When it comes to resumes, mistakes abound. Don’t include self-assessments like “detail-oriented” or “hard-working,” for example. Don’t include outdated experience. Don’t use words like “responsible for,” which aren’t very powerful ways to describe what you did on a job.
But there are also words and phrases you’ll definitely want to include to get the recruiter or hiring manager moving you along in the process.
“I think of writing a good resume as a kind of search engine optimization for websites,” says Gorick Ng, a Harvard career advisor and author of “The unspoken rules”, about his approach.
When websites write content, they think of relevant terms or phrases that will help search engines like Google take note of your existence. “You’re trying to give as many relevant keywords as possible for it to come up, either by a machine or by a human eye.”
Here are three terms to include on your resume, according to career experts.
Words in the job description
When it comes to this optimization, emphasize “words that appear in the job description, on your potential employer’s website, and that are used in the field,” says Ng.
Say you’re applying for a job in marketing. Reading the job description, you may notice job duties such as creating media lists, writing press releases, and writing blogs. When diving into similar open roles, you may encounter similar demands.
If they are relevant to your work experience, be sure to include them in the bullet points of your job descriptions. Your potential employer lets you know specifically what type of industry experience they are looking for. If you have this experience, it is essential to highlight it in their language so that they know you are the right candidate for the position.
Impact verbs like “fulfilled, improved”
Your CV should be a powerful reflection of your achievements. To make your work experiences impactful, be sure to start each bullet point with a past-tense verb that’s as specific and actionable as possible, says Ng.
“He led a five-person team, coordinated across three departments, designed three landing pages, built, designed, wrote and co-wrote, published,” says Ng as an example, adding that “even if he doesn’t continue with the rest . from the sentence, you have a mental picture of what I did.”
“Comprehensive, enhanced, trained, mentored, managed” are some others to consider, says Vicki Salemi, career expert at monster.
Figures like “a 25% increase”
“At the end of the day, every organization cares about the same five things,” Ng says, “more, better, faster, cheaper, safer.”
While using verbs gives a clear idea of your daily tasks, using specific numbers illustrates what you were able to achieve and how you helped make things more, better, faster, etc., for to your specific company.
As you write each bullet, ask yourself, how many sales did I make each month? How many hits did our site get after my redesign? How much more productive was our team after I streamlined some of our workflow processes?
And don’t forget percentages and growth. “There’s a difference between saying, ‘managed a $10,000 budget,'” says Ng, “and being able to say, ‘raised $10,000, a 25 percent increase over the previous year.’ Consider comparative ways of presenting the data and choose. the one that best shows the value you have been able to contribute.
Ultimately, a resume is a list of accomplishments, says Ng. Imagine you are at the Nobel Prize ceremony and the announcer on stage is introducing you. “You’re putting your fork and knife down to get on stage,” he says. “What are they saying?”
Take a look:
Use this new resume template and example to land an interview today, says 20-year hiring manager
Why you need these 5 skills on your resume today, says the CEO who read over 1,000 resumes this year
Register now: Get more intelligence about your money and your career with our weekly newsletter
[ad_2]
Source link
