I’ve received a quarter of a million résumés in my career. I’ve read 25,000 of them. (Give or take a wiggle.)
That many? Yes, so now, you can make a few assumptions about me: (a) I’ve held numerous hiring positions, (b) I’ve been a recruiter and/or staffer, (c) I have been or still am an executive coach and advisor to C-level officers on down to companies in, oh, 25 industries, (d) I have been or still am a career coach, (e) My career must be longer than 50 years, maybe even past 55, and (f) I must have gained some perspective and wisdom over the decades, if only just a little.
All six assumptions are correct – and that should explain things. So I’ve come to be referred to as an expert in many areas. But that term – expert – makes me nervous. At best, I might be a know-it-all.
The difference between an expert and a know-it-all
You see, an expert knows it all; a know-it-all thinks he’s an ex pert. Like I said…
Be that as it may, there are a few things I can tell you – and why it’s so interminably b-o-r-i-n-g.
First: What, actually, is a résumé?
Too many people think a résumé is a career history – and then go on to write a biography. That’s strike three on the first pitch. A résumé, plain and simple, is a communication device, and what it must communicate is what part in the reader’s future you will play.
Readability
No matter what your résumé says, it’s got to be readable: simple language, short sentences, and – in the words of legendary career advisor Juanita Turner – “Clear, Concise, and Compelling.” This is no place for eloquence. What’s your message?
Pointless, Endless, Hopeless
If that’s the case, there’s a lot of heat and little light. Bullet points with job descriptions (“Responsible for”) are killers; accomplishments rule. Lengthy bullet points – or, worse, paragraphs – bury what little message may be there. Anything that’s pointless, endless, or hopeless would do a lot more good if you just tossed it. Remember: readability.
You need a big opening number
For one, your résumé doesn’t come alive at the beginning. A powerful summary or profile announces to the reader what’s ahead, like a talk show host does with “Ladies and gentlemen, my next guest is…” It captures – and holds – the reader’s attention – and drives the reader down the page. This should tell you why – or at least one reason – you’re not getting the calls you were hoping for or counting on.
Are résumés still relevant?
In our age of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and online networking (LinkedIn), there’s a growing sentiment that asks, “Who needs résumés, anyway?” And that gets followed by silliness like this: “I just have to jam as many key words as possible so that the ATS selects me over the thousands of others.” (As if those others haven’t thought of that, too.) So aside from the fact that you’ve just produced a poorly-written piece, you’ve probably done it in a small, hard-to-read font – like Arial Narrow 10 point – to fit all those extra key words, of course.
Human eyeballs, finally
Sooner or later, though, your résumé has to get in front of a human – a thinking, feeling, judgmental human. Now what? Your boring résumé is now exposed for what it is: boring. And that, 99% of the time, is the end of the line.
Time and money spent at the beginning of the process pays off sooner or later, usually sooner.