It is extremely important to have a bull’s eye resume when applying for a job. You will hear a lot of this as we expound on getting a great job in a short amount of time. In this five part series, we will tell you exactly what you need to do to knock them dead and get the interview.
In this first article we are going to provide a brief overview of the general structure of a bull’s eye resume. The main benefit of the structure is to let the resume reader know that the search for their candidate is over. You are the candidate they are looking for. In the following articles we will go into greater detail as to what you need to do to make sure you are called in for the interview.
Go Funky. Go Chrono.
Prior to the arrival of the internet, the chronological resume and the functional resume were the predominant format. The chronological resume listed your professional experience in reverse chronological order, that is from your most recent job to the earliest. Functional resumes were used to put an emphasis on talent and remove the emphasis on time and often favored by older job seekers trying to avoid age discrimination.
Then the internet happened. Like a giant meteor exploding into Yucatan peninsula the world was turned upside down and life as we knew it would never by the same. The one and only resume format we would recommend is the functional chronological hybrid. Simply put, the internet has opened a floodgate of candidates for every posted job out there. Employers don’t have time to review your work history and contemplate how that experience will translate into value in their organization.
The functional-chronological is essentially a combination of both the functional resume and the chronological resume. The beauty of it is it makes it easy for you to sell the gist of your qualifications in the top half of the first page of your resume thereby making your candidacy relevant. Done properly, this will invite the reader to read your resume critically and appreciate the talent you are bringing to the table.
The top portion of the functional-chronological resume is made up of the Professional Objective, the Professional Summary, followed by your professional experience.
Professional Objective
Add a Professional Objective statement at the top of every resume. It has to be a clear statement that is inline with what the employer is looking for. Do not state the exact job title and don’t feel like you can’t add a little bit extra if just to sound authentic. If they are looking for,
“Department store manager with strong accounting skills.”
You can still say,
“Seeking a position as a department store manager. Prefer environment which would allow me to leverage my education in accounting, finance, and audits.”
You don’t want to give them the impression that you typed up your resume in response to their job posting, although that is exactly what you should do for every job you apply to. Just don’t make it obvious. Let’s say this same candidate is applying for a similar position seeking different qualifications such as,
“Boutique store manager who understands the volatile world of women’s fashion.”
That candidate would say,
“Seeking a position as a store manager on the cutting edge of women’s fashion.”
The advantage of having a clear and concise professional objective is that it ,
- Presents you as a goal oriented professional. You know what you want and are going for it. This is good!
- It invites the reader to critically read your resume. If the objective statement is inline with what they are looking for, they will read on.
Believe me, if you have all the credentials they are looking for they would rather bring you in for an interview instead of reading the other 497 resumes that are piled up on their desk.
Professional Summary.
Provide a brief summary after your Professional Objective as to why you are so good at what you do. Remember, when people review resumes they typically have the attention span of a gnat. Be an in-your-face qualified candidate. This is where you are going to get the most value from the research you have done on the company, the position and the decision maker. Again, your strategy here is to hit them right smack between the eyes with the fit they are looking for.
A department store manager applying to the position seeing strong accounting skills would probably provide some bullet points along the lines of,
- Successful department store manager distinguished with year over year increases in same store retail traffic.
- Commended for successfully meeting all corporate audits with over 98% compliance for twelve years.
- Outstanding forecasting skills demonstrated by integrating store traffic, mall, municipal and macro economic components.
While our hypothetical department store manager was involved in all aspects of running the store, she knows she needs make the value she can bring to the prospective employer readily apparent. Even though her forecasting skills are not intimately associated with accounting, they have the analytical slant that will give the impression that she can crunch the numbers when she has to. Again, anything short of being a stellar candidate is not an option.
In closing surely you are thinking, “Why would this person emphasize their accounting skills on one resume and then her knack for understanding the cutting edge of women’s fashion on another?” The answer is, it is entirely up to her. She may have worked her way up to manager because she was so good at moving women’s apparel. She may have loved working in women’s fashion. She may have hated the accounting aspect of her experience as a department store manager. It doesn’t matter. However, if she wants to apply for a position as a department store manager with strong number crunching skills then she has to sell everything she did in the realm of department store management. She needs to emphasize her accounting skills and downplay everything else. Its all about selling yourself. In our next article, we will cover selling yourself through your accomplishments.
