In the past eighteen years, I have reviewed thousands of resumes. Many of them look very similar with an occasional one here or there that attempts to stand out by changing a font style or color. If you are walking around in front of my office on any given day, you may actually hear me talking to the resume as if its owner can hear me. Aside from the font issues, (by the way, the fancy font makes a resume difficult to read and impossible to scan) what I find that evokes comments even more is what is listed on the resume.
Hopefully by now, you have heard or read enough advice to know that giving me your job description doesn’t tell me what I want to know. I need to know what did, how you did it, and what were you able to accomplish. I need verbs, actions, and results. Simple as that. Sure if you want to list on your resume that you were “employee of the month” that is great, but what I really care about is what you did to earn that recognition and why it was important in your role. If you can give me that in a concise way on your resume, even better. If not, I am going to ask you if you make it to the interview, so be prepared to give the details.
The same thing applies to the memberships you list. If you list your SHRM membership on your resume, what are trying to tell me? If you simply paid you membership dues (or had your company pay the dues) and that is the extent of your involvement, then I wouldn’t even add it. If you don’t use your membership, then it doesn’t matter. I need verbs, actions, and results. Even if you are a national only member who uses the website for its vast amount of research and resources, then it’s good to list. However, I wouldn’t just list it as an affiliation. Tell me concisely in one line what you do with your membership.
Verbs, Actions, and Results. Easy to Read and Scan.
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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is available to help you with your Human Resources and Training needs on a contract basis. For more information send an email to smazurek0615@gmail.com or visit www.sherimazurek.com. Follow me on twitter @Sherimaz.