It's not you, It's the resume

A resume is a brochure, it is your sales tool to get you in the door. IT should entice the buyer to want to meet you, or at the very least, speak to you on the phone. So why, if you know this are you not getting any calls on your resume?

Think about it, is it appropriate for the target market? Does it make a person want to speak to you, or does it make a readers mind up for them?

A resume, is not a Curriculum Vitae (CV) it should not have your entire life history on it. It should contain enough so that the reader, that is more often than not, looking for a specific person, will become interested enough in the resume to want to contact you for a meeting or telephone call. After that you need to work your magic on getting next steps.

How should a resume look? This depends on the position sought, your level of experience and the nature of your work. Let's face it, if this is your first real job, it will be a sparse resume. If, however, you are a seasoned professional, your resume will look radically different. The cold reality is that no single resume will work for everyone, multiple resumes that highlight specific skills will need to be created. Why, you may ask is this necessary?

In today's, society, where many have jobs that last for anywhere from 2 to 5 years, it is not uncommon to have multiple positions that require you to bring different skills (from a technical perspective) to the table. Management skills tend to be more translatable, regardless of the industry, as a result these resumes tend to highlight you management skills and transferability versus strong, deep, technical skills focused on a specific technology.

Here are the crucial things to include in a resume:

Your resume is for marketing your brand to the world:

1. Give your resume a personality that is unique to you.
2. Use your resume to get them to think your way, many resumes have an Objective, this is your way of saying - this is what I want from YOU! Instead use a Profile, a profile should be an executive summary of what YOU bring to the table for THEM.
3. Using cliche communication and words in a resume, makes it sound trite, use your language (no swearing), make the resume be an extension of your personality.
4. Make it easy to follow
5. Create a parting paragraph that will make them want to call you for a meeting.

The simple fact is, that you will be sending a number of resumes out, but that does not mean you should not have fun with that! Giving the resume a personality that stands out from the crowd (eye candy is not a personality), appropriate humour coupled with intelligence and accomplishments, will go a long way in getting you seen.

After that, you're next step is to get a next step.