Your resume: the real misconceptions with simple advice
It has been stated that recruiters and hiring managers spend less than 10 seconds reviewing your resume. Although this is accurate for an initial overview of the resume, it’s the resumes that stand out amongst the crowd that ends up getting a longer review and contacted to interview. The important thing to remember is that you are being INITIALLY assessed by the information listed on your resume, not via a phone call or in-person meeting with the hiring manager. Here at Agility Partners, we work closely with 50+ companies in the Columbus market and beyond to assist with their IT staffing needs. I review hundreds of resumes per week and am committed to aligning professionals with the best avenues to continue their career growth.
I have been involved in the hiring process for the past decade. Here are some common misconceptions and simple formatting changes that can be used to update your resume - for the better!
Common Formatting Changes:
The header of the resume: Avoid over cluttering this area with graphics or several different fonts. Simply list your name, title, and location. It’s also not necessary to list your full address. Instead, you can list the city and state you live in.
Quantify your experience: Instead of simply stating that you are a manager, or a team lead, including the number of employees you oversee, whether they’re onshore or offshore, etc.
Include Accurate Dates: More times than not people do not update their resume from “Present”, even if they are no longer employed with their former employer. Additionally, people will often only include the years that they were with a company but don’t include the month and year that they start and end in each role. The problem with this is that working with a company from “2017-2018” could be 2-3 months of experience or 24 months of experience. Using Month & Dates gives employers a better indication of your time spent in each role.
Verbiage: Avoid overusing buzz-words like “dedicated”, “hard-working”, “expert”, or “outgoing”. These are things that should be expected of you already in a professional environment.
Common Misconception: “My resume should only be one page long.”
It is true that a resume doesn’t need to be 10+ pages, but anything up to 4-6 pages is acceptable if the information on the resume is relevant (more on this later). More than likely you can fit everything in 2-4 pages. Regardless of the length of your resume, the most relevant information should be on page 1.
Tailor Your Resume to each job you apply for. Spend the time to tailor your resume to each job/company you’re applying for. This doesn’t mean that you need to write up a resume from scratch for each job you’re applying for. You should have a “stock resume” that you can make subtle changes to. Make sure you review the job description and have listed all relative experience on your resume. Move around bullet points so that the first 3-5 duties you had in your previous roles relate to the role you’re applying for.
DO NOT list things you don’t have experience in. Likewise, if you list a technology on your resume, be prepared to talk about your experience using it.
Keep in mind that the resume is just the first step in the process of securing your new role. Use your network or recruiters to help align you with the right opportunities. They will be there to assist with not only resume reformatting but interview preparations, as well. If you’d like me to review your resume, or if you’d like to schedule a time to connect for a phone call, please email me at kyle.benton@agilitypartners.io.