The role of the resume writer has considerably changed over the past
few years. With competition for jobs world wide greater than it ever
has been before, it is more important than ever that a resume writer
is able to properly identify the job role that a potential candidate
is applying for and be able to write the resume accordingly.
20 years ago it was enough just to use a basic resume template that
followed a predicable path.
Education at the top followed by professional experience (including
a few sentences about the duties and responsibilities), and a skills
section at the bottom.
How times have changed. These days, a hiring manager will see on average
100 resumes for every job that is posted online (this is obviously
lower for more specialised jobs and much higher for general administration
jobs, but let us use 100 for our example).
Out of the 100 resumes that a hiring manager will see, at least 50%
of the candidates will have similar skills, educations and backgrounds.
With the remaining 50 other candidates le's say that 50% of these
candidates have greater experience, skills, education and 50% have
less experience, skills and education. Now that you have an idea of
the competition you are up against, have another look at your resume
and see if it is going to be good enough to get you in the top 5-10%.
The role of the modern resume writer is to understand first and foremost
the current state of the economy and industry that the applicant is
applying for.
The second role of the resume writer is to highlight your achievements
in order to stand out against the competition. It is no longer acceptable
to just list your day to day duties in your resume or list brief duties
you performed. I see this every day and people wonder why they cannot
get an interview.
For example:
Company XYZ LTD (2008 - Present)
Sales Co-Ordinator
Duties:
· Sales & Promotions
· Customer Service
· Cash Handling
· Training
· Courses Attended
· Cold Sales
In today's world this is no longer good enough. Hiring managers want
to see how you have added value to your past jobs and what you can
offer them going forward. The role the resume writer is to highlight
these achievements and ensure that your resume opens the door for
you to get an interview. At the end of the day that is what you want
your resume to be able to do.
Remember to keep these ideas in mind - you want to give yourself the
best shot possible every time!
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