Don’t Send a Crap Resume – Send a Top Notch, Tailored, Professional Resume

We are in a white hot job market where you can pick and choose and negotiate the jobs you want

But that isn't an excuse to get sloppy - because, while we've got a hot job market right now, that hasn't been the case and may not be in the future?

And, it's simple respect to do your best in all areas of your job..

The absolute number one recruiter's pet hate is getting a rubbish resume which is a resume that;

• • Is too long
• • Is too fluffy
• • Has spelling mistakes
• • Is full of inaccurate dates
• • Contains heaps of nonsense grammar
• • Lists every job you’ve had since the age of 16
• • Lists your duties and not how you added value
• • Shows a huge picture of you on the front page
• • Says your references are ‘available upon request’
• • Has plenty of fancy formatting with complex tables and layouts
• • And is obviously a generic resume you use all the time which isn’t tailored for the interview you’re after

The chances of a resume like this making it through the first 10-second scan are zero

Don’t bother sending it if this is all you’ve got

It's easy to get careless with our resumes and it's also easy to send out generic resumes, the same kind of resume for all kinds of jobs

That's a big no-no

Experienced recruiters spot generic resumes quicker than we can type 'NO'

And the first thing THAT type of resume demonstrates to a busy recruiter is that you can't be bothered making an effort to get your resume into top condition

Their response is likely to be a similar retaliation…

They will not bother to read it

They will not bother to respond to you

They will not even bother sending a rejection email in most cases

Once you’ve created that negative first impression with a recruiter, it will be very difficult to undo

To add salt to an already ugly wound you will not be circled amongst the recruiter’s network

At the end of the day we’re all the same, people always want to protect their reputation so they will only refer outstanding candidates on to other recruiters or their extended network

A lot goes into creating a great resume - one that gets read straight away - the basic formula includes these key tips;

• Make your resume neat, tidy and simply formatted - I've seen resumes stacked with way too many graphics and underlined sections making it hard for recruiter and ATS's to suck the relevant information out of the resume. Stick to formats that easily and quickly pass the 10-second scan.

• Demonstrate how you added value rather than focusing on long lists of tasks and responsibilities. The resume needs to highlight, more than anything, the value you added and this is usually done by focusing on measurable achievements. Achievements that include metrics, percentages, numbers, how you improved a process – these things need to dominate your resume rather than long lists of duties and responsibilities.

If you’re a project manager, for example, and you list over and over basic project management tasks eg. manage project budget or manage project dependencies or changes etc - all you’re doing is telling the hiring people something they already expect you to know. You don't need to reiterate that. The recruiter already knows the standard project management job description. They're looking for something different; for the WOW factor. And that comes back to adding value with measurable achievements. 

Recruiters want to see what you’ve delivered and where and how you’ve added value. So focus on measurable achievements and how you ADDED VALUE. And don’t be afraid to highlight the information you want to draw attention to with bold, italic or underlined fonts.

• Proofread your resume. And don't rely only on spell checker as it's not always your friend. I've seen a number of resumes, and I use spell check myself when I craft documents and it doesn't always work. They don't always pick up the grammatical mistakes or spelling mistakes so take the time and energy to craft a top-notch resume and then get it proofread to eliminate spelling or grammar mistakes.

If you have to invest time, money and energy to get it properly done - then do so

The money you spend getting a resume done will ultimately bring you money in the long term - and short term - because your sub-standard resume won't get you calls in the future