The Winning Resume By Veronica Alfred
Writing a resume can be frustrating, especially when there are a zillion contradicting opinions about what works and doesn’t work. I recently figured why it was tough to write a resume by testing out resume types and personally applying to some companies. This gave me a huge opportunity to measure, analyze, and test the effectiveness of different resume types. In this article, I’ll share what I have learned as well as provide some valuable tips on the best ways to write a winning resume. Over the years, I have read various “how to write a resume” blogs, attended several employability workshops and I realized that most of the advice out there has not been proven against the actual end goal of getting a job. It’s easy to say “one page works best” when you’ve seen it happen a few times, but how does this hold up when we look at 100 theories against resumes from different industries, experience levels, and job titles. Based on my research, here’s what works and what doesn’t work: Quantitative Results/Achievements Most resumes lack them. The goal is to give the recruiter a solid reason to not only look over the full resume but also move you through to the next stage of the interview process. Many of us tend to flood our resumes with a list of job responsibilities/duties forgetting that the recruiter knows what you should have been doing every day on the job. Think about it, the reason for a role is to meet a need, your resume should speak to your knowledge of the need and how you have tackled these challenges successfully. This has been tried and tested by yours truly and I must say, the invitations came within hours of applying. Here’s an example: Executed in-house marketing strategy that resulted in a 15% increase in monthly leads along with a 5% drop in the cost per lead Simple Design These days, it’s easy to get carried away with our mission to “stand out.” I’ve seen colourful Canva resumes from graphic designers, video resumes, and even resumes with images of candidates in very unprofessional outfits. While those can work in very specific situations, we want to aim for a strategy that consistently gets results. The format I saw the most success with was a black and white template with sections in this format: Professional Summary/ObjectiveSkills/Interests Education Experience- focus on achievements) References (Available on request) According to research, hiring managers scan resumes for an average of 6 seconds. If your resume is in an unfamiliar format, those 6 seconds won’t be very comfortable for the hiring manager. Our brains prefer things we can easily recognize and digest so you want to make sure that a hiring manager can get the full scope just by glancing at your resume. Short and Concise Resume As times change, processes change too. Back in the day, we had 3-4 pages of resumes to prove that we had been successful or good enough for a role. We would even go as far as including volunteer, industrial attachments, and summer jobs just to make our resumes lengthy. Today it is the opposite with the introduction of ATS software and focus being on accomplishments and not job duties. As much as possible, you want to make your CV short, simple, straight to the point, and specific to the role you are applying for. Here’s what did not work: Grammatical Issues (typos, spelling errors, & grammatical mistakes) In my research and years of reviewing resumes, I found that close to 60% of resumes have some sort of typo or grammatical issue. Have your resume reviewed on three separate occasions – by spell-checking software, like Grammarly, by a friend and by a professional. Spell check should be covered if you’re using Microsoft Word or Google Docs to create your resume. Lengthy Resumes As earlier stated, recruiters spend an average of six seconds reviewing your resume and if it’s more than one or two pages, it probably isn’t going to be read. Increase your margins, decrease your font, and cut down your experience to highlight the most relevant pieces for the role. When you’re dealing with recruiters who see hundreds of resumes every day, you want to make their lives as easy as possible. Buzzwords It is important to not use too many buzzwords. Yes, you’re a hard-working innovator with excellent communication skills but so is nearly every job applicant you’re competing with – at least according to their resumes. Instead of using buzzwords, write naturally, use bullets, and include quantitative results whenever possible. Think about it, would you rather hire a salesperson who “is responsible for driving new business across various sectors to help companies achieve their goals” or “drove $15M of new business last quarter, including the largest deal in company history”? An example: ‘Creative,’ ‘outside the box,’ ‘innovative’ What you think it says: “I come up with good, new ideas.” “If you could think ‘outside the box,’ you’d be able to phrase it less blandly,” Scherwin says. These trite descriptors can undermine your case if you don’t back them up with specifics. In addition to the above, I have also found that resumes with a link to a comprehensive LinkedIn profile have a 71% better chance of hearing back, 76% of resumes are discarded for an unprofessional email address. Resumes with a photo have an 88% rejection rate. 58% of resumes have typos. Applicant tracking software typically eliminates 75% of resumes due to a lack of keywords and phrases being present. Now that you know every mistake you need to avoid, the first item on your to-do list is to comb through your current resume and make sure it doesn’t violate anything mentioned above. This experiment led me to understand that If you don’t know what consistently works, you can’t lay out a system to get there.
