Many people approach their resumes from the wrong angle. They start by looking for a template. Then, they try to shoehorn their skills and experience into that template. This can make for some painful reading for recruiters. There is one simple trick to writing a more effective resume: demonstrate your leadership skills.
When people stop and take time to think about the audience they’re actually writing for, it almost always makes their writing better. And it’s especially important to make a good impression on recruiters by sharing all of the leadership skills you have to offer. By thinking about what HR professionals and recruiters would like to see, people are much more likely to compile a resume that really works for them.
By putting themselves in the shoes of the person who’ll be reading it, resume writers should naturally be coming up with reader-friendly formats. A solid resume will be concise. Unless it’s an academic CV or tailored to a very specific industry, a resume should only be one page long. There should be enough blank white space that it’s easy on the eye.
The next step should be to craft a compelling story with the resume. Spend the most time and detail on leadership skills and experience the recruiter is specifically looking for. Candidates need to find ways to show what they’ve learned over time. For example, specify things like increased responsibilities, new processes that were implemented and so on. Companies are interested in leadership and teamwork and want to see that reflected in job candidates.
On the other side of the process, the first step in going through resumes for many recruiters is really just scanning them. Anything with obvious mistakes will be removed from the pile. Anything that stands out in a positive way will go into another pile. Before submitting a resume for a professional position, consider sending it to a trusted friend who works in the same industry or a similar one. It’s always a wonderful idea to get a second set of eyes on any important document before submitting it for consideration.