Overhaul my resume, please!
Susie Buysse, Career Services Manager
The better it looks, the better you look
TMMBA students often inquire about a resume tune-up. They want to stand out in the competition and possibly secure interviews. Some students have technical resumes and want and need a greater focus on the MBA degree and business knowledge. I’ve also seen resumes that detail, in multi-pages, a long history of every job held, primarily stressing job descriptions and responsibilities.
Since you have just a few short seconds to make a strong first impression, here are six pivotal tips:
1.Eliminate a fluffy objective statement that describes the type of position desired.
2.Instead, add a compelling Summary or Profile right under your heading, highlighting your important skills and abilities that are relevant to the kind of work you are seeking. This should be like a Super Bowl commercial; every word counts and convinces us to buy. It tells the reader what you realistically want to do and it’s your best argument as to why they should hire you.
3.Include a number of short compelling accomplishment bullets under each position listed. Be sure to clearly describe how your actions contributed to the team, department, or company. Always quantify or qualify the result and avoid task-oriented bullets.
4.Humans (and computers) look for key words and phrases. Check major job boards or corporate websites to find popular key words related to your target position and company. Incorporate these as well as industry buzzwords in your resume.
5. Make your resume easy to read quickly. Get to the point. Eliminate groups of words that could be said in a single word. Avoid large paragraphs (over six or seven lines) jammed with text. Use lots of white space.
6.Don’t waste any precious space. Remove “References available upon request” at the bottom of your resume. Hiring managers and recruiters assume that you have a list prepared and will ask if they want to see it.
To get started with your resume review, please feel free to contact me after gaining admittance into the TMMBA program. We’ll work together on creating a resume that gets noticed!
