Help Me, Help You!
Share
Applying for a new job is sometimes a necessary evil, with candidates often finding themselves overwhelmed with job descriptions, resumes, and cover letters. While the process of applying and interviewing for jobs may be daunting for candidates, take a moment and consider the process from the point of view of recruiters and hiring managers.



A single vacancy announcement can receive hundreds of resumes, which in turn, must be screened, reviewed and processed. Sifting through piles of resumes is not an enjoyable activity, as they come in different formats and the reader must adjust his or her eyes accordingly for each one.



Many resume formats make documents appear like a cut and paste job, while others are repetitious, or worse, have no clear focus. These types of resumes are hard to read, fail to capture the readers interest and are difficult to understand. Navigating through a poorly written resume to identify the candidates skills is challenging and draining to the reader. If your resume becomes a chore to read for the recruiter or the hiring manager, you may be seen as adding to the problem rather than contributing to the solution.



So what can you do? You can help them, help you. Create a resume that is pleasing to the eye as well as being easy to understand. Your statements should convey your skills, experience and accomplishments in ways that allow the reader to visualize how you can be an asset. By describing your previous successes, you will help the reader visualize how your skills and talents can contribute to his or her organization.



When describing your job roles, share your outcomes and results, or better yet, use numbers to quantify your success. In addition, choose action words that will energize your document. Energy in your resume will convey that you are a candidate who gets results and takes initiative – making your resume a pleasure to read. When you convey energy in your descriptions, you are giving the potential employer a peek into the possibility of hiring you, and how you can become a part of their team and contribute to their success.