Change Your Thinking About Your Resume
I recently had the opportunity to talk with several members of The National Recruiting Team of a Fortune 200 company. (I want to share some of the inside scoop with you.) They reaffirmed many things that I had heard about resumés, they gave me some tips for submitting resumes in today’s world, and they told me something that almost made me fall out of my chair: Recruiters hate to see a Job Objective on a Resume.
What? This Can’t Be
I had learned that a Job Objective near the top of a resumé was expected as part of any resume for any position since I took my first career class in the ninth grade. I have seen it listed in books on resumé writing. And I have had it on resumés that were created by professional resumé writers for me. Could my ninth grade teacher, the authors of books on the subject, and professional resumé writers all be wrong? The answer is YES.
Why Not?
As the Director Of Recruiting said: “What a surprise you want a job using your talents.” But there is more to this than just that statement. I believe it takes up precious room on your resumé, and room is time to a recruiter.
What Goes On When Sorting Through Resumes?
When a posting of a position for a large corporation goes to the public a recruiter will typically get more than 200 resumes for that position. And remember that recruiters are responsible for many positions at the same time. But let’s look at some of the mechanics that a recruiter has for just this one position. Every resumé takes about one minute to boot up in the recruiters resumé review tool. That alone comes out to almost four hours. Then a recruiter has to look over your resumé for relevant information to decide whether or not to move you along in the process. Let’s say that is just another minute. You already have a full day spoken for by the recruiter. And that does not include all of the phone calls the recruiter gets during the day, the interviews that they conduct, and the written correspondence that they engage in.
How Does Knowing This Help Me?
Knowing this information helps you in that now you can format your resumé so that the important information about you is read by the recruiter. First: Unless you are applying for a senior leadership position with in a company keep your resume to just one page. Second: Don’t go back more than ten years on your resume. Third: Highlight your accomplishments using key words. Fourth: Don’t clutter up your resumé with references. Fifth: White Space is OK on your resume. It can make the information that is there really stand out.
Less Can Be More
With time being important to recruiters and you, you can make a more effective resumé by keeping it to one page and deleting things on the resumé that recruiters skip over anyhow. Highlight your accomplishments and your skills using key words. And yes, making use of White Space. I have more insider information to share with you about resumés that will come in future posts. However, if you have any questions, please email me at inspiration411@gmail.com. Good job hunting!