How Hobbies Can Help You Connect With Employers
Sometimes a hobby is more than a hobby Do you like long walks on the beach and kittens? Yes, of course, you do. But what does that have to do with getting a job? Sharing your interests on a resume is a way to build a connection and show off your personality. The tricky part is knowing what hobbies to put on your resume to give off a good impression and let the hiring manager know that you will be a good fit for their company. When to list hobbies on your resume? Listing hobbies on your resume is a much-contested matter. To some, a Hobbies and Interests section is a relic of the nineties — something generation X started doing to prove they aren’t just corporate drones, but actual people. Nowadays, many hiring managers hate it when employees waste valuable space on their resumes to talk about their love of books and socializing. But work culture is increasingly changing. Many companies are refocusing on personality-based hiring and finding employees that would be a good fit for their work culture. Adding a hobbies section might just do the trick! [bctt tweet=”Work culture is changing. Many companies are refocusing on personality-based hiring ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] How to match the company’s work culture? Trying to figure out whether you should put a Hobbies and Interests section on your resume? First off, you need to understand the company’s work culture: Go to their website and have a look around. Read up on the company values and what perks they provide their employees with. What events they organize. Then, have a look at employee profiles to see if they mention hobbies. Next, check employee profiles on platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook. Employees are more likely to put some hobbies on a LinkedIn profile than elsewhere. Finish up with any general press to get a feel for how others perceive the company’s work culture. If you know who is responsible for hiring new talent, look them up, too. Interests are great way to break the ice and create rapport with the interviewer. What hobbies should you put on your resume? Let’s say you want to work for a professional wedding planner. You did your online research. You checked out the company site and browsed employee LinkedIn profiles. Perhaps you found out the company is looking for outgoing, playful, yet business-savvy employees with a basic understanding of social media. You noticed the recruitment page even points to some specific hobbies that their employees engage in, such as, say, dance, cooking, and mixology (all these evidence from their Instagram profiles!) How are you going to show those dream wedding planners that you’re playful yet business-savvy? That’s right. You add your hobbies that mirror the general vibe you’re getting from that company. Pro Tip: Don’t lie about your hobbies and interests. Assuming that adding them does the trick and you get a face-to-face with the recruiter, you’ll want to be able to leverage your hobbies and not stutter and stammer once you get asked about them. [bctt tweet=”Don’t lie about your hobbies and interests” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] How to fit in hobbies on your Resume Once you’ve pinpointed a company’s work culture, there are a couple of ways you can flesh out your hobbies section. Leverage your hobbies to signal cultural fit: According to research on what employers look for on a resume, cultural fit comes in a close second right after work experience. And that makes perfect sense. According to this comprehensive study, good cultural fit makes for happier, more motivated employees who stay longer on the team. If you think using hobbies as evidence of your value as an employee this is what you should do: Choose a hobby that requires you to use a skill set that would compliment the skills you need for the position you are seeking. For example, if you’re applying for a creative job, go for a couple of creative hobbies. Want to become a journalist? Photography might come in handy. Another approach is to add hobbies that require the use of a skill set that the hiring manager may have a hard time finding in other candidates because of a skill gap in the market. Want to work for a travel agency and you happen to run a travel blog? Mention this hobby as proof of your interest as well as niche grasp of skills such as wordpress and basic HTML. Pro Tip: The hobbies section might be better for recent graduates rather than professionals with years of experience. Now, coming back to signaling cultural fit. Say you want to work for a travel agent specializing in crazy adventure vacations. Your love of whitewater rafting might just come in handy! Want to be a server at a restaurant and you have a knack for cooking? Go ahead and list that on your resume. It’s relevant, plus, who knows, the employer might need a competent backup for the kitchen, too! What hobbies should you avoid on your resume? Are there any hobbies you should not mention on your resume? Those include any hobbies that are of a religious, political, or sexual persuasion. You also might want to avoid hobbies that others might consider strange or awkward (taxidermy anyone?) Or, if they are too general to make sense — like reading books and watching movies. C’mon, it’s like saying you are special because you breathe air! Remember that the whole point of sharing your interests is a way for a hiring manager to get a fuller image of you, to connect with you. And, perhaps, to see what skill sets you have apart from those you developed in a work environment. Sometimes a Hobby Is
