How To Create A Resume That Leads To Employment

Career Kuel Category Expert: Gayle Petrillo

Things are not always what they seem. First impressions are essential in every phase of business, from your resume, through the interview process, on your first day on the job and well after, with each meeting, and with every new contact.

Recently a business acquaintance introduced me to a friend of hers out of state. She had been laid off due to COVID-19 and was looking to relocate to a familiar area in a nearby state. For several weeks she had been sending out her resume with no luck. I reached out to her and suggested she send me her resume for a complimentary review.

“At first glance, it looked professionally designed”

At first glance, it looked professionally designed, and her experience seemed to have depth and breadth. I was sure it would have been noticed by recruiters. So what was the problem?

Glaring Issues:

As I read through her resume, the issues became quite apparent.

The details describing her roles and responsibilities lacked specifics. Nowhere within the content was she highlighting her accomplishments with specifics. There were no references to percentage of increased market share, what her divisional budget was, the makeup of her teams, etc.

Additionally, this resume had the same adjectives throughout the body of it. The word redundancies indicated a lack of vocabulary, creativity, and resourcefulness.

Fixing Her Resume:

I shared with my client Powerful Action Words and together we replaced the adjectives throughout her resume. I coached, seeking answers to specific questions about each role and promotion, her duties and responsibilities and KPIs (key performance indicators) by which she was held accountable. And we identified specific core competencies that an ATS (automated tracking system) would ‘spot’.

After being contacted by one company, she called me and asked what I recommended for her first experience with a virtual interview. Working together, we chose the camera angle, and her outfit including jewelry and makeup.

Success!

“moral of the story: don’t buy the most expensive item or service without knowledge of exactly what you are paying for”

Within two days of submitting her new resume, this gal not only landed several first interviews, she got two second interviews which led to two job offers, both in the preferred city she wanted to move to. As of January 4th, she is in her preferred city with an amazing job.

The moral of the story is, don’t buy the most expensive item or service without knowledge of exactly what you are paying for. The original resume that looked professionally designed did not do justice for what this client originally paid.