How to Write an Effective Resume: Top Ten Tips from a Recruiter’s Perspective

Your resume is one of your most important marketing tools. But remember, no matter how good you are, your resume will NOT get you a job. However, if it is spelled correctly, the chances of you winning the interest of a recruiter and being invited for an interview are much higher.

As a senior recruiter for both small businesses and large corporations, I have reviewed thousands of resumes during my more than 15 years of experience in recruiting and human resources. My experience is that applicants often tend to overlook these most important aspects that could make your resume more effective in attracting the attention and interest of recruiters and hiring managers.

Summary purpose: Market and sell your background, skills, accomplishments, and experience to those who need your expertise or a problem that you can solve.

Resume paper: to create interest, to show that you really have the necessary skills and experience, and to get a recruiter and / or hiring manager interested enough to invite you for an interview.

Top Ten Tips for Writing an Effective Resume (From a Recruiter’s Point of View):

1. You can (and should) have more than one resume! Create a separate resume for the two or three main areas of your expertise. (For example, one resume for marketing, one for sales, one for engineering). Each resume should highlight specific examples of your accomplishments, skills, and experience from your current and previous roles that directly relate to that particular area of ​​expertise.

2. Two pages in length, max. Condense, condense, condense! Imagine that each word costs you $ 100 and you will write less, allowing you to fit your most important information on two pages. (Exception: Physicians and other published professionals often need a few more pages to list their credentials and published work. But even they should keep it as short as possible). Ask someone you trust to review your resume and edit it when necessary before submitting it.

3. Choose an appropriate format. The best and easiest resume format to review is chronological (starting with the most recent job and date and working backward through your work history). However, a functional resume format is often suggested as an option, especially for those who have been out of the job market for a while or want to change careers. But it can generate red flags that could prevent your resume from being further reviewed. Recruiters know that a functional format is often used to hide gaps in employment dates. Additionally, details of skills and experience are grouped into separate functional areas, rather than under each particular job performed in the past. In many cases, due to the time and difficulty of reading a functional resume, recruiters often skip it and move on to the next one.

4. Focus your attention on the most important “real estate” on your resume: the top half of the cover. Why? Because today’s recruiters are awash in resumes, especially in these tough economic times when many are out of work. Often times, recruiters manage anywhere up to 50+ jobs at a time, each with hundreds and hundreds of resume submissions. The average time an experienced recruiter initially spends scanning a resume to determine if it is relevant to the position is approximately 7 to 15 seconds. If the top half of your resume doesn’t quickly differentiate you and sells you as a viable candidate with recent skills and experience relevant to the specific job you’re applying for, the recruiter will simply move on to the next one.

5. Develop a keyword rich resume. Be sure to add the top keywords for your skills and experience, as well as the keywords for your industry and organization throughout your resume. Recruiters use various types of search tools in ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) where they type in the main keyword terms for the specific job and job qualifications to search for related resumes. They also conduct similar keyword searches online on major job boards and even some social media sites. Only resumes that contain those keywords will appear in your review box and those are the only resumes that will be scanned for consideration. If your main keywords are not on your resume, your resume will most likely not get reviewed, even if you are highly rated.

6. Create a short bullet summary. At the top of your resume main page, list 5-7 bulleted sentences highlighting your most compelling skills, experience, accomplishments, training, and education. This summary should be located somewhere within the top third section of the resume below, but near your name and contact information. Critical: Avoid “fluffy” or trivial phrases like “Good for multitasking” or “Detail-oriented” and so on. The reader’s eye should be able to quickly scan the summary section and determine at a glance that your resume is worth reading to the end.

7. Quantify and rate your experience. Recruiters and hiring managers highly value proven results and achievements. The more you can quantify or rate your bulleted statements on each of your position lists, the more strongly you will be perceived as a person of action and results. After each statement, ask yourself, “What did I accomplish?” or “What was the result?” Try to link a quantifiable result at the end of each statement, if possible, such as “and as a result, you saved the company $ X” or “increased revenue by X%”, or “sold the most widgets in the team and was selected as employee of the year. “

8. Focus on your most recent and relevant job information. Recruiters and hiring managers want to know what you have done most recently that is relevant to the position they are hiring for. Write down most of your resume information about your skills, experience, and accomplishments during the last 5 to 7 years of your employment history. Unless your experience beyond that point is unusually helpful in making your case, minimize that information to save valuable resume space. Beyond 7-10 years of employment history, you can list one or two line entries for each position held. Save the rest of the details of those positions for the application form and interviews.

9. Post your key credentials, certifications, and educational experience sections in a conspicuous place.Typically, a bachelor’s degree should be located near the end of the resume, under the title of the educational section. However, do you have an advanced job-related degree, such as an MBA, Ph.D., or other certifications or credentials that you want to make sure a recruiter or hiring manager sees? Post them at the top front of your resume, just before or after the summary section. Why? If you bury them at the end of your resume, they may never see them. (See tip # 4)

10. List of organizations, associations and affiliations of which you are a volunteer or member. This information, which is often overlooked, can be a great way to show an employer that you are keeping up with your industry information and contacts. If you volunteer for positions, especially leadership roles, be sure to list those as well. This information is especially important for those applying for positions in financial services and sales and marketing companies who need to demonstrate that they already have an established network. Place this section of information near the end of your resume.

This last tip is a bonus. However, it is the most important tip of all when writing an effective resume.

Always tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth on your resume … always! Never, never misrepresent what you did or be tempted to tell a “little white lie” on your resume or to a recruiter, period! Be especially careful about the job titles and responsibilities you list. Make sure the job title and responsibilities you put on your resume can be verified if someone calls your current or former employer or colleagues and asks for you. False and misrepresented statements, no matter how innocent they may seem, are a violation of integrity and can come back to haunt you many years later. You could even be fired as a consequence! It just isn’t worth it.

Use these ten tips to fine-tune and refine your resume and then you can submit it with confidence!

(c) Copyright 2009 Dresser Search and Consulting, Inc.