For most of us, writing resume is a challenging task; specifically, for newly arrived migrants, as they need to understand Australian way of crafting resume.
Today, I will provide three hacks that will increase your resume's performance.
Before you commence writing resume, be clear about the employment goal. Clarity of employment is essential to any communication. Consider resume as a strategic communication document with an intended outcome – an interview.
Let me give you a simple and effective way to assess your current resume. This is a formula used by advertising agencies. It’s called AIDA.
Attention – Does your resume grab attention?
Interest – Does your resume capture interest?
Desire – Does your resume create desire?
Action – Does your resume call to action?
I am confident that following these three hacks will transform your resume.
1. An engaging headline and tagline:
Your resume needs a headline that clearly defines who you are and the employment goal. Headline provides focus to the resume. Studies have suggested most of the hiring managers/recruiters prefer a quick understanding of your employment goal. A resume with an engaging headline will make it easier for your professional network to assist you.
A tagline is an opportunity for you to showcase your value to the employer. It could be a branding statement. When creating tagline, think about 3 to 4 important benefits or unique selling points.
Some examples:
Customer Relations & Sales Team Leader ~ Retail Banking
Maximising sales & revenue growth by delivering outstanding & focused customer service
Finance Manager / Financial Controller
Expert in management accounting, cost containment, financial analysis, and team building
2. A Targeted Profile Summary:
Profile summary is a section that follows headline / tagline.
Throwaway those generic profile statements and objectives that is filled with weasel words. The new age resume demands a keyword rich, skills-focused and targeted summary.
A typical summary is made up of around 4 to 6 bullets points or two paragraphs; outlining your qualifications, years of experience, technical skills, accomplishment stories, global experience, industry exposure.
In a nutshell, you’re saying “Here’s who I am and how I am the most qualified person for this job”. Should you decide to apply for a new role, you need to tailor the profile summary.
For example:
IT Support Resume Summary:
- Driven by passion to troubleshoot most challenging technical problems relating to network, desktop and applications; 10+ years of progressive experience
- Focused on needs of internal and external customers and providing tailored technological solutions.
- Reputed for completing IT projects on time and within budget and delivering cost savings.
- Excellent workflow planning and time management skills
- Recognised as go-to-person for any IT related matters who relentlessly strived to integrate latest technology to drive efficiency and reduce downtime.
3. Let’s talk about accomplishments:
Accomplishments differentiate you from the competition.
Most of the job-seekers fail to communicate accomplishments.
In last eight years, I have observed that most of the job-seekers have contributed to their organisations, but fail to recognise and communicate. And then there’s a cultural barrier for skilled migrants; who believe they must not toot their own horn and be humble.
In this competitive labour market, one must communicate with a powerful voice about the contributions and success stories.
Accomplishment must be on the first page of your resume. Write accomplishments that are relevant to the position you’re seeking.
For example, if you’re applying for a Sales Representative position; focus on your sales target achievements, revenues, new customer acquisition and more.
Accomplishments must be specific – numbers, percentages and dollars. Resume without accomplishment is like a report card without grades.
One of the easiest way to unearth accomplishment is to ask this question “So what?”. Let me give you an example:
One of my clients wrote this as a accomplishment. Achieved 100% of the sales target.
I asked him “So what?”. He said it was a big deal as none of the other Sales Reps were able to achieve it and he did it despite the 2008 global financial crisis. Now, this is pure gold. If a Sales Rep could achieve his/her sales quotas despite of the financial crisis, then he/she must an extraordinary sales professional. The accomplishment now reads,“Achieved 100% of the sales quota despite of the industry downturn and outperformed 10 Sales Reps.”
Some Examples:
Research and Development Professional:
- New Product Development: Challenged to develop cost-effective quality talcum powder. Studied consumer perceivable and parameters and identified areas of improvement, established new formulation process and elevated product’s performance in look and feel. Impact: High quality and cost-effective product appealed to consumers and sales grew by 50%
- Quality Management: Introduced and implemented lean inspection process that allowed the article inspection to be carried out at site rather than office. Impact: Sample turnaround time reduced to 4 hours from 12-24 hours and significant savings in transport costs
- Process Optimisation/Improvement: Transformed unorganised and non-systematic microbiology laboratory setup in to efficient operating unit through streamlining and optimising testing, quality management, and research processes and outsourcing non-core functions. Impact: Improved sample turnaround time and 40% reduction in operational costs.
