Is Your Resume At The Top?

There have been over 9.6 million individual recordings/albums released in the history of music. Among those, only 10 have sold over 40 million copies each worldwide. What is the likelihood of an artist creating a recording and thinking, "I'll bet this reaches over 40 million in sales one day"? Very unlikely.

In job search, is your resume up against those odds? Of course not. However, each time you apply for a position, you will certainly be competing against 10, 20, 50, 100, or more individuals. The question most, if not all, have is: how do I get to the top? It all starts with your resume (and LinkedIn- but that's for another article). These are the key things to remember about creating a resume that tops the others:

• Format/Length- keep it at the most preferred length for someone in your situation (e.g., students- 1 page; executives- 3 pages; managers- 2 pages; etc.).
• Grammar- keep the mistakes to a bare minimum- better yet, keep it at ZERO. Review it thoroughly. Have someone else review it. Take a ruler, start from the bottom, and read each line from bottom to top.
• Content- keep the focus on your achievements vs. your job duties. HINT FOR ACHIEVEMENTS: think about your most important duties. Then, ask yourself: how well did I fulfill those duties? Was I recognized for doing so? Did I do anything outside of my duties that benefitted the company? Did I contribute to a group project that was successful? (remember, collective achievements can be included on resumes as well as individual achievements).

Those are very good starting points for your resume. Maintain the same level of quality in your other documents and communications (e.g., cover letter, messages to potential hiring managers, etc.), and you'll put yourself in the best position to reach the top spot among job candidates.