RSS
Home
Resume fast fact: Brevity is key to capturing employer interest
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Determined to give employers every factoid of your career and accomplishments? You may be headed down the wrong path (especially if that path is supposed to have an interview at the end of it).
One of the biggest resume killers is the tendency to give details buried inside lengthy block paragraphs.
Note that "lengthy" here means anything exceeding 3-4 lines at the MOST.
Worse yet, after being told to include bulleted sentences, some job hunters create long-winded block bullets with the same information!
If this has been your mode of resume writing, I have bad news for you: Your resume is turning off the reader.
And yes, I AM referring to your professional summary profile as well (that’s a subject for another column!).
As an example, the following paragraph came from the BEFORE version of a financial executive resume:
- Responsible for finance and financial reporting, treasury, accounting, tax, and legal. Restructured accounting and financial reporting, converting finance function from company weakness to a strength. Led capital raising effort that culminated in multi-million dollar simultaneous bank and equity funding. Restructured lease and seller-carried note financing arrangements. Fixed out of control inventory process in equipment resale business. Managed CPA financial statement review. After setting company’s financial infrastructure in place, turned day to day function over to a controller.
Here is the AFTER version of the same information:
-Transformed finance function from company weakness to core competency, taking leadership of financial reporting, accounting, treasury, tax, and legal functions. Achieved growth and market share gains by improving corporate financial health and accounting practices.
-Raised $1.5M additional capital, producing simultaneous, 7-figure bank and equity funding.
-Revitalized and stabilized financial infrastructure; turned over daily operations to controller.
As you can see, there’s a side benefit to shortening your resume sentences besides making them easier to read.
Using less words forces you to tighten the message and quickly nail the meaning for the reader.
My recommendation? Aim for concise, easy-to-digest pieces of information in each section of your resume to get the best response from recruiters.
What's different about executive resume writing and why might YOUR resume be missing the mark? Find out by visiting An Expert Resume, where credentialed, award-winning executive resume writer and former recruiter Laura Smith-Proulx provides executive resume samples and services that have attained a 98% success rate.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
- What must be at the top of your resume in order to stand out?
- Creating an 'ageless' resume to avoid discrimination
- 9 signs that your resume won't make the cut
- Tap into a new resume trend: using color to stand out
- What does a powerful resume have that yours doesn't?
- 5 key components of a cover letter that opens doors
- Secrets of a professional resume writer: where to place crucial information