Webinar with Odunayo (PushCV): Writing your cv and cover letter for your dream job (July 13)
What do the first six seconds of your CV say to a recruiter? If you’re attending many job interviews but never get a call back from employers, we’re about to solve your job hunt misery. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, or how much skills you possess, having a bad CV and NO cover letter can end your chances for a job in no time. [bctt tweet=”Learn all you need to know from @OdunEweniyi about rewriting your CV and cover letter. (July 13)” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Now, whether you’re planning to write your CV yourself or get a professional writer, you also need to understand the difference between your CV and cover letter and know how to construct and present both to potential employers. We’ll be chatting with tech founder and Chief Operations Officer of PushCV – Odunayo Eweniyi on Thursday, July 13th, about how to get the attention of recruiters, through your CV and cover letter. Odunayo launched PushCV for both employers and job seekers – to fully harness the power of technology in the search for the perfect candidate or the perfect job. Register for this webinar below. Some of the topics we’ll cover Techniques for Job application Rewriting your CV and cover letter How to get the attention of a recruiter in 6 seconds (Presentation) Interviewing processes every job seeker must know of Webinar Details: Date: Thursday, July 13th, 2017 Time: Lagos 1pm // Joburg 2pm // Nairobi 3pm Place: We’ll send you the link to watch once you register Watch here: About Odunayo Odunayo Eweniyi is the Chief Operations Officer of Sharphire Global Limited – which owns subsidiary companies like PushCV, Piggybank.ng and FrontDesk. Odun, as she is called, is very passionate about education, employment and most importantly, female empowerment, which enabled her to work with her team to build products to achieve that goal over the past 4 years. She graduated with a first class degree in Computer Engineering from Covenant University. She loves to write a lot, and when she’s not working or eating, she’s watching TV shows.
Facebook Live with Edleen B. Elba: Steps to landing your dream job (June 30)
Year after year, companies, and recruiters change their job eligibility requirements, expecting job seekers to acquire some certain skills – first class degree or not. Whether you’re a fresh graduate trying to jumpstart your career, or an oldie in the job market looking for better opportunities, we have one question for you. Are you fully prepared for your next interaction with a recruiter? To help you get started, we’re bringing you this Facebook Live session with Human Resources expert Edleen B. Elba, on Friday, 30th June. She’ll be sharing some insights on job search and how young professionals can land their dream job. Edleen owns and manages JobSearch, a human resources management company based in Sierra Leone, which provides recruitment, skills development, and human resources advisory services to clients of all sizes and within all sectors. [bctt tweet=”Looking for a job? Learn the do’s and don’ts for job seekers from @JobSearchsl -(June 30)” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Register below to gain access to this opportunity. Some of the topics we’ll cover How and where to find a job What employers really look for in applicants Principles to remember: The do’s and don’ts for job seekers Top 7 career fields in demand Case study: Persistence and determination Facebook Live Details: Date: Friday, June 30th, 2017 Time: Freetown 2pm // Lagos 3pm // Joburg 4pm Place: facebook.com/sheleadsafrica/ Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/sheleadsafrica/videos/1904771329746178/ About Edleen Edleen B. Elba is the founder of JobSearch, and a Chartered Human Resources Analyst, with almost a decade of Senior management experience within the private and public sectors She started her career in 2003 with KPMG, working in the Advisory departments in Sierra Leone and Ghana. In 2005, she created the Human Resources & Risk Management departments at KPMG and managed both for 3 years. Over the years, she has acquired skills which include financial management, strategic human resource management, strategic risk management, presentation, software applications, team leadership, time management, effective communication, assertiveness, negotiation, and analytics. Edleen is also the Chairman of the MEPS Trust Well Woman Clinic fundraising committee and a member of Heaven Homes’ fundraising committee. She is passionate about skills development and women’s empowerment.
