Think this is the secret?
Anyone can write a resume . . . it’s easy.
Have you tried writing your own resume? You probably had a hard time of it.
Even those of us who are seasoned professional resume writers, with many years’ of experience, labor over crafting each and every one of these marketing documents so they’ll do their job well – brand and differentiate our clients to help them gain job interviews.
Much is involved with the writing strategy, formatting and positioning information to the best advantage. And each resume has to be tailored to each job seeker’s particular target, situation and career goals.
Okay, no more stalling. Here it is. The resume writer’s best kept secret is . .
There’s no right or wrong way to write a resume.
One of the variables is who will be reading the resume – recruiters, HR professionals, top-level management in on the hiring process, Board members . . . the list goes on.
They have different needs and may look for different things in resumes. Resumes may need to be adjusted to appeal to specific kinds of people.
Something often repeated among my colleagues:
If you pass around the same resume to 10 different people, you’ll get 10 different opinions.
That’s the thing with marketing . . . and that’s what a resume is, a marketing document. Different things appeal to different people. You just never know what’s going to hit home with people. Entirely.
But if your resume contains the right information, positions that information in a clear and easily accessible manner, and presents you in the right way, chances are it will do its job.
As long as it’s highly targeted — as it MUST be — a resume can look and read various ways and still work.
The hard part is determining what the “right” information is and strategically positioning it on the page . . . the paper, digital and web page, that is.
This can be hard for you, as a job seeker, to do. You’ve probably only written a handful of resumes for yourself over your career, if that. Many top-level executives have never needed a resume before, or never written one themselves.
So how do you determine what the right information is?
Decide who you are targeting, what those target employers’ needs are, how you can help them meet those needs, and what keywords and phrases their hiring professionals will be searching for when they source talent.
You need to align your good-fit qualities with what those employers are looking for in candidates.
The biggest resume writing mistake job seekers make is NO CLEAR JOB SEARCH TARGETING. That is, not determining at the start of their job search which companies and positions within them are a good mutual fit.
Start there. If you hit all the marks correctly, chances are your resume will hit home, get you the interviews you want, and help you land the gig you want.
Related posts:
4 Reasons You Can’t Write Your Own Executive Resume
How to Write An Irresistible C-level Executive Resume in 10 Steps
What NOT To Put in Your C-level Executive Resume
photo by stevendepolo
