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Reflections
72 | FireFlyz
A
great resume is still
one of the most im-
portant contributing
factors to landing a
good job. After all, it
offers recruiters and
potential employers a
quickand clear overviewof your relevant
skills, experience and education, so they
can decide whether to invite you for an
interview or not.
•
Customise your resume for your
industry, career stage, and personal
brand. In senior stages of one’s ca-
reer, abitof formalitymight becalled
for given the audience, and in many
creative fields, a portfolio-based
resume is most appropriate. Don’t
be afraid to adjust all rules to your
situation.
•
Do make your resume scannable.
Recruiters and hiring managers
It is time for you tomove on fromyour current company, whatever the reason
may be. Or it may be the first time that you are ever applying for a job. Your
resume is the most importantweapon that you have. Here are some tips to help
you craft that document towards selling the most important brand of all …
yourself.
S e l l i n g T h e B r a n d
That Is You
will scan your resume for relevant
information, sodeliveryour informa-
tion in short statements instead of
longer paragraphs. Use keywords
that are relevant to your profession
and experience throughout. For
example, if you are a project man-
ager, use keywords such as “project
management,” “supervision,” and
“leadership.”
•
Do not let your resume exceed
two pages. Few recruiters or hir-
ing managers have time to review
overly long résumés. Even if you
havemore experience than you can
fit on two pages, you should distill
your information down to the most
relevant data.
•
Use bullets instead of paragraphs.
Concise bullets are the best way
to convey high-level information.
The interviewer can find out more
talking to you in-person, so there is
no need to list every single detail of
an accomplishment or role. Verbs
typicallymake the best first word in
a bullet point and can helpyouget to
the point quickly.
•
Do not exceed three to five bul-
lets per section. Bullets are better
than paragraphs but too many are
counterproductive. Any more and
they will probably not be read.
•
Do not have a single typo or gram-
matical mistake. It just shows that
the author could not be bothered to
check, which sends a very bad first
impression.
•
Do not use a funnyyet controversial
email address. While these are fine
for personal use, a good, business
soundingaddress ismuchbetterand
more professional.