The Perfect Résumé
Pursuit of the
perfect résumé amounts to a fool’s
mission: In reality, it does not exist. Nonetheless, this does not
preclude jobseekers from achieving great results, if they can avoid common
pitfalls and navigate the interviewing process.
Résumés are like
a Rubik’s Cube: Incredibly simple in design, yet poses a challenge when
attempting to lineup the colors. No matter how scrambled a jobseeker’s
background, the critical elements boil down to five twists. Once combined, this
communicates the overall message.
Focus: This is where the process starts.
What is it you can and want to do? Sidestepping
or twisting around that issue in a
vague effort to “remain open” will not work. It comes down to many trying, but
few succeeding. Employers need to know the position you are seeking.
Relevance: Stated qualifications,
experience and education need to be in harmony with the résumé focus. When this
is out-of-sync, this too sends a message. Information deemed not relevant needs
to be tossed, along with excuses, explanations, and outdated job history.
Readability: Many jobseekers believe
employers are interested in minutia. Some are—most are not. Concise statements
of fact generate maximum interest. Long-winded paragraphs of gray text, small
type and excessive bullets are often ignored.
Believability: Every adverb and
superlative used in a résumé detracts from credibility. Making verbose claims
of success does not mean employers will swallow them like a seal gulping down
fish. They ask themselves, if this
candidate is so wonderful, why he/she on the job market?
The Message: When the forgoing elements
are combined—effectively or otherwise—what remains is the résumé message. Sometimes the message is
blatant: At other times, the message is subtle or a given. The following are
messages jobseekers inadvertently communicate.
1. A
lengthy résumé communicates the
message that the recipient’s time is of little value or of no importance. (Proceeding beyond two pages is deemed
lengthy for most positions.)
2. An
incoherent résumé signals the
recipient that the jobseeker lacks focus,
is perhaps careless, or just another lost soul gawking for work.
3. A
résumé cluttered with adverbs and
superlatives tells the recipient the jobseeker leans toward being full of
himself. (While you do not want to sell
yourself short, you need to avoid projecting the image of being a legend of your
own mind.)
4. A
résumé lacking relevant experience and/or
relevant education sends the message that the individual is probably unqualified.
5. A
résumé that contains too many tedious
details, rationales or explanations is a known precursor the jobseeker is
going to be a royal pain from neck-to-butt.
Traditionally, jobseekers
do not read their own résumés the way employers interpret their twists and
turns. Too often, they resort to explaining their situation, or providing
informational overload, hoping the recipient reader will appreciate their unique
circumstances. –They won’t!
It is not that
employers do not care. It is a matter of heavy workloads and not having time. In the corporate world, time is
the valued commodity, and therein lies the rub. Indication in your otherwise
perfect résumé that you are prone to wasting their time is just-cause for
rejection.
Perfect résumés,
however, come with a price tag: You best know how to interview!
Copyrighted © 2014 by Robert James