Imagine this. You applied for this particular job because and you send them a copy of your resume in their email. A few days later, you still have not received any phone calls from the company where you applied. Several weeks have passed and you still have not received any phone interviews or call backs from the company despite a few follow ups. They just say, "we'll call you", and that's it.
What could have happened during your application process? Maybe the problem is your resume!
The worst financial transaction you will ever make is selling yourself short. --- Greg Gilbert
What is a Resume?
A resume is a document created and used by a person to present their relevant job experiences, background, skills, accomplishments, and education. Résumés can be used for a variety of reasons, but most often they are used to secure new employment. It is something a potential employer (the company you have applied) sees first to screen your work qualifications or skills for the position you are applying for in their company.
In a simple analogy, your resume is part of your marketing strategy to sell yourself. Remember when you watch your favorite TV show or perhaps while streaming on YouTube, a couple of advertisement pops up and you just can't skip the ads. In the job hunting scenario, YOU are the product being endorsed to and YOUR RESUME is the TV advertisement. You sell and present yourself to a potential company using your resume because you know you are worthy of their time. However, if there is an option of "skipping the ads", your resume might be in big trouble and so are your future employment.
The Importance of Resume
Resumes can be as simple and as plain as possible or may be as colorful as a festival of lights. Depending on the job position you are applying to, a resume should not be generic at all times. It should be designed or tailor-made according to your relevant work experiences to the work or position you are applying in a company.
Say for example, you have a significant work experience as a graphic designer, and you want to try your luck to the vacant position of graphics artist in a company, you might want to tweak your resume a little and make it more like it was made really by a graphics designer. A plain resume would only say that you are just a so-so graphic designer, but if you make your resume speaks for itself, chances are, you will be called for an interview once they saw your resume. Also, don't forget to put on your portfolio.
Always remember that you are selling yourself and your skills and talents in a company. If they saw something on your resume that is not worth checking, the trash bin will be your resume's final destination.
Making Your Resume Stand Out
According to Brad Karsh, author of the popular book, "How To Say It on Your Resume", he pointed out the following items below to make your resume become one of the potential candidates by the Recruitment Manager. Here are some of them:
- Do your homework. Applying for a job is not really an easy task. Sometimes, you just have to make a research about the company you are applying for to know even the slightest detail that company has such as awards and recognition or even the nature of the company. If you don't even know what's going on that company, you might end up not being hired. Oh, that's for sure!
- Focus on your job accomplishments. Your job accomplishments should be in line with the job that your are applying for in a company. If you are applying for an IT Officer position (because it is the posted job vacancy) but all your work experiences are related to Procurement Services, you are just wasting your time and the time of the Recruitment Manager. Again, you will not end up being hired, or worse, you will not be called for an interview.
- Keep it short and powerful. A good resume is something that is short and precise and can be fitted into one page. A typical Recruitment Manager would only read or scan a resume for a few seconds, so keeping it short, precise, and relevant is always a must!
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