Remember the days of black and white TV? What about when couples read the newspaper over their morning coffee rather than flipping the virtual pages of the WSJ app on their iPads? Those days have passed, at least for most of us (my mom still watches black and white TV) and so has the resume format of yesterday.
Bye, bye objective; Hello results
Toss out that passé Objective section of yesterday and replace it with a well-branded, focused statement that gives the reader a clear message about who you are in less than 5 words. Here are a few examples: Consumer Marketing Executive Leadership Summary or Financial Executive Leadership Summary or Technical Writer Professional Summary.
Why it works
Why does this simple change have such significant impact? 9 out of 10 resumes end up in the trash because 85% of hiring managers read only the top ½ of page one of your resume. Placing a concise, branded statement at the top of your resume tells the prospective employer what your specialty is, and lands you on the hiring manager’s desk.
2 Bonus Tips: The top ½ of page one
With 85% of hiring managers focusing their attention here, and 38% of them spend less than 60 seconds reading your entire resume (Career Builder 2010 survey), job seekers are wise to go further than just the first branded statement. High impact, market-focused resumes of today include a brief, one paragraph personalized summary with results, facts, figures and accomplishments.
Following the summary, call out key accomplishments that are results-focused and tie them to skills. Example: Global Sales Leader, Successfully led a 25-person team of Sales Directors across Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa to 120% quota attainment annually for 4 consecutive years; contributed $300MM in bottom-line revenue.
If this seems like a lot of revision to a resume you’re writing on your own, it is and professional resume writers and career coaches realize that (hint: I know because I have reviewed, revised and written nearly 6,000 resumes). If you’re considering a professional resume writer I recommend asking for at least 2 sample resumes to guarantee you know what your final resume, cover letter, etc will look like.
