How to Create a Perfect Resume?

A resume is like matchmaking in the HR world. One meeting is enough to understand whether to take the groom as a son-in-law or not. So the recruiter from the very first lines gives the impression of you as a potential employee and decides whether you are beneficial to the employer. Do you want to create a perfect resume? Let’s talk!

Great! From others…

Historically, many resumes simply list the places of work and their functions. “Collecting information and preparing the text for publication”, “analysis of the financial market”, and “interaction with buyers”. If you feel like yawning, know that you are not alone in your desire. The recruiter’s reaction is about the same. Most likely, he will put the resume aside and subsequently will not even remember about it. After all, why does he need to know what a journalist writes, a teacher teaches, and an analyst analysis? That is, in fact, he does what he should.

The applicant often simply copies the duties from the job description or from the job descriptions. Such a resume will not produce a wow effect, since it does not distinguish the candidate in a competitive market and suggests that he does not really need a job.

If a person has not bothered to write a resume, then the recruiter will not bother to call.

“Imagine a watch mechanism where there are many different parts and the big cannot work without a little ,” explains Alexandra Martynova, career and employment consultant . The  same is true in any organization. Any activity is aimed at a common result. And a “small” position too. If you are a “simple HR manager”, then correct and accurate document management saves the company from the sanctions of inspection authorities. Even a “simple guard” has a result – preventing outsiders from entering the object, saving valuable property in case of a pipe break, and so on. Within your responsibilities, the result is already laid. That is what should be indicated in the resume.

In a competitive job market, it is essential to be able to stand out and stand out from the competition. It is the description of achievements in the summary that will help to achieve this. The scale of the results of work may be different, depending on the size of the company, the KPI of the employee and other factors. At the same time, their very presence in the resume indicates the effectiveness of the candidate, confirms his success and emphasizes the difference from others. An HR specialist will pay attention to a resume with achievements, since this is key information for him, reflecting the performance of the applicant and allowing him to turn the text of the resume into a success story.

Live numbers

A resume will look “a million”, or even more expensive, if the functionality is turned into achievements. These are those successes that can be expressed in concrete terms – for example, in numbers or terms. They have a magical effect on the recruiter. He will understand that the candidate took the initiative, strived for better results and achieved the goals set by the management or his own goals in the work – that is, he boldly demonstrated his effectiveness. Recruiters call such candidates first of all.

Aleksey Garyaev clarifies: “Achievements are quantitative or qualitative results of work that can be reflected in numbers, flawlessly built work processes or successfully implemented projects. If we talk about certificates, awards and other rewards, it is not the very fact of their presence that is important, but the result that became the basis for receiving them. A certificate for long service is not an achievement, but a diploma for the 1st place in the competition for exceeding the plan for the sales manager, reducing costs by 20% for the purchaser, the absence of fines after audits for the accountant – these are the results that should be included in the resume. Building a process from scratch, its qualitative improvement, automation or digitalization are also achievements.

Right on target

It is worth choosing achievements that were the result of the fulfillment of direct duties and strengthening the resume in relation to the target position. These are the fulfillment and over fulfillment of plans, the reduction of negative and the increase of positive indicators, the elimination of risks and the provision of security. “If the office manager was engaged in sales and succeeded in this, and also agreed with the landlord to reduce the cost of renting an office, then it is worth writing about it, and keeping silent about sales, since they are not related to the direct tasks of a classic office manager,” reveals secrets Alexey Garyaev. 

Such information will either be perceived neutrally and overload the resume, or raise additional questions for the applicant about his reliable motivation to work as an office manager. Or another example: if the applicant has successfully carried out claims work for several years and is really good at it, but does not want to do this in the future, then this unconditional achievement should not be mentioned, since the future employer will definitely assign this task to him.

Also read : How to represent yourself in a resume?

Principle of seven

It is not worth describing in detail your successes throughout your entire career – verbosity is good only when writing Harry Potter. Choose the most significant and compare it with the position for which the resume was written. You can dwell in detail on the last five years, briefly – on earlier, but not “ancient” ten years – it is this work experience of the applicant that is usually of interest to the employer. Later experience and results are not relevant to him.

Invisible feats

There are unexpected situations. It seems that you work for the benefit of the company and the management appreciates it but in the end it turns out that there are no special achievements. As they say, there is something to remember – there is nothing to tell about. But this is a delusion. “If you think that there is nothing to indicate, then you can focus on the correct description of your professional experience ,” advises Alexandra Martynova . “  A novice specialist should pay attention to listing his knowledge and skills acquired at the university, in courses and when participating in various social events . ”

Let’s decipher. If you are a yesterday’s graduate who, to put it mildly, has not much work experience, tell us in your resume about participation in Olympiads, profile projects, completed term papers and theses. If there is a practice in the anamnesis that can be attracted to a vacancy, HR himself ordered to indicate it. You can also interest a recruiter in personal qualities. The main thing is to be able to fill your own worth in a good way. This is not the worst skill when it comes to finding a job. For example, don’t just list “mindfulness” , but  “mindfulness that allows you to quickly solve problems with maximum concentration”.

Tip :   You can add a qualitative characteristic to almost any duty. For example, “Negotiating with clients” can easily be turned into “Ensuring success in negotiations with clients due to a diplomatic approach and high client focus, which led to the conclusion of 5 large contracts.” It is enough to think and play with the wording, not forgetting how the description of these achievements will strengthen the resume in relation to the desired position. And, say, driving luxury cars and the obligation of a personal driver to transfer into the category of achievements will not work. This will be an advantage over other candidates, which is worth mentioning in the resume, but not an achievement.

Also read : How to create a cover letter?

Bonus: Golden Rules for Listing Achievements to Turn Your Resume into a Book of Destiny

1. Achievements must be indicated.
2. They can be personally yours or your team, but be sure to correspond to reality.
3. Achievements should reflect your actual performance and follow logically from your responsibilities.
4. They must be measurable in numbers or quality.
5. Achievements don’t have to win the recruiter over with their beauty. They can simply be a reflection of performance against targets.
6. They should clearly demonstrate how you are better than your competitors.