Resume Tips From an Expert

Here's How to Use Your Resume to Build Your Brand

Why “build a brand” in the first place? Well, let’s face it – until you’re a hiring manager or executive recruiter gets to know you, you’re nothing but a commodity.

Therefore, you need to create for yourself what the marketing field calls a Unique Selling Proposition (USP), or a value proposition. In other words, you need to tell an employer why they should call YOU instead of the other candidates with just as much or more relevant experience.

Your USP is your unique combination of skills, strengths, experience and education – it’s this combination that no one else has. And you need to define your USP in your resume, which is your “30 second commercial” to a potential employer. Employers and recruiters may receive 80 to 150 resumes at a minimum for every position posted.

In fact, with well-known name brands, they can receive over 1000 applications! Therefore, it is imperative that you set yourself apart. Keep in mind, the resume’s job is not to get you a job; its goal is just to get you that first phone call.

In your resume, you should state in no uncertain terms what you can do for your next Manager and their company. It’s not about what you want – “I’m looking for a position that can utilize my strengths and can offer me career potential….” Scratch that!

Your summary statement should be all about what you offer them – “Having grown my market territory by 42% in the last two years, I have developed a systematic approach to business development that works and can affect your bottom line in a matter of months…” It should be immediately apparent to your next Direct Manager that it would be a safe bet to hire you.

Here are 10 things you shouldn’t have in a resume. Take these things off of your current resume today to get a better response:

1. Any detailed job history past 10-12 years, or putting a date on any accomplishment more than 15+ years old (it’s not as relevant and may hint at your age)
2. Any past salary
3. Dates of graduation from college
4. Anything regarding high school graduation – if you don’t have any college, just don’t put anything
5. Beginning and ending months of employment – only put years
6. Just a list of job duties or job responsibilities – hiring managers don’t want a job description, they want to know what you actually accomplished in the job – achievements, achievements, achievements! So, what did you do that went above and beyond just showing up for work every day?
7. Personal stuff – hiring managers don’t take the time to read it, and it’s not relevant to their bottom line impacts. You can always bring up commonalities in the interview.
8. References – the time and place is later, after a successful face to face interview, or if they ask for them
9. “References upon request” – everyone knows they are
10. 2 or more pages – you have 6 to 10 seconds of someone’s attention, so it needs to read like a 30 second commercial – give them a teaser so that they’ll call you to find out more!

7 characteristics of a good resume:

1. The resume should ideally be one page in length
2. At the top, the job title/titles you want must be listed – they need to know what you’re looking for, and at what level you feel qualified
3. Your resume must be scanning-ready with key words related to the jobs you want
4. The 1st third of your resume must be a summary of how you have either made a company money or saved a company money, and connect the dots for the employer by telling them how you can do the same for them
5. Your resume must avoid revealing any liabilities, such as age, gap in employment, job hopping, etc.
6. Your resume must sell transferable skills and experience factors
7. The resume must present a first-class image

 And to make sure YOUR resume rises to the top of the stack, try this:

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