The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing a Powerful Resume

Hiring managers and recruiters report being overwhelmed with poorly written resumes. Resumes are the first filter to eliminate candidates, so it is vital that yours is powerfully written. Don’t allow your resume to eliminate you from consideration. These four do’s and don’ts will help you write a resume that gets you noticed for the right reasons.

Results First

Hiring managers often sift through dozens, or more resumes to fill a single position. One thing you should do to make your resume stand out is to lead with results rather than activities.

Do

Increased profitability by 16% year over year by analyzing and reducing operational redundancies.

Don’t

Analyzed and reduced operational redundancies resulting in a 16% year over year increase in profitability.

Use Data to Back Up Results

Numbers are powerful. Numbers are specific. Using data to quantify your results is the single most important tool to validate you as a candidate. Get creative and use comparative data to solidify you in the hiring manager’s mind.

Do

Achieved 22% revenue increase in my territory for 2017, almost 2 times the company average of 12%.

Don’t

Achieved 22% revenue increase in my territory for 2017, much higher than the company average.

Write in Active Voice

Without going into a long grammar lesson, active voice focuses on the subject while passive voice focuses on the object. You are the subject, and your resume is a tool to sell yourself. Use active verbs to help accomplish this.

Do

Use active verbs that get to the point.

Examples:

Achieved
Increased
Improve
Led
Promote
Realized
Direct
Manage
Etc.
Don’t

Avoid passive verb tense where possible. When you are finished writing your resume, read through it and edit sentences using passive verbs to be in active voice.

Examples:

Will Be
Has Been
Is
Are
Was
Were
Is Being
Was Being
Will Have Been
Keep It Short and to the Point

Hiring managers read many resumes. Do them, and yourself, a favor by getting to the point. The last step in writing a powerful resume is to edit it down to only essential content.

Do

Keep it concise.

Don’t

Overload your resume with extraneous modifiers.

Danielle Foppe is a Lead Technical Recruiter at Business Centric Technology. If you are interested in learning more about how to get the best IT talent in the Dallas metroplex, contact Danielle directly at dfoppe@bct-corp.com or call us at 972-267-7950. Business Centric Technology specializes in recruiting IT talent in Dallas, Ft. Worth and North Texas. If you are looking for a rewarding career contact us today.