In today’s challenging job market, having a solid resume is an absolute must, and creating a strong resume means using the right words in the right way. Surveys from CareerBuilder and ZipRecruiter indicate that hiring managers respond strongly to the wording of a resume. In some cases, even syntax plays an important role. Capture the attention of the person reading your resume by choosing your words carefully right from the start.
A solid resume needs a career summary. This block of text replaces the objective statement that's standard for most resumes. More than a summary of your experience and qualifications, your career summary is your personal branding statement and the space on your resume where you highlight who you are, not just what you do. Liz Ryan, former Fortune 500 human resources executive and leader of the worldwide Human Workplace movement, says using a human voice is key to creating a solid resume for today's corporate world. That means freely using the word “I” and talking naturally about the qualities that make you unique. “Somewhere along the line, we started to treat resumes as quasi-legal documents, when, in fact, they’re branding materials, and awfully personal ones at that,” Ryan explains. “There are seven billion people on the planet. The last thing we want to do is to sound like everyone else.”
Using “I” statements in your career summary without sounding boastful takes some practice, but if you concentrate on your achievements, it becomes easier, according to Ryan. Focusing on the “why” behind your accomplishments is very important. Instead of saying “I led the team that saved the company $250,000 on a new B2B platform,” explain the problem you faced, describe how you solved it and highlight the results you achieved. Changing the previous statement to: “When the company needed a B2B platform in a hurry, my team tested the quality of a dozen applications, settling on a solution that saved the company $250,000 in implementation costs and brought us in under-budget and on time.” This tells your prospective employer that you are a results-oriented, fiscally responsible leader in one effective statement. According to Ryan, these personal dragon-slayer stories are the key to a great career summary and a solid resume that gets noticed every time.
A solid resume must also use action words. According to Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at the online job board CareerBuilder, "Hiring managers prefer strong action words that define specific experiences, skills and accomplishments” over jargon and clichés. According to a 2013 Harris Poll survey, hiring managers put these words at the top of their get-noticed list: “achieved;” “improved;” “trained/mentored;” “managed;” and “created.” Conversely, hackneyed terms, such as “best of breed;” “go-getter;” “think outside the box” and “go-to-person” got uniformly low marks. Words that convey team spirit, fiscal responsibility and a helpful attitude were also ranked highly. For example, “volunteered,” “revenue/profits” and “under-budget” were among the 15 top-ranked terms.
When you're writing your career summary, think carefully about the words you use. A solid resume creates a personal branding statement that highlights your unique accomplishments and traits. Focus on these three words: “I,” “why” and “action,” and your resume is sure to get noticed time and again.
Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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