Resume Writing Success

The conditions are perfect. The employer has a need and they want
to interview you. To put it in marketing terms they are "ready
to buy", but one quick look at your resume and they set it
aside. What happened? Here are the top 9 reasons your resume
submissions are not converting to interviews.

1. Your resume has no direction.
You appear clueless as to what you want and why you want it. If
they do not know what you are looking for, they will not try to
figure it out. They will just shrug and set it aside. They are
in effect saying, "Come back when you know what you
want."

2. They don't want to feel like bottom feeders.
First impressions really do count, especially
with resumes. If your resume looks cheap, shabby, generic or
like it was thrown together as an afterthought, it will reflect
on you. If the overall look of your resume doesn't immediately
gain the respect of the reader, you are in trouble. They want
to feel good, not feel desperate, about calling you in for an
interview. Studies have shown that readers decide within the
first 10-15 seconds whether they are going to investigate
further or move on. That is how long it takes to run your
resume through their mental filter and determine whether you
are good enough for an interview. If they cannot get past the
first impression, you lose. What they are in effect saying, "I
am not sure we want to be seen with this person."

3. You got noticed, but you got
noticed the wrong way by placing style over substance. What
they are in effect saying, "Nice paper, beautiful font, so
what?"

4. You confused the reader.
Your resume lacks coherence, there is no logical flow (note:
so-called functional resumes are notorious for this). They are saying in effect, . . . well, they don't say anything. They
just scratch their head and set your resume aside.

5. You made them feel like you are testing their IQ.
I have written hundreds of resumes for
people working in fields where brain power is esteemed --
attorneys, physicians, academics, etc. I occasionally would get
insecure job seekers in these fields who wanted their resume to
be full big words with a stilted style thinking these are a
signs of intelligence. It has quite the opposite effect. By
setting your resume aside they are in effect saying, "Who is
this idiot trying to impress?"

6. You are too aggressive, too pushy.
You come across like you are the chosen one who is going
to come in and solve all their problems with a snap of the
fingers. By setting your resume aside they are in effect doing
what they do to telemarketers, they are hanging up on
you.

7. You are too needy, too eager.
If you look like you are desperate and willing to take
anything, red flags go up. They wonder what is wrong with you
and you lose the interview.

8. You are too wordy (and I am not talking about the length of your resume).
If you take 200 words for something that could have been adequately explained
in 100, you will lose them. You will become boring. Once they
are bored, you are done.

9. You generated some initial interest, but in the end, gave them no compelling reason to call you.
You had a great opening line, but you left off
benefits and accomplishments. This is what happens when your
history is simply a laundry list of where you worked and when
you worked there. What they are in effect saying, "We don't
know enough about this person to call him or her
in."

We have all seen books, tips and advice claiming to know the
"secrets" to writing a resume that gets interviews. You may
have also noticed that most of these so-called "resume secrets"
are not resume secrets at all. For example: While online, I just saw a
"resume secrets" that said to "start each sentence with an action
verb". Whooopeeedooo! Some resume secrets. Every resume book ever
written told you that one.

But in fact, there are some important things, genuine resume secrets, about resumes that most job hunters don't
know. Things that you seldom find in resume
books and job search websites. For example:

Resume Secrets #1: Writing skills are not the most important
skills in creating a great resume. Ask any marketing
professional and they will tell you that there are many things
more important than writing skills in creating good
print advertising. It is the same with your resume.