Resume Writing Advice
The question today is, “My resume isn’t getting any traction. Can you help?”
Yes, I’d be thrilled to help. It’s my passion to help people with their resumes, their CVS. I’m currently working with clients in 32 different countries across the world.
If you’re not getting any traction on your resume today there are two reasons. One is that you are sending it out, just using the very narrow percentile of advertised jobs. Here in Canada, only 8% of jobs are advertised and in the US it’s 19%. In the UK it is about 28 – 29%. So not a big chunk, a larger chunk, Yes, but you need to embrace networking. So you’re probably just using that fraction whereas you need to use the big job search wheel.
Applicant Tracking System
Perhaps your resume is probably not in the right format. In the last four- or five-years resumes have done a 360-degree complete change. They’ve gone from being manually read by human eyes. Every single one of them. And sadly, technology has been integrated into resume/CV processing. It doesn’t matter whether you’re sending it to a corporate job or whether you’re sending it to an executive recruiter, they all engage what’s called ATS or Applicant Tracking System. It’s an application, a computer application or software application, which screens your resume. And one, yes, one mistake, just one character that is wrong or too many lines, shading, or too much bolding or a multitude of other things can count you out of an opportunity where you are otherwise the perfect candidate.
So I want you to have a dynamic performance driven…that’s crucial, a performance driven, resume or CV. What do I mean by performance driven? Well, you’re not going to be hired today (unlike the old days) because of your responsibilities; you’re going to be hired for your performance, otherwise known as accomplishments. So you need to articulate in your resume, your accomplishments. How much money can you make? How much money can you save? Can you streamline operations? Can you eliminate headcount? You need to convert from being very bland, to be very bold and brassy; get your name known out there. A CV or a resume is just one part of that overall job search, that career management, that will get your name out there.
I can Help You!
If you wanted a free, no-obligation, no sales pitch, resume critique. I will be thrilled to give you 30 minutes of my time. I go through it from top to bottom, but be warned, I do say it as it is, and I will tell you why you’re not getting any traction. It’s probably for one of those two reasons: you’re marketing to the wrong audience, the wrong bracket, just purely marketing adverts. Whereas there’s a huge audience out there, you need to tap into your network and executive recruiters.
Plus, I bet it’s the wrong format. You are selling yourself on those two or three pieces of paper vital to you. Hopefully, you have now decided to make that effort to send me your resume. If so, email me in the message section on LinkedIn, or send me an email using the link posted below. I’ll be happy to have a conversation with you and go through your resume from top to bottom, because one mistake, can count you out of one interview. And one job.
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