Odunayo Eweniyi: I kept going on interviews but was never hired
Odunayo Eweniyi’s story is one that is probably familiar to most young graduates. Leave school excited for the real world. Apply for several roles and go out on interviews. Wait to hear back from the interviewers. Keep waiting. Keep waiting. Keep waiting. Give up hope and become a permanent indentation on your mother’s couch. Instead of just wasting away until a job found her, she went out and created her own job by forming PushCV. The Chapter Lead for the Nigerian chapter of Women in Tech Africa, wanted to create a platform where qualified candidates could get connected directly to job opportunities and cut through the delays. Odunayo shares with us where she thinks most young Nigerians struggle with getting a job, how she’s differentiating her company and what she believes is the most important element of a CV. Why did you start PushCV? We started PushCV right out of university. When I graduated I went on a couple of interviews and I never even heard back, despite being told that I passed the interviews. It went on like that for a bit, plenty of CV submissions and no call backs. So PushCV was borne of a personal need. I wanted to be more involved in how employment is done. We started PushCV because we thought that employment and recruitment could be done better. Every other service was going digital, so why couldn’t recruitment move with the times? Hence we launched PushCV for people – both employers and job seekers – to fully harness the power of technology in the search for the perfect candidate or the perfect job. In what areas do you think most young Nigerians struggle when it comes to finding a job? I have heard employers complain that great candidates don’t exist and I have heard job seekers talk about the lack of jobs. While there’s a degree of truth in these claims, the problem is more of a divide between the employers and job seekers. The struggle is essentially in two places. Employers struggle to find the best suited candidates for their vacancy, and the truth is that sometimes, those candidates do not exist. As a result job seekers struggle to mold themselves into the cast of the perfect candidate. But really the biggest problem is employability. Most of the graduates in the country currently lack the technical or soft skills that would satisfy prospective employers. That is why PushCV is committed to bridging that divide. We created the Elite Employee Quest for this purpose – to isolate the already built up candidates and put them in front of employers; and to work with and on the jobseekers that are lacking in some respect, and make them better. We aim to make every candidate into the perfect candidate by building all aspects of them – soft skills, innate employability, interpersonal skills etc. We do not send candidates who have not met our rigorous standards for interviews. How do you ensure Push CV stands out against all of the other job search platforms on the market? We never stop innovating because we listen to our customers. We believe that we can only move forward when we are fulfilling a pain, not just a need. We have a robust feedback system that we use to track customer preferences of employers and job seekers. What do they want? How can we make it better? Those are the questions that we answer and use those answers to develop a constantly evolving product. What can we expect to see from Push CV over the next 6 months? Over the next 6 months, I think that you can expect to see us gaining an even stronger foothold in the market. The next 6 months will see us pushing the boundaries and bringing better alternatives into the very traditional world of recruitment. Unemployment is one of the biggest problems that Nigeria is facing. As someone who is committed to education and labor and I feel privileged to run a startup that wants to solve this problem. I think that the one thing I can promise is that we will do our absolute best to bring unemployment to the barest minimum. We often employ unconventional methods, so people can expect more outside the box thinking from PushCV over the next few months, What is the most important element to a CV? Here, I should tell you that it’s your “Work Experience” or your “Education”. But really it’s just the top third of your first page. The average resume gets about six seconds of review time before it’s either retained or pitched. So, you need to make a compelling argument for yourself in those six seconds. If the top of your resume works hard and quickly makes your case, you will be retained for review consideration.