5 resume requisites

Looking to land that perfect job? Give your vita clarity and impact with these crucial hints

When a manager is looking to hire a brilliant employee who stands out from the rest, she skims through resumes searching for ones that are vague, have misspellings and are unorganized.

Why? So she can toss them and move on to the ones that count.
“Companies definitely try to streamline the resumes they get,” says Gary Daugenti, president of JustSTAFF, an executive search firm in Los Altos, Calif. “They actually put them in order.”

Experts say just 10 percent of all resumes get a second viewing. Recruiters actually are looking for reasons to reject you — not hire you. Give them even one tiny excuse to dump you, like a bloated salary requirement, and they will.
So how can you ensure that after all the tossing that your resume lands on the top of the pile on the desk — and not in the trashcan?
Here’s how to craft a resume that will make you the first person the manager calls for an interview:

Personalize the resume for every single job
Too many candidates create one resume and blanket it to dozens of companies.

They overlook the specific requirements that each employer has requested. For example, if an ad seeks someone who knows Microsoft Excel and you have that skill, list it under your qualifications. Don’t assume that because you are an accountant and all accountants know Excel that the person doing the hiring will assume you know Excel.

If the posting requires travel and you are willing to do that, put it on the resume. Be explicit so that the resume will catch the eye of the manager.

Send an extra copy to a high-level exec.
This is especially important when you’re asked to send resumes to the human resources department.

“If you only send it to HR, they are in control of your destiny,” says Daugenti. Go to the company Web site and find out who is in charge of the department where you would be working. If it’s a finance position, get the name of the chief financial officer. If it’s a sales job, find the name of the vice president of sales. At small companies, send a copy to the CEO.

Imagine the advantage you will have if the CEO passes your resume on to HR. You are almost guaranteed a call.

Actions count.
Listings of skills and community involvement are nice. Showing employers what you actually can do for them is the best way to stand out.
“Always remember that in any situation, resumes that get interviews are simple and pair action statements with quantifiable results,” says Susan Vobejda, vice president with Yahoo! HotJobs.

That means listing tangible accomplishments from previous jobs. Use dollars to show how much you saved the company or how much you made for the company. Describe how you revamped the filing system to make the office run more efficiently.

Know the online game.
Only 10 percent of resumes today are sent by mail. That leaves 90 percent sent via e-mail, and many of those are posted at online job sites. Be aware that these sites often screen the resume with a computer program. Incorporate key words from the job description into the resume so it will be flagged to move to the next level.

When you apply online along with thousands of other candidates, it’s important to personalize the process. Unless the job application specifically says “do not follow up,” do. It will show you are sincerely interested in the position and aren’t just sending out resumes blindly.

Looks are important.
You can have all the right qualifications and tons of glowing references, but if the resume doesn’t look good, no one will read it. When you choose the paper, go for a neutral color, not fluorescent green. Sure, it will stand out, but not in a positive way. Use simple fonts that are easy to read, and organize the resume in a clean format. Don’t put your photo on the resume. Does it really matter what you look like? Forget the one-page rule unless you are a new college grad. No employer will look fondly upon a veteran employee who can fit all his accomplishments on one page.

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