Testing Your Resume Effectiveness

For years, we have given job seekers our opinion on everything from how to deal with office politics to the best way to negotiate a new job offer. This week we are turning the tables and giving you the opportunity to rate your own resume. What does your resume say about you? Is your resume style outdated? Does it “sell well” against the competition? Is the resume compelling, attractive, and easy to read?

Though I would not recommend it, you may find yourself in disagreement with the collective wisdom of our suggestions. Should that be the case, remember that the perfect resume does not exist. The goal is to create a document with as few mistakes as possible while conveying engaging content about a person’s career. The key word is “engaging.” The resume is not a novel so don’t demonstrate your writing skills unnecessarily. It is a concise and accurate statement of professional accomplishments. Test your resume effectiveness by taking the short quiz that follows. The quiz can’t predict your job search success, but it can give you an idea whether you’ll have a handicap to overcome or a head start. If after reading the accompanying answers you realize that your resume falls short in more than two areas, it’s time for a rewrite. As always, J.M. Wanes & Associates offers a free resume analysis to readers. To take advantage of this service, you may fax your resume to (813) 936-0201 or email jmwanes@jmwanes.com.

Answering the following questions to find out the effectiveness of your resume.

1. Did you write with your reader in mind?

______________
Yes
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No

The first rule of effective resume construction is to understand the audience that will receive the document and to write to that audience. Whether you are applying for a particular job as vice president of marketing in hi-tech or mailing your resume to recruiters who specialize in senior technology marketing positions, your resume must show that you have the exact skill-set required to be successful in that job, even if you are coming out of business development.

2. Does your resume start with an objective statement?

______________
Yes
____________
No

Most objective statements are the same as saying “I want.” Since employers are more interested in what you offer than what you want, describing the product “you” in terms of a profile or summary of qualifications is the way to go. If you use an objective statement at the top of your resume, it has the potential of being too broad, too narrow, or too self-serving. What you are specifically seeking can be customized and addressed ten times better in a cover letter than across the top of your resume.

3. Have you included a four-to-five sentence summary statement at the top of your resume?

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Yes
____________
No

A summary statement can act as a positioning statement. Strong positioning statements will set the tone for the rest of your resume. If the summary positions you incorrectly, your resume becomes a handicap instead of an effective marketing tool.

4. Is your resume too vague?

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Yes
____________
No

Far too many resumes fail by making claims that are vague to the point of banality. Examples include: “good interpersonal skills,” “fast learner,” and “conscientious.” If your resume reads like a politician’s stump speech, start over. The above examples are considered “invisible phrases” and should be avoided.

5. Is your resume too short?

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Yes
____________
No

Brevity may be the soul of wit, and you won’t win any prizes for droning on-and-on, but you are no longer required to cram your accomplishments onto a single sheet of paper. Excessive editing of a resume tends to cut into muscle; you are left with company names and job titles, but nothing about what you actually did.