Create the Perfect Résumé

Find the secret to getting called for that Interview!

Before you can ace that interview, you have to get an interview!

That usually means a résumé.  What does yours look like? 

Need a little help with it?  Okay, a lot of help?

You've come to the right place.

If you are like me, you had high hopes as you sent out that résumé.  You eagerly waited for the calls....  And nothing happened.  You wondered what was wrong.  At first, you chalked it up to bad luck.  Then to a bad economy.  Then to HR software filtering out your résumé.

But maybe it's something else.

Let's take another look at your résumé. 

• Does it have a good use of white space?  (If you don't know what that means, keep reading... help is available.) 
• Does it use bullet points (like this list)? 
• Does it use action words? 
• Have you included relevant experience and highlighted keywords? 
• Did you keep it the sentences short—maybe just use phrases?
• Did you tailor it to the specific job you are applying for or did you just make a "one size fits most" résumé and blast it to everyone?

 Remember that your résumé and your cover letter is the only thing that hiring managers have to judge you by...until they talk to you.  (And a lot of the time, they will never see your cover letter. It will get stripped out by HR.)  So you have to make sure that the résumé is your best reflection.

Honesty the best policy?

Oh, and let me say something here about honesty.  I believe that you should be honest in your résumé.  As a hiring manager, I have seen résumés that were so, um..., enhanced, that whatever grain of truth the claim was based on (I am being charitable here) was invisible. 

If the item is important to a hiring manager, you will be asked to verify it... and then you will be in trouble.  If it isn't important to a hiring manager, he won't give it any weight in his consideration... and you have wasted your time and traded your integrity for nothing.  (By the way, many companies have a policy of firing someone who lied on their résumé or on their application, even if they find out years later.)  So always only include things on your résumé that are true.

That said, you want to do everything you can to present the truth in a favorable light.  No one gets job points for being stupidly honest and talking about their failures. 

• Emphasize your successes. 
• Verbally highlight the things you do well. 
• Review the job listing you are applying for and make sure that you are qualified for it (at least marginally) and then tailor the résumé to cover the specific requirements in it.  They have told you what they want, so give it to them (but honestly).

Marketing Yourself

You must think like a marketer for this.  Whether you like it or not, you are marketing yourself. (Surprisingly, I have seen marketers and PR people fail in their job searches because they forgot to approach it with their training.  They forgot that they are marketing themselves.) 

Maybe you don't like the idea of marketing because you have negative associations with with word.  Marketing doesn't have to mean "sleazy salesman."  It can mean "helping someone become aware of and recognize just the right product or solution for them."  And that is what you are trying to do:  help a hiring manager become aware of how you can be the right solution for him/her.

Feeling overwhelmed?

Perhaps you are feeling overwhelmed right now with all this information.  Maybe you feel like you can't do it all yourself.  If so, I have some good news!  There is help.  There is a software product that was designed by a marketer just for the sole purpose of helping people write résumés that get favorable attention.  It is easy to use and can produce a tailored résumé in as little as 10 minutes!  And it costs less than you would pay someone to help you write just one résumé. 

Click here for the Amazing Résumé Creator

 Go ahead and click.  A new window will open up and I'll wait for you here.