Is your resume making the reader work too much?
One of my favorite copywriters (David Garfinkel) always says he who does the work gets paid.
He’s usually talking about business sales pages but the same holds true because…
Yes, page. As in single.
That’s a freebie piece of advice just to warm you up.
But what I really want to talk about is a resume I saw posted on LinkedIn by someone recently let get go from her company.
I can tell she has some potentially solid experience in the marketing space, but some of the bullets weren’t quite doing their job.
Because they’re making me work to figure out why they’re on the page, which means if
I’m the hiring manager I could very well be the one to get paid…
… by not paying her.
I’m going to take a look at one of the bullets (the first one on the page) to show you what I mean:
Collaborating with the marketing manager, creative director, sales team, and agency partners on marketing strategy.
Talking about the size of the team could make this more powerful.
I know from looking at the resume that this verb being in active tense is weird for a job shown as in the past.
Additionally, the word “collaborating” is kind of giving me a just along for the ride kind of vibe, which I think is not giving her enough credit.
Now, about the strategy, what makes this useful to someone reading your resume. If you can talk about achieved results or even targeted results, you’ll find your resume bullets to be more impactful.
Check this revised version:
Led a 12 person cross-functional team of marketing, sales, and agency partners to develop a strategy that projected a 28% increase in revenue.
That puts a little more meat on the bone for the reader to sink their teeth into.
Now, the resume was aesthetically nice and some of the bullets were well-written but imagine them all having a punch, working together like an army of fire ants marching toward a single goal. (Cue Dave Matthews Band).
That’s what you need to be shooting for. Same applies if you’re pitching for your business.
If you want to learn more about writing a resume that lures in hiring managers and recruiters like the call of a siren, you’re going to want to hurry over to this link: