Most Executives and Senior Professionals find preparing their resume a challenge. As a result the resume is put together quickly and reluctantly, and reads like a chronological list of their education and work experience. At its basic level this is what the resume needs to be, however if actually want your resume to stand out and engage the reader, more energy needs to go into how you write about and sell your skills and experiences. It is difficult for most of us to sell ourselves effectively in a couple of pages of text, yet essential for job search success.
Quantify and Qualify Your Skills!
A sentence that says you have ‘exceptional interpersonal and communication skills’ is largely a waste of text! It tells the reader nothing, yet many resumes have a listing of skills or competencies with no supporting evidence to demonstrate them. You know why you are skilled in certain areas however unless you can communicate them to the reader in a powerful way, they are empty words.
Including specific examples, where you can demonstrate these skills or competencies in a past or current job is crucial as they create a picture in the readers mind and offer credibility to what you are saying. Without it, the words are pointless. If you cannot quantify or qualify everything in your resume (aside from your personal details) then the information is taking up valuable real estate that you could be using to really sell yourself to the reader and secure that next brilliant role.
Always avoid including lists and sentences that don’t describe in detail with a relevant example your skills or competencies. Rather than, ‘I have excellent client relationship skills demonstrated through 10 years in Sales‘, the example below tells the reader you deliver client satisfaction which is more important than how many years you have been using these skills. Being specific and outcome orientated wins hands down.
Example: Client Relationship Skills: In over 100 client assignments I have never received negative feedback from a client. I have used each new project as an opportunity to develop my client relationship skills to ensure their continued satisfaction.
Below is a listing of words to assist in selling your skills more effectively in your Resume and in the interview. These relate to everything from data to people and systems. Using powerful action orientated words create a positive impression.
Accomplished Administered Analyzed Built Completed Composed Conducted Controlled Coordinated Created Decreased Delivered Demonstrated Designed Developed Directed Eliminated Established Evaluated Expanded Founded Generated Guided Implemented Improved Increased Initiated Instructed Invented Launched Led Maintained Managed Modified Motivated Negotiated Organized Originated Participated In Performed Planned Produced Proved Provided Recommended Reduced Re-organized Researched Revised Saved Sold Solved Streamlined Supervised Trained
The resume is often only looked at when you change employers. Such an important document warrants more attention and together with these tips you should see your resume have more impact.
I have recently been helping an organisation interview for an exciting and challenging role. The candidates being interviewed have been bright interesting people who bring significant experience in their fields. Unfortunately this recent experience brought back to me one of the all too common terms that people use when prefacing an interview response – “I guess”.
