| First, a little background by way of a brief case | | | | invitation to interview after you submit your resume. |
| study of how I improved how my candidates | | | | |
| resumes were written. | | | | 1. Number One - the job may already be filled. |
| The year was 2005 and I was recruiting for a top 15 | | | | 2. Number Two - you've sent your resume to a job |
| Fortune client who was very specific about the | | | | that you aren't qualified for. |
| resumes they accepted, and they had every right to | | | | 3. Number Three - the job is a great match, but your |
| be just that picky. | | | | resume didn't convince the reader - in other word |
| I'd won the opportunity to be among the very few | | | | you have a resume failure. |
| external recruiters who was allowed this privilege and | | | | How to Improve on Resume Failures |
| I received that opportunity because of my high | | | | The key, "secret sauce" became how to "get inside |
| standards of candidate referrals. | | | | the head" of the recruiters and hiring managers that |
| Yet, despite that reputation and all my years of | | | | were reviewing my candidate's resumes. In other |
| experience, I was experiencing a higher rate of | | | | words, what is going through the mind of the reader |
| candidate rejection at the resume review stage than | | | | when first reading the resume? |
| I was accustomed to. While the client was satisfied, I | | | | Using the information developed in the above step, I |
| wasn't... and I determined to improve. | | | | developed a 15 point resume strategy that I still use |
| How I Started Getting Three Times More Candidate | | | | very effectively today. Obviously there isn't enough |
| Resumes Accepted For Interviews | | | | space in this overview to provide all the details, but |
| The secret was the resume writing method that I | | | | here is a quick summary of three key things I did. |
| developed. My criteria were that the resume had to | | | | First, I eliminated the Objective Statement. I never, |
| be 100% honest and factual. I never, ever knowingly | | | | ever for any reason include that on a resume and |
| do anything to embellish my candidate's resume and | | | | you shouldn't either. |
| you shouldn't do that to your resume either. That's a | | | | Second, I primarily use a two page resume template |
| recipe for disaster! | | | | format that is simple, easy to read with plenty of |
| I'm not only an executive recruiter with over 40 | | | | white space. Occasionally, I'll use a three page |
| years of experience, I also certify recruiters in the | | | | format, but I have strict criteria for that. I also |
| Adler method of interviewing. That means I have | | | | conducted marketing tests and discovered that three |
| access to many, many internal corporate recruiting | | | | pages didn't hurt my acceptance rate, if I watched |
| departments. I used some of those contacts along | | | | when I used it. I did find out that anything over three |
| with my many years of experience to begin the | | | | pages substantially increased the rejection rate. I |
| development of my resume writing process. I | | | | highly recommend that you stick to a two page |
| conducted a survey among the top companies to | | | | resume; but never more than three pages. |
| see what they want in the resumes they review. | | | | Third, I changed the first thing that appears on my |
| Simultaneously with that process, I started to | | | | candidates resumes. After the name and contact |
| incorporate selective marketing principles from direct, | | | | information I include a Summary section that uses |
| consumer-based marketing. That meant I had to | | | | my Power Accomplishment format and I tie that |
| study some of the top ad writers work and see | | | | specifically to job requirements. There is more to it |
| what I could use in writing a resume that gets a | | | | than that, but that is arguably the most important |
| higher rate of acceptance. After all your resume is | | | | thing I changed. Think of it as the equivalent to a |
| your own personal marketing document. | | | | written elevator pitch. |
| The Resume Writing Method I Came Up With | | | | You can learn to write a better resume and most |
| When I put all that together, I came up with a better | | | | people don't need a professional resume writer. In |
| way to show my candidates how to write their own | | | | fact, many, many of the resumes I changed had |
| resumes in order to increase the odds of getting the | | | | been written by these writers. They may be good at |
| interview. | | | | the written word, but no one understands better |
| Let me emphasize, my purpose and strategy was to | | | | than an experienced working recruiter what really |
| share my resume strategies with my candidates so | | | | works best during the resume review because we |
| they could re-write their resume; not to write their | | | | are in a position to get the client direct feedback. |
| resumes for them. My role was to approve or | | | | My recommendation is to learn how to write your |
| disapprove of the resume and offer advice during | | | | own resume, but if feel you must use a professional |
| the re-write process. If my candidate was unwilling to | | | | resume writer, at least take the time to study what |
| re-write their resume, I refused to move them | | | | separates a great resume from a good resume and |
| forward in the process. | | | | provide the writer with the proper information to |
| Here's my point. Actually there are only three | | | | write a great resume. |
| fundamental reasons that you don't receive an | | | | |