Step 7: Killer Profile: How to Grab Attention with Your Resume

01. List your unique attributes which would make your resume different from others?
Time Needed: 20 minutes

02. Tailor your resume. List some words & phrases that appear in the job advertisements you collected earlier. Update your resume with these words/sentences.
Time Needed: 15 minutes

03. Does your resume contain Action Verbs? Have you included all your hard skills?
Time Needed: 30 minutes

04. List a few keywords which would make your resume standout.
Time Needed: 30 minutes

To complete these activities use the following Playbook.

Copywriting Techniques

01. Think of something which is special about you. What is your Unique Selling Proposition?

Identify a couple of strengths which make you special – How will you differentiate yourself from others competing for this job? This will become the “theme” of your resume.Throughout your resume you will weave in skills, accomplishments and experience highlights which will support this theme.

Having a theme in your resume makes it more cohesive and gives it a specific personality so that it truly reflects you.

Examples of your unique strengths could be “Relationship Building Abilities”, “Organizational Abilities” etc. You can then higlight the corresponding relevant work done throughout the resume which prove those abilities.

02. Tailor Your Resume Based On The Job Advertisements

Target Company & Job: You will need to customize each resume you send for a particular job advertisement.Review the advertisement and incorporate some of the skills, words and phrases mentioned there in your resume.

03. Stand Out: Action Verbs & Hot Skills

Make a list of action verbs which you will use to highlight your accomplishments:
Toolkit: Action Verbs Avoid cliches. Do not directly mention soft skills in your resume. Instead of writing “communication skills”, write “Presented ABC Corporation’s business strategy to the members of the Press”. Refer to the cheatsheet for ideas about translating the common soft skills to the relevant work experience.
Toolkit: Cheatsheet: Identify Your Skills

04. Instant Impact: Keywords

Make a list of keyword which you will use in your resume.
Toolkit: Cheatsheet: Keywords

Different people look for different things in your resume.

Your personal and professional contacts will focus on your profle. Then they “may” read your skills and accomplishment stories.

Recruiters use keywords to search. Then they read your skills and accomplishments which can be marketed to the hiring managers.

Hiring Managers want to know what you can do to help them be successful – They need proof which is concrete, specific and quanitfied. They are interested in Accomplishments.

Human Resources look for skills and qualifications exactly as mentioned in the job advertisement – They would also do a “text-book” evaluation of your personality etc. Eg for a computer operator job they would try to see if the candidate is capable of sitting for long hours in a chair. Remember the HR professional would always go by the “text-book”.

Executives look for intelligence, energy and integrity.

Remember, even though you tailor your resume, your resume must still immediately appeal to these different readers of your resume – since they would all review the same resume.