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Alex Mooney

Resume WritingChecklist

Research has shown that recruiters spend an average of six seconds looking at a resume.

To further complicate the job application process, nearly all large employers and more than half of small employers use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to filter out applicants whose resumes don’t appear to be the best fit for the job that was posted.

The recuiter is a human being (man). The ATS is a search engine (machine).

Here’s a checklist you can use to quickly make sure your resume appears attractive to bothman and machine. man and machine.

Studies have indicated that people tend to read web content in F-shaped patterns. I believe the same is true for resumes. Consider the recruiter who glances at your resume for six seconds: are they going to read the content in detail? What is more likely is that the recruiter will scan the resume, looking for items of interest. Therefore, it is important to position the headers within your resume in the center, drawing the reader’s eye inward and ensuring more content is read.

Center Section Headers

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Create An Executive SummaryGone are the days of “objective” summaries. This outdated resume writing tactic takes a “me-centric” approach. These days, a resume is more effective when you take an approach thatclearly outlines how the employer benefits from hiring you.

With an employer-centric approach to resume writing, you use your resume to informemployers how your competencies help them solve their problems. Their problems are detailedin the job posting (i.e., the position requirements). Your executive summary is your first opportunity to show employers your competencies that align with the advertised requirements. opportunity to show employers your competencies that align with the advertised requirements.

This is your five second elevator pitch. Make it scream, “IF YOU DON’T READ ANYTHING ELSE, READ THIS!!” (but please, do not write your executive summary in all caps).

A strong executive summary will highlight the major competencies (requirements) expressed in the job posting. You may find it easier to write the bulk of your resume first, and then return to your executive summary to summarize the competencies you express in the ProfessionalExperience section of your resume (more on this is outlined below). The key to ensuring thatthe executive summary is read is to keep it under five sentences. Short and sweet.

Summarize the quantifications listed in your Professional Experience section.For example: Jennifer Jobseeker has trained multiple employees over the course of several jobs. She added all of the employees together for a total of46 employees that she has trained.

Briefly listing your skills and systems familiarity beneath your competencies increases thelikelihood that they will be read. This also has the added benefit of wasting less space thanwould be wasted if your resume included a separate “Skills and Systems” section. Like theexecutive summary, keep this section short and, where possible, align them with the requirements from the job posting.

Summarize Your Positions

Bullet-Proof Your Bullet Points

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Providing a brief (1-2 sentence) summary of positions you held frees up the rest of your resumeto highlight the competencies you demonstrated in the position. This summary clearly showsyour day-to-day responsibilities as a summary rather than accomplishments (which is how theday-to-day duties are seen when listed as bullet points). Place this summary beneath the title of the position you held, and before your competencies (bullet points).

Your professional experience should instill confidence in readers. To do this, quantify your competencies. To ensure your competencies are read, structure them so they’re in the reader’s line of sight. Remember checkbox #1? People tend to read in an F-shaped pattern. Use the RATS (results, action, task, situation) structure to ensure your bullet points are placed along the left edge of your resume and in the F-shaped reading pattern.

REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

REMOVE EXCESS/WASTE

POWER POINTS @ THE TOP

Strengthen The Structure

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The ultimate goal of a resume is to get an applicant a phone call. That’s it.

This goal is complicated by a competitive applicant pool and recruiters who spend an averageof six seconds reviewing a single resume. With this in mind, it is imperative that your resumeappear its best. If you make it easy for a recruiter or manager to see how you can help them solve their problems, it will be easier for them to pick up the phone to call you for an interview.

First and foremost, employers want to know what you’ve been up to recently. Regardless of whether or not your most recent experience is directly applicable to the role you’re applying to, employers want to know what type of work you have recently been engaged in. List the positions you’ve held in reverse chronological order, with the most recent one appearing first. As your resume is read, the further down the page the reader goes, the further back in timethey will travel.

The qualifications your resume is evaluated against are listed in the job posting. Any details listed in your resume that do not align with the qualifications or are not applicable to the position for which you are applying, could hurt your chances for getting an interview. Removing excess ensures you are only considered for the job based on your competencies that directly align with those that were advertised in the job posting.

As a general rule, there should be no fewer than five and no more than seven bulletpoints per position held and no more than 7-10 years of experience listed.points per position held and no more than 7-10 years of experience listed.

Make it easy for recruiters and managers to see why you’re a great fit for the position. List yourmost powerful bullet points at the top of your other competencies. This is the “wow” factor. If youlist your most impressive bullets at the top, the reader is likely to be more intrigued and read further into your resume.

Education

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Spelling & Grammar

Place your education section above your professional experience if: - You are a recent college graduate without significant work experience in your field.

- You have been working in a field unrelated to the position you’re applying for and your educational background relates more closely to the job.

Place your education section below your professional experience if: - If you have been out of school for three or more years.

- If your work experience relates more closely to the position than your education does. - If your work experience relates more closely to the position than your education does.

If you have acquired certifications on top of your degrees, rename your education section to, “Education and Development”. This will draw attention to the efforts you have put in to furtheryour professional development, above and beyond a degree from a university.

If you have multiple degrees or certifications, be sure to list them in reverse chronological order,with the most recent degree or certification appearing at the top of this section.

Education: you work so hard to get it, but at a certain point, your profession should shinebrighter and be more relevant than any degrees or certifications you’ve attained. So, while youmay be tempted to always list your education at the top of your resume, think carefully about how you use the six seconds of time a recruiter offers you. What will relate more to the positionyou’re applying to? Your work or your education?

The title of this section says it all. If you don’t spell good and don’t write good, then no good willcome of the hard work you put into your resume. Yes, I am aware the grammar used in the previous sentence is not proper. The point is that if you don’t take the time to check your spelling and grammar, it may result in your resume being cast aside by a recruiter or manager.

- Use Microsoft Word’s spell check feature.

- Go through your resume and read every line to find grammatical errors.

- Make sure you use the same writing tense throughout your resume. I suggest using past tense considering the majority of the items on your resume took place awhile ago.

- Have a trusted friend review your resume. It never hurts to have someone look it over.

Wrap It Up

Treat Yourself

This is the final stretch.

If you’ve done everything mentioned above, you can rest assured that you have put your best foot forward. Don’t add anything else to your resume: no section for interests and hobbies, no “objective” statements, no “references available upon request”. Your resume is exactly as it should be: only the details pertinent to the job should be present - this ensures you are evaluated for the position based on the details requested in the job posting.

Save your resume as a Save your resume as a Word document (applicant tracking systems can’t search PDFs).

It is now time to apply for the job, but before you apply, save the job posting in a Worddocument. Internet links come and go, but if you save the job posting as a Word doc, you’ll have it on your computer to refer to before you interview for the position.

Save the job posting. Then apply for the job.

Why not? You deserve it. ;)

Alex Mooney