How NOT to Differentiate Yourself From Everyone Else
As candidates become more and more desperate in their job search they often turn to desperate measures that more often than not hurt the candidate. One example of this is with the resume.
Lately we have been noticing an increase in resumes that contain some sort of gimmick or strange presentation to get noticed. This is not necessary. If your resume is focused, well presented, and easy to read, it will get noticed – at least by us.
If your resume has a lot of highlighting, gimmicks, smells like perfume, or is on bright colored paper, all that is saying to the reader is, “I’m desperate.” Companies today don’t want to hire desperate people. They still want to hire the best and the brightest.
The best ways to get your resume noticed and read is:
- Have a good cover letter. Download a free sample from our Web site. CLICK HERE.
- Have an easy to read resume. Use bullet points instead of long paragraphs, make sure it is not over crowded, has white space, 12 point fonts, two pages, and does not have a lot of abbreviations, functional or industry jargon.
- Make sure vital information used for screening stands out such as,company description and industry, title, dates, organization, number of people managed, scope of responsibility, etc.
- Pleasing to the eye.
- Well organized and laid out.
- Highly recommend chronicle not functional.
- It should be as targeted to the position as possible and that bullet points address what the hiring manager is looking for. NOT a generic one size fits all.
There are probably more and feel free to comment and add your ideas. Just don’t try and stand out by using desperate gimmicks and tricks.
Join our Linkedin Job Search Networking Group along with the other 3000 members. The group contains extensive articles and discussions on conducting a job search. CLICK HERE to join it FREE.
Please download our free sample cover letter to make sure your background aligns with the job needs and stands out. CLICK HERE to get your copy.
I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Brad Remillard
Tags: Career Mistakes, Cover Letter Example, Cover Letter Sample, Cover Letter Tips, Resume, Resume Keyword Search, Resume Mistakes, Resume Techniques, Resume Writing
Resume, Uncategorized | bradremillard October 26, 2009
About the Author
Brad Remillard is a founding Partner of IMPACT Hiring Solutions, co-author of "You're NOT the Person I Hired", and "This is NOT the Position I Accepted". Brad is an award-winning international speaker, retained executive recruiter, and expert on hiring and retaining top talent, and executive job search.
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By brian piercy, November 1, 2009 @ 5:26 pm
Guys,
What’s your position regarding online resumes, ie a (usually static) web page that resembles a traditional .doc file?
BRs,
Brian Piercy
By bradremillard, November 2, 2009 @ 10:55 am
On-line resumes are not a substitute for resumes. If you want to do these as a webpage I believe it should be integrated into a complete website which includes white papers, blogs and a resume.