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January 2010: 5 - Point Resume Check

Resumes for the New and Transitioning

This month's resume is from a new grad entering the workforce. Like many professionals transitioning into a new industry he is faced with the problem of his limited years of industry work experience and the employers qualifications demand, because of this his resume has listed every single skill or knowledge in hopes that this would be enough to land him an interview.

If you catch yourself saying:

“I do not want my resume to be too specific because I want to capture a wider audience”

“I  can do everything, jack of all trades”

“I am new to this and do not want to close any opportunities”

Reasons why you should stop

1. Irrelevant information, if I were applying for a web developer position, the hiring manager would not care that I failed to sell knives to my grandma back in high school.
2. Employers are looking for specific skill sets, they would rather have someone who consistently excels in one thing than do mediocre in everything.
3. It decreases your relatability of your skills to the job. When only 1/10th of your resume is applicable to the job posting you are NOT a qualified candidate.

1. Generalization Your Skills to Cover a Wider Audience

Your resume is your introductory sales pitch and in order to successfully close the deal you have to relate it to the person you are pitching to.

The golden calculation to writing any sales copy: Increase Relevancy = Increase Success Rate

2. Target Your Resume to the Job Posting

For many employers HR managers are the gatekeepers and not the final decision maker. Gatekeepers reading your resume are not trained on industry terms. The foolproof method when adding technical terms is to stick with what is found in the job posting. HINT: Any technical abbreviations and terms found in a job posting are usually the terms hiring managers use to search for resumes.

Examples of Keywords found in Job Posting:

“GMP” Good manufacturing practices and, “manufacturing” are repeated throughout this posting. Incorporate these terms into the top ¼ of your resume to quickly grab your reader’s attention.

3. Highlight Your Experience in These Areas of Expertise

Main Areas of Responsibilities:

1. Basic lab work (see points labeled “DOC”)
2. Admin and documentation
3. Research and little QA (Quality Assurance)

4. Profile – To the Point

There is too much going on in your profile. What will keep you apart from all other new grads applying for this position will be your master’s degree and your achievements. Put this front and center, this should be the first thing reader’s see

For example, starting your profile with, “...masters degree in biotechnology with hands on experience in …”

Noticed the bold, many new grads we interview have a tendency to incorporate “knowledge in”, you have 1 year of work experience. Having hands on experience and being exposed to it are two very different levels of experiences and skill sets.

5. Boost Your Own Ego

The only achievement found is hidden in the bottom of your resume under "Additional Information". Avoid using non-descriptive headings, to the reader it is known as “not important”.

Try to incorporate at least 3 achievements per each work placement.

What are the actual results, what problems did your troubleshooting resolve? It is more compelling to read “…improved existing procedures that resulted in X improvement” versus “…improved existing procedures for better results”. Your resume has to detail how you were successful in completing your tasks, employers do not need to read another job description.

Thank you for the overwhelming response, to learn more or to submit your resume go to 5- Point Resume Check Instructions.

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Accessed by: Caroline Lau, Marketing Manager and Ria Inducil, Senior Life Sciences Recruiter

Written by Caroline Lau
You can reach me at carolinelau@goldbeck.com