I have reviewed a ton of resumes over my 33+ year career as an executive leader; most of them are not very well done; they all look the same.
Most people research the templates that are out there and select the boilerplate they think is the best. This normally means the one that is the quickest and easiest to complete!
There are two “moments of truth” when you submit your resume to an organization.
The first is when the human resources folks get it. This is the 3rd party bottleneck you must pass through if you want a shot at the person who is filling the position. HR people don’t have a detailed knowledge of what the position requires. They are assessing the incoming résumés from a position outline provided by the hiring manager. How is your résumé going to capture the HR guy’s attention if it doesn’t stand out from the others; if it isn’t special and unique in some way?
The second moment of truth is when the hiring manager gets your resume and decides whether or not to invite you in for an interview. Now the scrutiny is at a much more granular level in terms of your background and qualifications. Again, if your resume is no different than everyone else’s why should you earn the right to a face to face meeting?
Before you engage with any organization to explore opportunities, you need a resume strategy.
The process most people use is to shop their look-alike resume around to the organizations that appear to have an opportunity available. They flog themselves with the hope that their capabilities will somehow resonate with the recipient. This approach has a low probability of success.
