You have a resume, but does it work for you?

A resume is a marketing document. If it isn't working for you then you need to recreate it so you will be noticed.

When you write a resume the old tired way you'll sound like just about every other person who applies for that same job.

So why not try something new and put your personality into your resume?

Don't be afraid to change anything in case you miss out because you haven’t filled your resume with keywords or the required format. If it isn't working for you know, what do you have to lose by showing yourself in your application?

There is a lot of talk about making resumes ATS searchable to the detriment of the applicant in many cases. In Australia, and many other countries, there are many employers, especially small businesses, who don’t use programmes to search out potential employees. Of those who do, they are using more sophisticated software than ten years ago. Definitely learn about ATS keywords but if you are addressing the job requirements you are most likely meeting these needs.

An over reliance on using keywords would mean replicating what everyone is writing. Do you really want to be one of hundreds applying in the same way as everyone else - using exactly the same words and format?

Your resume will still be read by a living breathing person so write your resume for a person not a machine.

Groundwork for Your Resume

So how do you revise your current resume to make it meaningful to your next employer?

There is no single way to do this. You are different to all others trying to get the same job so it makes sense that your resume would be different too.

Keep in mind that whatever you write needs to be clear and relevant to the role you are applying for. I've written about words to avoid as you write, have a look here.

Choose Your Career Direction

What do you want to do next in your career?

Choose a focus industry or role for your job search. A REAL YOU Resume is specific – it appeals to a particular type of hiring manager. That manager is the one you want to work with.

Avoid branding yourself as a Customer Service Clerk, Office Manager and Barista all in one resume — split out those sides of yourself into three different versions of your resume.

Focus on your strengths in each role and also how you will focus on employer problem solving. The employer will see how you solve their problems and will keep reading.

When you create 2 or 3 different resumes, repeat the following steps for each one. Title each resume with the position title you are aiming for. This helps to keep focused.

Write Down Your Key Skills

Write down your key skills for the role. At this stage don't be concerned about meeting individual advertisement requirements. This can be dealt with in more detail in your cover letter. You are focusing on how your strengths and skills fit the industry and role type you are pursuing.

Focus also on what your intended employer needs. What skills do you have that would solve their problems? Write about them in a way that sounds real rather than a copy of what everyone else writes.

The point of a REAL YOU Resume is to sound like you are talking with the reader. Upgrade stock standard phrases like the ones below to show how you meet the requirements in a human way.

Meets or exceeds expectations

Motivated self-starter

Team player and also works well alone

Works well with all levels of staff

Superior communication skills

Proven track record of success

Replace these and any other phrases you notice are used to death and replace them with something more meaningful. If you're a team player, write down how you are a team player. Make it make sense, but without waffle.

Concentrate on your strengths and skills in a relevant and relatable way.

Show Don't Tell

If you have communication skills, use them to communicate. Attention to detail? Make sure there are no errors in your writings.

If you are a mechanic tell us your story. In your stories you will be telling examples of your track record, think whether using a phrase or a story is best for your situation.

For so long we've been taught that we "have" to use these phrases because that is what the recruiter is looking for. But is it? Or are recruiters looking for those phrases because that's what has always been done? 

If an employer or recruiter insists on copy and paste type applications, maybe this is the wrong company for you.

Think outside the square. Do you want to be a mindless cog in the employment wheel, or are you someone who gains satisfaction from your work because you are allowed to do it well and it works in line with your strengths and values?

This groundwork is essential for putting together a resume that works for you.

Decide on your direction.

Write about yourself in a captivating and persuasive way.

Begin today to create a resume that will make you stand out.

Writing your REAL YOU Resume is about taking control of the way you present yourself to potential employers and recruiters.

You know the focus of your resumes, your strengths in each area, the problems you solve. Now you are going to build on that to create an exceptional resume that works.

How Long Should It Be?

How long and how far back you go depends on its relevance to your current career direction.  Perhaps you had a job twenty years ago that is highly relevant to the work you’re looking for now. Don't feel  you have to include every job in between.

Or you can refer to it in your REAL YOU Resume Summary. Remember your stories? You can mention it in one of these and if someone wants to know about that previous position when you go to your interview, all they have to do is ask.

If you’re working with a recruiter who knows the clients well and  who will speed your job search, do whatever the recruiter tells you to do. If you’re using your own devices to get a hiring manager’s attention, then keep your resume to two pages but make sure the most relevant information is on page one.

Your resume is telling a story so the more fluid it is the better.

Your  Achievements

If you choose to outline each job for the reader, briefly tell them what the company is about [you can’t assume they know] and what your role was.

Keep the company description brief. There may be a temptation to go into great detail about what the company did and leave no room to talk about you and how you solved their problems.

Sharing your unique qualities, every time, will connect with the reader far better than dry and often repeated information and phrasing by choosing two or three brief stories from each job you’ve held, and use them as bullet points to round out your understanding of the effect you had at each of your past jobs. [You may decide not to use all your stories.]

Don’t detail all tasks and duties. Usually these could be presumed from the job title. Anybody in that job would have had the same job description. The reader is eager to know what you did when you held that role. What were the functional parts that you excelled at and also enjoyed? What did you think were your greatest achievements?

You can bring power and personality across through stories in your REAL YOU Resume.

Education, Licences, Formal Qualifications

Add your education, licences, and formal qualifications but keep them relevant. If you are changing careers to aged care and have a forklift licence, it probably won't be relevant so don't add it.

Add your career history, your degrees, certifications and associations. You don’t need to include study dates or subjects.

Your Resume Summary

With your focus area firmly in mind, write a summary that describes you and the challenges you solve. Think about how you might describe yourself to someone you've just met. If you are applying for a position with a trendy fashion company but your resume looks predictable and …{yawn}… then stop and imagine how you would introduce yourself if you met the manager at the local wine bar.

How would you tell them about your brilliant marketing skills and how your talent would be to their advantage? Now write it down.

Write about how you got to now. This is your summary. You want to get your personality into it and put yourself in their place. If you're making a career change it is essential to think about your strengths and transferable skills and how they relate to your new brand.

If you put this at the beginning of your resume avoid putting a title, especially Summary or Objective Statement, on it. A lot of readers skip those blocks because they have read so many resumes that say the same thing...nothing really. 

You want the reader to read everything!

Make your resume relevant, exciting and authentically you so employers will call you in for an interview because they want someone who is willing to break the mold.