One of the struggles our clients commonly mention when they have attempted their own resume before hiring Revision Resume, is figuring out what to include and what to leave out. In fact, resumes we review and critique often include things that professional resume writers know should be left off. Yet, these same resumes also often are missing important wording or details.
The key to creating a successful resume is to have the right balance of information.
Don't Include Your Entire History on Your Resume
If you have been in the workforce for 30 years, you do not need to include what you did in your first few jobs. If you have graduated college, you don't need to include information pertaining to high school. Frequently, job seekers want to include every detail of their work and education history. Yet employers don't want to have to sort through all of that to figure out what is relevant to the position they have open. Instead, they want recent information and details that pertain to this specific position. Really think twice before including information that is older than 10-15 years ago.
Volunteer Roles are Acceptable IF They are Relevant
Job seekers are encouraged to include volunteer roles only if they are relevant to the position they are seeking. If you are treasurer for the school PTA, feel free to include that on a resume for a job in a related financial role. If you are seeking a job as an accountant, it may not be necessary to include that you coached your son's baseball team to the championship game.
Revision Resume sometimes finds that a client has included way too many volunteer roles that are completely irrelevant. This clutters up the resume and makes it hard for the hiring manager to figure out if the candidate's experience is actually well-aligned with the job. Other times, Revision Resume learns of a client's volunteer position that is directly linked to the job they are seeking, yet they didn't think to include it on their own resume.
Current Resume Trends are Important
In addition to determining which work experience to include on your resume, it is important to also make sure you are following current resume trends by including correct resume sections. A few years ago, it was expected that you would include an objective statement on your resume to let the hiring manager know what you were looking for in a new role. Now that section is seen as unnecessary and undesired. Your resume should demonstrate how you meet the needs of the hiring company, not how they meet your needs. Someone that includes an objective statement on their resume will be seen as providing an outdated resume, and some hiring managers use that as a reason to reject the resume entirely.
Action Verbs and Specific Numbers
Often, clients show us resumes that are just lists of responsibilities. They will have a job title and then underneath it will say "Responsible for this" and "Responsible for that." Hiring managers are not looking for what you were responsible for. They want to know the results. Using action verbs and specific numbers will help show hiring managers how you actually handled your responsibilities in prior jobs, as well as showcasing what an effective employee you will be. So instead of saying you were "Responsible for the holiday department" you might say "Managed a group of 15 employees to achieve an revenue growth of 15% over a 1 year period."
Finding the right balance of what to include and what to leave off of your resume is difficult. Professional resume writers are trained to learn how to properly optimize each resume. Revision Resume will create a resume with the right balance so that your unique skills and work experience are showcased!
Instead of trying to figure it out on your own, let Revision Resume help you achieve success.
Related Reading:
