Everyone is aware that our economy is in disarray. Job opportunities are scarce, and everyone is concerned about money. It can be even scarier as a college student because you not only face the same challenges as everyone else, but you also have to deal with not having any real-world experience, which can be a significant pain in the ass when it comes to figuring out how to write a resume.
After years of researching the hiring process and learning how to be successful at interviewing and landing jobs consistently, I’ve discovered that the first step in getting hired is getting the interview in the first place. This can be accomplished by learning how to write a resume.
But not just any resume… A resume that will AUTOMATICALLY attract employers and hiring managers, compelling them to interview you.
So, what steps can you take to learn how to write a resume?
Here are my five “hidden secrets” for writing a resume:
1) Understand Hiring Managers’ Thought Process – How will you persuade employers to interview you? How can you make yourself look good enough on paper that hiring managers will think you’re worth bringing in for a job interview? When it comes to creating a resume is probably the most challenging task. “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles,” Sun Tzu says in The Art of War. Investigate hiring psychology. Examine the hiring procedure. Determine what employers are looking for.
2) Write With Their Needs in Mind – Employers will listen to you if you give them what they want. What does every employer look for in a resume? That’s difficult to say because each employer has a unique job that needs to be filled. You are responsible for determining what they require and meeting those requirements in your resume. When selecting a summary to read, hiring managers usually ask themselves a few questions. They are as follows:
1. “Who gives a damn?”
2. “And so what?”
3. “How does it benefit me?”
Consider this: hiring managers review your resume for their reasons, not yours. They don’t give a damn what you want. They are concerned with what they desire. Every hiring manager and every employer is the same. Can you give me the answers? If you can’t, your employers—well, you won’t have any. Consider this step to be part of your how-to-write resume research. It’s an essential step in learning how to write a resume that will pique your future employer’s interest.
Isn’t that what you want?
3) Choose the Format That Produces RESULTS – My clients frequently ask, “How should I format my resume?” What do you think I tell them? Use whatever format gets you the job and an interview. Period.
As it turns out, some formats have been statistically proven to drive the best results, while others have been proven to cause the worst results. Based on my research, I recommend the accomplishment-based resume over the skills-based (or functional) resume format.
4) Discover How to “Wordsmith” Your Achievements – Most “non-writers” get stuck here in the resume writing process. “How can I make my responsibilities sound appealing?” The answer is: Discover how to write a resume using hypnotic text. Learn how to create desire. Emotion. Learn how to use your words to paint a picture and tell the story of your previous accomplishments. Draw them in with benefits and intrigue. And give them reasons or logic for why you should be interviewed. Consider the hiring manager’s emotional concerns and speak to them in a way they won’t be able to ignore. If you do, your resume will be both persuasive and hypnotic. As an example:
Before
“I typed, did data entry, answered phones, and handled receptionist duties.”
After
“As part of an eight-person office team, I entered data for 16 regional hearing officers. Helped with email responses, distribution, report generation, and payroll entry. I assisted in the removal of a backlog of 1,000 obsolete files.”
Do you see why learning how to MARKET yourself to employers is critical?
5) Understand Resume Design Principles – Did you know that “pretty” resumes are more likely to get into the interview pile than “average” looking resumes? That is correct. This has been proven numerous times. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you must have a simple and professional summary. The key is to make your resume visually appealing and easy to read. You must ask yourself, “If I had to read through thousands of resumes as part of my job, which ones would I naturally be biased towards before reading a single word?”
Short paragraphs, bullet points, and wide margins are recommended. Would you want to read a resume that is a solid block of text if you picked it up? Most likely not. It’s not appealing. It appears to work. Instead, make your resume attractive. The layout of your resume is an essential factor in how to write a resume that will make people like it before they even read it.
As you might expect, how you use those secrets is entirely up to you. Go over your resume—the entire document—with these tips in mind. Look for opportunities to rewrite, reformat, or otherwise capture and hold your reader’s attention. And as you digest this information, you’ll realize that a resume is more than just a piece of paper on which you list your work experience. It is a marketing tool used to PROMOTE you as someone deserving of a job interview.
Can you tell the difference?
So, tell me in the comments which of these five secrets piques your interest the most…
If I get a lot of positive feedback, I might post more detailed “How To Write A Resume” tips. There’s a lot more funk where this came from!
Read also: Signs Of Ageism In The Workplace And 12 Ways To Address It