In my tech career, I recruited management and technical candidates for IT consulting firms and Fortune 500 and SMB clients.
I interviewed a wide variety of job seekers and pored over the resumes we received – noting what worked and what failed.
Here’s what I learned on my side of the recruiting table:
A poorly written resume might not even get your career off the ground.
After moving from Chicago to Denver, I assisted HR in resume screening in between my projects. There, I stumbled across a resume from a Chicago-area IT leader at a major company – and it was someone with whom I’d worked as a consultant.
My entire project team thought she was an expert at infrastructure, development, and design. Her reputation for faultless, massive software rollouts and systems configuration was known company-wide!
Yet, my consulting firm had rejected her months ago. Why?
I took a closer look. For such a solid leader, I was AMAZED at what she omitted from her resume:
- Her reputation as a go-to leader in the Fortune 500 engineering industry.
- The number of times she saved huge software deployments valued at $800K+ when the going got tough.
- Her ability to educate 80+ team members in new infrastructure strategies.
- The complex configuration projects she’d streamlined as an indispensable, go-to leader.
EVERYTHING I’d heard about her was MISSING from that resume! In its place were mundane statements describing coding, technical details, and project work, with no differentiating details.
It looked like every other resume I’d seen, and our consulting company had apparently decided they didn’t need another duplicate of the talent they had in place.
Insider Resume Writing Tip from a Recruiter:
If you plan to write your own resume, forget outdated resume writing myths (see Should You Write Your Own Executive Resume?) and challenge what you think should be on that document.
Ask your peers and bosses what they think of your work. Interview yourself and brainstorm ideas on what differentiates you. Then take the time to capture these personal branding details.
A so-so resume might work… if you’ve been referred.
Like many employers, we loved hiring based on referrals, and even rewarded the employees who recommended candidates after the hire.
As a result, I constantly interviewed job seekers who were referred to us, including some whose resumes were clearly lacking.
These resumes would have 100% escaped our notice, if it weren’t for the referral!
Yhey lacked detail, keywords, achievements, and context.
Even with personal introductions, it was difficult to interview these candidates because of the short sentences, missing keywords, and lack of accomplishments on their resumes. If I hadn’t been diligent, I could’ve easily missed these job seekers’ value propositions.
Insider Resume Writing Tip from a Recruiter:
Even if you have the most enthusiastic colleague ready to vouch for your skills, you’ll still get best results by adding accomplishment-driven language and examples of ROI.
Otherwise, even a savvy employer can miss the distinguishing factors that make you the top candidate.
A stellar resume can actually bypass objections and win the job by itself.
I saw this happen in real life when screening a candidate for both our consulting firm and a client corporation.
Despite having a well-written, polished resume, I could tell this candidate was not right for our operation. He was unable to field basic questions and it was apparent that his technical skills were lacking.
Imagine my surprise when my client boss walked in the next week, waving this person’s resume and telling me how excited he was to find the candidate. I said I’d already passed on him, and my boss was incredulous: “But this is a great resume!”
Other client managers also confirmed they’d interviewed him and found his skills lacking, just as I had done.
However, my client boss actually hired this person (over the objections of his OWN STAFF), based ONLY on a well-written resume.
Insider Resume Writing Tip from a Recruiter:
No, you shouldn’t get hired if your resume is flawless and your performance doesn’t match it. But don’t discount the power of words… especially if they can help you market strengths attractive to a new employer!
Resumes should emphasize strong points, rather than tout negative information.
If there’s something you don’t want to discuss (such a bad situation with a former boss or a volatile work environment at your last job), please DO NOT over-emphasize it on your resume!
At one point, we screened a candidate whose resume showed a 2-month job with no details.
During her panel interview, one of my colleagues asked point-blank why her last job was so short. He couldn’t help it – the job entry was so minimal that it stuck out.
The candidate burst into tears and said the boss disliked her and removed her from the team. By the end of our meeting, she was almost in panic mode.
However, if her resume had focused more on her adaptability in new IT shops, software skills, and ability to coordinate high-profile projects, she might have had a shot – without a bad situation becoming the bomb that decimated her interview.
Insider Resume Writing Tip from a Recruiter:
Lead with your STRENGTHS! Describe projects and skills as much as possible so you can talk about your strongest contributions.
DO NOT call attention to data that fails to portray you in the best light.
Many people have a limitation in their backgrounds (perhaps an unexpected layoff or termination). Find a way to focus on your value by using these resume tips that have stood the test of time, rather than putting bad news front-and-center.
The bottom line: even if you’ve got a great shot at a new position or promotion, along with a sound network, NEVER discount the value of a well-crafted, personally branded resume.
Dig deep into your career history, take note of your top successes, get feedback on your differentiators, and PROMOTE yourself as strongly as possible!
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- Laura Smith-Proulx, CCMC, CPRW, CPBA, TCCS, COPNS, CIC, CTTCC, NCOPE
