How to make sure someone will read your resume

Are you a reader? I read all the time and mostly on my phone. Very soon, I will complete 100 books this year.

I confess, most of the books I read are fiction. If a book takes too long to get started, I pass on it and read a different one.

I want the plot to grab me right away so I get pulled into the story. If the characters develop slowly or the plot isn’t interesting, I get annoyed and find something else to read.

When I really like the way an author writes, I find other books written by the same author. Even better, I search for a series by the same author so I get to follow the characters through more books.

How does this relate to the burning question — The big question job seekers ask me all the time:

Will my resume get read?

Here’s the secret.

Like the books I love, your resume must draw the reader in to make them want to read it.

The plot of your resume is your career story. If you take too long to start telling the story or make it boring, the hiring manager moves on to other resumes.

If you don’t get the reader excited about how you contributed to the company, saved it money, or created a new and innovative process, they read someone else’s resume.

Are you talking about things that interest the reader? If not, they find another candidate who fits the company story better.

What are you showcasing in your resume?

• When you present your career story with value-driven stories right at the beginning, your resume will be read.
• Does your resume integrate the key words fitting the industry and the company?
• Is your resume reading like a job description or did you inject stories resonating with how you played a key role?

Telling the resume story

Whether you are a top executive or a graduate student, you tell career stories and resume stories to help you reach your goal. This morning while working with a student, I found him to be so tuned in to what we need in his first session with me. I know writing his story will be fun.

Furthermore, this student understands the correlation between his job as a server at a country club and his later goal to be in a sales and marketing role. He saw the potential story line focusing on ways he learned to interact professionally with a range of managers and executives. When he describes the features of a meal, his customers become intrigued and desire to select the suggested menu items.

This proves he understands how valuable it is to sell features and benefits. It doesn’t hurt that his father modeled successful sales strategies to him for his entire life.

I’ve worked with top professionals who struggled to grasp the importance of story telling in resumes. When you get this concept, your resume will be read.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net