What Shows Recruiting You Have What it Takes

When hundreds of applicants apply for the same job, your resume only has a few seconds to actually show those reviewing them that you have what it takes to do the job at hand. Your resume must be active, show professionalism, and above all be less than one page long. Even in advanced job environments or unless the company such as the government requests longer than one page of resume, you should always keep it at one page. Timing is everything.

Human Resources and Recruiting are always looking for the ideal candidate. Resumes that come closest to portraying their ideal candidate will get interviews first. The goal of a resume is strictly to win a job interview.

One Page
HR and Recruiting professionals are so busy; resumes that are more the one page get looked at last if at all. If it requires extra effort to read your resume, it's already a hit against you. Cut out any unnecessary, irrelevant information. This may mean having more than one resume built and ready to go.

Accomplishments not Duties
List your actual accomplishments you did at your last job with measureable numbers. If you are currently employed, take time to review your accomplishments with specific measureable numbers. You may use those figures and data on your resumes. Accomplishments read like this: "Increased applicant capacity by 22% over a 3-month period by working with my team to effect change." Duties read like this: "Operated a fax machine, typed up documents, sorted mail." The duties are obvious to professionals in the HR world. It doesn't tell hiring managers, HR or Recruiting how well you did your job.

Career Advancements
Along with accomplishments, include any professional awards you've received and a brief description (if you have it on your one page) for what. Advancement shows personal development and growth, both of which are positive indicators you want to stay active in a career.

Actionable
Use verbs whenever possible and write in a present or forward tense manner. Use past tense verbs only when describing positive action. Show activities or projects you've been involved in and it will also give HR an indication of how you work within a team environment.

Title Headings and Fonts
Standard headings are considered professional but many times they just aren't useful. Consider changing "Professional Skills" to "Professional Accomplishments" as an example. That goes from listing what you know how to do to showing HR you know how to be effective with those skills. Consider changing "Work History" to "Professional Background" and so on. Never use more than two fonts and keep it black and white. It's naturally easier on the eyes.

When deciding what else to change in your resume keep in mind, "What can I do to make finding this information as easy and relevant as possible?" Be ruthless in your editing and if it makes it easier to find and easier on the eyes, then do it. Doing these things will automatically increase your chances of having your resume chosen for an interview.