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The Effective Resume

Are your accomplishments getting the attention they deserve? Is your resume being read or is it being pushed aside, lost in the pile of resumes potential employers receive every day? Why are some more effective than others? As strange as this sounds, most resumes are written without a clear understanding of their true purpose. Simply put, a good resume should motivate management to interview you. Just providing basic information is not the same as generating interest.

What creates that type of interest? Accomplishments, achievements and detailed accounts of contributions to former and current employers can make a potential employer realize that you might be a valuable addition to his or her staff.

Consider these two brief, hypothetical resume samples from Controllers who worked for the same manufacturer during the same period of time. They even worked on similar projects. However, their resumes might not look alike at all.

Controller #1
1992 - 1996 Controller, ABC Manufacturing Company
Financial Manager for two manufacturing facilities, with six direct reports. Responsible for Payables, Payroll, Cost Accounting, Budgeting, General Ledger, Fixed Assets, and Financial Reporting.

Controller #2
1992 - 1996 Controller, ABC Manufacturing Company
Financial Manager for two manufacturing facilities, with six direct reports. Responsible for Budgeting, Cost Accounting, Financial Reporting, Payables, Payroll, General Ledger, and Fixed Assets.
    •  Led productivity and cost reduction efforts which realized over $2 Million in savings.
    •  Drove accountability and ownership of forecasts to deliver commitments.
    •  Implemented xyz manufacturing resource planning (MRP) system software.

Which one would you be more likely to interview? It could be that #1 achieved more than #2, but the resume doesn't show it. Suppose they had attended the same college and #1 graduated ranked at the very top of the class but didn't say so, while #2 said they graduated in the top 10%. Who would you interview? Tell your stories of accomplishment. Don't save them for the interview since you cannot be sure you will get that opportunity. A resume is a personalized and customized marketing document. If it is written as a routine, chronological record of jobs you have held, it will fail to generate interest.

Another important factor to consider is how easily identifiable essential  information within your resume is to your audience. Don't expect your resume to get more than 25-30 seconds of review before someone makes a decision to look at it further or throw it away. It is critical that the important points of your record, the achievements which make you an excellent candidate, are presented in a way that will be easy for the reader to find. Important points should be in bold or underlined, italicized, indented or bulleted. Make that information jump off the page and grab the managers attention. Remember
    •  Information contained in paragraphs must be hunted and may be missed.
    •  Information that is bold, underlined, italicized, indented or bulleted will stand out and get attention.

Regardless of the positions you've held, your contributions to your employer should be made obvious on your resume. Companies are in business to earn a profit and a candidate whose resume demonstrates a positive impact on a corporation's bottom line is much more likely to receive further consideration.

Finally, in this age of computerization it is a relatively simple matter to customize your resume for each position you seek. Of course, we do not refer to changes of fact. Above all, it should be an honest document. However, with whatever knowledge you have about the company and position you are pursuing, highlight the four or five accomplishments and skills which are most likely to generate interest.

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