Resume Makeover Series - What is the objective of a resume?

Taking into account requests from our readers around the resume writing process, we started a series of articles titled ‘Resume Makeover Series.’ The objective is to take you through the complete process of writing a resume, with best practices for each stage.

In this article, which kicks-off the series, we provide information on an important question you need to be clear on before preparing your resume:

What is the objective of the resume?

Too many people think of their resume as an autobiography and consequently provide a lot of their life history that is simply not relevant from am employer’s point of view. A resume is a marketing tool that is intended to sell a product (you), to a customer (the employer) who is looking to buy a specific product. The job of the resume is to advertise the best features of the product, that meet the customer’s requirement - nothing more and nothing less. Needless to say, that you will need to tailor the advertisement, based on the particular customer you are selling to - in other words you ideally need a specific/tailored resume for each position that you apply to, including information that is most relevant to that employer.

Another point to keep in mind is that the purpose of the resume is to get you the interview. It is not intended to get you the job. Your resume is the bait which attracts the employer’s interest and should be prepared accordingly. During the interview you will have the opportunity to provide additional information and also expand on the details provided in your resume.

Keeping these points in mind will help you focus on communicating only the most important/relevant details from your work experience, education and interests. This is even more important when you consider that for many jobs an employer can get hundreds of resumes. Companies will often spend less than a minute reviewing each resume, often less than 30 seconds. So you need to make a quick impact! In that time you need to gain and maintain their interest and leave a clear concise image of quality, professionalism and of your likely benefit to the selected employer. Also, it is not always your potential boss who will undertake sifting. Many companies will use a junior member of the Human Resource Department who may follow a well-thought-out procedure with clear criteria to allow early exclusion of unsuitable candidates, or the short listing could be done by someone who wants to get through the pile as quickly as possible and will use their own idiosyncratic way to reduce the list. Either way, you need to make sure that you succinctly/powerfully communicate that you meet the required criteria.

Source: Sandbox Advisors; Topics: Resume writing