Actions Not Action Words on Your Resume

I have been in Human Resources for close to the last 13 years and currently hold the title of "Director." Over these years, I've seen more than my share of resumes: some particularly good, some particularly bad. Most, just right in the middle. Unlike most things in life, when discussing your professional credentials, a positive first impression is of utmost importance. Sadly, many job seekers fail to capture the attention of the people reviewing their materials and their materials fall by the wayside. The importance of speaking directly to the needs of the desired position and the needs of the company seems lost on some candidates who only speak to jobs they have done in the past without making connections to why those positions would give them the experience for the present vacancy or placing their skills in any sort of context.

Once you've decided on how to present your experience in a resume format, you now have to express your work experience in significant ways. Typically, job seekers fail to differentiate themselves from the rest of the applicant pool by failing to represent their work experience in a meaningful way - most often candidates fail to express their work experience in anything other than a job description.

The resume information found freely available on the internet - or in college professional writing courses for that matter - will focus on using action words to discuss experience: "Developed", "Implemented", "Designed." While this is solid advice, it is only part of the story.

For instance, for your description of your work experience working with the fictitious "Acme/Ajax Company" you may be inclined to write "Developed inventory control system." The problem here is that it has no context at all to it. A more fully articulated piece would include a brief description of the company for which this work was performed. This would include what the company does ("warehousing and distribution") and, in this case, the revenue the company generates ("$1.8 Million"). That picture is a much different one. Now all of a sudden, your work experience has the context of a smaller distribution company where you contributed to the mission of the organization by developing an integral part of the company.

Given that context, the question then becomes what was the result of developing that inventory control system? Perhaps by developing the inventory control system, you were directly responsible for a reduction on shrinkage by building the accountability on the line. Your description now says, "Developed inventory control system resulting in 50% reduction of shrink." This would indeed be an accomplishment. Granted, this is a small company, but you've now positioned yourself as a job candidate who has taken a small opportunity and made the best of it.

You've also now made your work experience quite specific and demonstrated your level of accountability and performance to be high. This is another important attribute. If you're angling with several other candidates for a position, you've got to set yourself apart and noting specific metrics on which you base your performance speaks well for your attributes as a potential employee.

Being specific may have drawbacks as well - if you're looking for employment in a $400 Million distribution company, you're not likely to be developing inventory control systems, but you've had a toehold in a like company. If you're looking to attain the same position in this larger company, it's possible that you won't be looked at. As an employer, I would be more willing to take a chance on interviewing a candidate with the specifically articulated experience noted here than some general and non-specific detail given in the initial example. However, if not selected for a interview on the basis of the specific information you've provided, it would be for the right reasons - not enough specific strength in a needed area. Your time isn't wasted interviewing for a job for which you are not qualified.

The rule of thumb is that you really shouldn't be drafting up a resume of job descriptions for your previous experience. If I'm reading your resume, I want to know what you did in those positions. Why the company was better for you having been there. What successes did you have? How much business were you responsible for bringing in - in number of customers and amount of sales revenue? How much money did you save by implementing process or procedure?

Use of industry specific metrics is very important - not only are you showing your influence in a position using the language of the trade, you're demonstrating a facility with the language of the industry and showing the company you're ready to hit the ground running.

Designing your resume contents through these lenses will generate a much more favorable response to your candidacy.