What do you MEAN to convey in your Resume

Yes, what do you MEAN to convey to the reader is how you should think of presenting your resume. I often come across resumes that make no sense of where the details are leading and what's the aim so to avoid this, build MEAN into your resume!

Pro Tip 1: Identify and research your destination before you sit in the car!

Here are four easy pointers for you to keep in mind so that you stay focused while penning down your career details, remember less is more on a resume.

MEAN - Motive, rElevance, Action, quaNtification

Motive - what is the motive of writing your resume, is it a change of role? promotion? change of industry? The information on your resume should flow from top to bottom and sing the same tune. If you are targeting operations then write more about operational achievements than project management deliverables and vice versa. Your resume should talk more about the target domain and everything can take a lesser priority.

rElevance - keep details in relevance with what the hiring employer is seeking; read the job description for keywords and role requirements. You might mention the best of details on your resume but if it's not relevant for the target role, it doesn't really interest the recruiter. Say if you are targeting talent acquisition but your accomplishments are heavy on quality control, that's unrelated.

Action - get some action into your resume by listing highlights rather than a laundry list of routine tasks. No one, really no one is interested in knowing what was your routine like or what was your in/out time but how did you add value to each role? Think of it like - what was that something, that you could do, which no one else could do in that position.

quaNtification - add quantification to your accomplishments and bring immense impact to your efforts. If you claim of stirring any kind of efficiency but don't add a number (% or monetary impact) to prove what was the outcome, it will still be plain text and won't bring any value to the table.

Pro Tip: Apply STAR to your deliverables and see the magic unfold. Explain why & how of what you did and what was the action, what did it save? or how did it help?

Read more about the STAR approach in my first Newsletter !

Last but not the least, I'm dropping this (explosive) nugget of wisdom for my dear audience - the transitioning military and veterans!

You need to switch from writing for the distinguished GOC-in-C to writing in simple English for a civilian recruiter/reader.

Summary

Focus your resume on the target role or your domain of interest. Get a sense of the role by looking up similar job descriptions, see what are the hiring employers looking for (repeatedly) and build that into your resume.

Caution: never copy-paste and write your own words & sentences, please!

Here's a quick summary of what we need to do:

• M - stay focused on your Motive of writing the resume
• E - write in rElevance to the role requirements
• A - add some Action into your deliverables
• N - lift your achievement by adding quaNtification

?? This is my second Newsletter and hope you like what I bring to the table! To stay current with Resume Writing and LinkedIn best practices particularly focused on transitioning military veterans, please click on my profile and follow me ??

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Who am I?

Assuming that you may not know me (beyond my LinkedIn Profile Picture, Banner and Headline) so here’s a quick introduction to?why I do what I do!

I am a Resume Writer based in India and being a military spouse, I have lived the uncertainties that are part and parcel of a career change; there are similar challenges faced by transitioning veterans while trying their luck in the corporate-civvy streets. Given this lack of awareness, I’m all game to ring bells on the essence of presenting a relevant military-to-corporate resume and a fully optimized LinkedIn profile.

To view more of my content, search for?#VarshaaRT ?and follow me for frequent updates on Resume Writing, Transitioning Military Resume & LinkedIn profile tips.