:

IT Professionals – Project Manager

Chief Marketing Officer

Executives – Supply Chain Director

STEP FIVE:  Professional Experience

In the Professional Experience section you will list your employers, job titles, and dates of employment in a reverse-chronological order; that is, your most recent job comes first, followed by your next most recent job, and so on.  This format is standard and is expected by all hiring managers and admissions directors.

With regard to employment dates:

Generally speaking, hiring managers prefer years of employment, rather than months and years (i.e. 1999 - 2003 as opposed to May 1999 - April 2003).  However, some college admissions programs want specifics when it comes to dates, so it’s best to use precise dates when applying to graduate school.

In the Professional Experience section you will also include daily tasks and responsibilities beneath the appropriate employer listing.  If you’ve included a Career Accomplishments section in your resume, you should not repeat that data here.  Once data is presented in a resume, it must not be repeated.

To ensure that your daily tasks are presented in an interesting and easy-to-read manner, you should do the following:

1. Use a bulleted format.  This breaks up large blocks of text that could prove daunting to a hiring manager.

2. Delete unnecessary articles and adjectives.  Your sentences should be short and snappy.

3. Begin each sentence with an action verb. This quickens the pace of your writing and makes the text more enjoyable to read.