People who review resumes hate “fluff”, those self-assessment terms that do nothing
but fill space in a resume. A resume is an
advertisement intended to attract the reader and make that person want to grab
the telephone and call you. Fluff detracts from your purpose of creating
the resume. To eliminate fluff, sell the results of your work:
Replace Self-Assessing Adjectives
Replace terms that describe character with specific content to demonstrate how
you accomplished or achieved something. Rather than saying “Successful track
record doing …” describe what you accomplished, the results of your work. Example:
Demonstrate you are “results-oriented” by indicating on your resume a result
and how you achieved it; “Achieved a 98% customer satisfaction rating with over
XXX thousand customer responses.” If you don’t actually have numbers, you can
approximate percentages: “Introduced new procedures that slashed cycle times
approximately 20%.”
Use Numbers and Symbols
Hiring managers are charged with achieving results usually measured in numbers.
Numbers and symbols quickly jump out at them, so show them you are
“results-oriented rather than saying so; use numbers whenever you can. Percentages
are often best as they show the impact of your efforts, but can be improved by
showing the magnitude of the change; if I increased something from 1 to 2, I
have changed it by 100%, but if I increase it from 100 to 101, I have only
changed it by 1%. Note the difference.
Although numbers are best,
qualitative statements like “consistently recognized for delivering quality
results at less cost than budgeted” showcase your effectiveness even when you
don’t have the actual numbers.
Don’t List Responsibilities of Your Previous Jobs –
Demonstrate Outcomes
What your responsibilities were is important but often they don’t take more than a
few words to say. And sometimes your title explains it all. For instance if you
were a Sales Manager and a company is looking for a Sales Manager, they
certainly know what a Sales Manager does, so you need not explain it. If it is
not obvious what your responsibilities were, try to restrict your explanation
to one brief sentence. An employer is more interested in how well you performed
in the job. From that they can infer what you might be able to do for them.
Only Detail Specialized Technical Skills
Today’s employers expect candidates to know basic computing skills and
programs, so usually listing them is not necessary. However, when you do list
any technical skill, tell an employer how well you know the specific program by
detailing what you may have created or did with it; use the term in context. Simply listing a specific
program will not help an employer understand how well you know it or what your
capabilities are.
If you fill your resume with
the results of your work instead of fluff you should see a dramatic
improvement in your job search results.
For help with this and other job search topics, email me at kl@hoochresumes.com