If I had a dollar for every RESUME I review in a year, I could probably take a nice long vacation, but I will pause that for now, as I have too much WORK to do, so as I continue to review, help clients revise and perfect a very important document I want you all to recognize how important your RESUME is. Most likely it will be the first point of contact and in order to make a good impression, move forward in the hiring process, you need to make an IMPACT. If there is no IMPACT there is no INTEREST and they will quickly move on to the next candidate.

The RESUME has to tell your story. Who you are, what you do, where you do it and why? The NARRATIVE should be clear to the hiring community. It’s your story. Embrace it and tell it….All of it.

The details you include need to align with the TARGET AUDIENCE and the job you are interested in. If a candidate fails to customize the resume and not include the INTERSECTION POINTS, there is a good chance the resume won’t even get through the APPLICATION TRACKING SYSTEM. Software is managing you once you hit ‘send’ or ‘submit’. Pay careful attention to the KEYWORDS in the JOB DESCRIPTION and align yourself with the criteria they are looking for. This not so subtle tip can make the difference of being seen or not.

One very common mistake candidates make, especially students and recent grads is to not include the TRANSFERABLE or soft SKILLS. With rare exception, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a job description that didn’t include, COMMUNICATION and TIME MANAGEMENT. They are keywords that will help you matchup and increase your chances of getting through the system. Consider including others like PROBLEM SOLVING, LEADERSHIP, COLLABORATION, INTERPERSONAL and TEAM BUILDING. There are of course, many others but the point is to tell the story. SOFT SKILLS substantiate and validate you. They refer to a set of social, emotional and personality characteristics that are very useful to all work environments. They can add substance to your storyline. Be a softie and showcase all your SKILLS.

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