Welcome to the first unit of ten in the InClarity360 resume writing course! You never have to type “how to do a resume” in the Google search bar again.
I am truly excited to have you join me on the journey to learning everything I know about resume writing. If you follow this training step-by-step, I assure you – you will have the best chance possible of getting that interview and coveted job. (CLICK HERE to enroll in full course with resume templates and worksheets.)
HOW TO DO A RESUME – UNIT ONE
Advertising needs to grab attention. The most effective advertising not only grabs attention, it holds it for as long as possible. The most extreme example of that is the millions of dollars spent on SuperBowl Sunday for air time, let alone the ad design costs. They want people to sit there and watch the ads.
And, that is exactly what your resume needs to do. Grab the hiring leader’s attention and keep it for as long as possible.
You can read just about any resume writing book and it will mention the 20 to 30 second rule, which is how long most hiring managers will take to read a resume before they decide to move onto to something or someone else. But Frankly, when a recruiter brings up your resume on their computer, it is closer to 6 to 10 seconds.
What you want is for the employer to move past that 10 seconds and still be interested in who you are and what you have to offer. The longer they are reading your resume, the better chance of you getting that interview.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?
Your resume needs to answer the employer’s question, “What’s in it for me?”
From the employer’s perspective, what’s in it for them to read further into your resume. This is where leveraging advertising comes into play. So, let’s delve a little deeper into advertising.
ADVERTISING SELLS CONCEPTS
Advertising is conceptual in nature. In other words, Advertisers aren’t selling us products and services. At the heart of it, they are really selling us concepts. What you want to do with your resume and cover letter is to reinforce enough concepts about you so, ideally, when an employer sees your name on an interview schedule, certain concepts about you will float up in their mind.
Just to illustrate, think about these name brands:
Volvo…Did you think of Safety? Are they the safest car on the road? Maybe there are other cars safer on the road. Maybe not. But, they effectively sold the public on that concept.
Motel 6…Did you think of cheap place to stay while you are travelling? All over and affordable. They aren’t always the cheapest in town – but that’s what they sold us and most of us believe it.
Energizer Batteries…Did you think they keeping going and going and going…and a pink bunny?
ADVERTISING USES REPETITION
Next, Advertising uses repetition, repetition and repetition. The idea behind repetition is that when the consumer goes to buy a particular product, the name of your brand is the first one that comes to mind. The most obnoxious example, most will agree, is the all-day, all weekend used car dealer television ad that plays over and over and over again during a prime-time football game. You don’t want to be like that.
What you do want to do is use STRATEGIC repetition. Strategic repetition allows you to repeat certain concepts about yourself in different ways and in different sections of the resume – so concepts about you get reinforced.
The employer will see different words, different sources of that content, but they will associate whatever you have to offer (skills and experience) with YOU.
ADVERTISING TARGETS A DEMOGRAPHIC – KEYWORDS
Advertising is targeted towards demographics such as age, gender and income – different segments of the population. In order for advertising to work well, it needs to be in the everyday language and vocabulary of the target demographic. In the hiring world this means that what you write in your resume needs to be in the KEYWORDS that are relevant to the hiring leaders for the jobs you are applying for. Below are examples of positions and possible relevant keywords for each position:
Business Development Leader – account management, marketing strategy, new business development, communications, strategic forecasting, client relations, competitive analysis, product development, vendor relations, and contract negotiations.
Office Manager – customer service, staff training, record management, facilities management, policies & procedures, spreadsheet preparation, budgets, MS Office, database creation, inventory, and expense reduction.
Audio Visual Specialist – multi conference room support, digital display control systems, audio & visual control rooms, system integration, screen graphic development, graphic design, editing, scheduling & coordination, and communications.
So, if you were to forget everything I have written about resume writing except one word, remember RELEVANT key words. You may or may not have relevant experience, but what you write about yourself needs to be in the key words that are most relevant to the employer. (Future training blogs will address turning your skills into keywords.)
ADVERTISING HIGHLIGHTS FEATURES AND BENEFITS
Advertising highlights the FEATURES AND BENEFITS of products and services.
See how this laundry soap highlights its features and benefits on its resume – the label – using relevant keywords for the consumer?
And, that is exactly what you want to do in your resume about you. What are your feature and benefits? In your resume, you want to focus on the features and benefits of your skills, experience, work history and all the other areas that we will focus on in your resume writing training.
ADVERTISING CREATES MENTAL IMAGERY
When I read this Professional Summary on a recent resume, I visualized a professional who is extremely detail oriented with vision and strong interpersonal skills. Is that what you see too?
Exceptional ability to gather accurate information to identify operational and business needs, develop strategic plans to address them, analyze trends and variables to solve problems and support company growth, and improve performance by patiently guiding employees.
See how this summary includes keywords and descriptors that help the employer visualize the person in action?
(This blog and video are the first in a series of ten that will help you learn how to perfect mental imagery in a resume. If you want immediate access to the full training, click here.)
CONTENT OF THE MESSAGE IS MOST IMPORTANT
Developing the content of your message is just as important, or even more important than how you format your resume. You can have the best-looking resume on the planet, formatted perfectly, but if it doesn’t carry the message you want to deliver, the formatting isn’t going to help.
But, before you develop your content, you need to have a library to work from, which you are going to create in the next blog – Building Your Resume Database (Coming Soon).
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