Résumé Neglect: Why your best material is missing from your résumé

Résumé Neglect:  Why your best material is missing from your résumé

Finding a good job these days is tough. There's no doubt about it. Experts continually tell us the average résumé gets only 10 seconds in front of hiring managers' eyes. How can you be sure your résumé will cause a hiring manager to do a double-take and read deeper than a glance? The answer is simple:  Make sure your best material is present on your résumé. Sounds easy enough right?  Don't be so sure. There are several reasons why we neglect to showcase our best work on our résumé. Here are 4 common causes of Résumé Neglect:

1.)  We underestimate our accomplishments  

Give yourself some credit. You have accomplished some fantastic things in your career. This is time to showcase your best work. Don’t worry about showing off or over-boasting when it comes to your résumé. Employers expect to learn what you have accomplished and how it can benefit their organization. As long as you are honest about your accomplishments it’s fair game to showcase your best work. If you have earned an award, assisted in helping a co-worker earn a promotion, or implemented a strategy that reduced expenses by 20%, these are big accomplishments and should be included.

2.)  We don't think objectively about our own experiences 

This is somewhat related to #1. It is easy to assign too much value to our personal accomplishments that we are the most proud of. It is just as easy to undervalue accomplishments that came easy to us. To assign an appropriate value to your work experience learn what is valued in the industry you are looking to work in. For example, if you are a manager and you are able gain the respect of your employees, you might view that as a tremendous accomplishment. However, hiring managers will expect that from all applicants. On the flip side, you might land a huge sales contract because of your great people skills and see this as a routine accomplishment because it came easy for you. In reality, this could be turned into a solid, measurable bullet point to reinforce your work experience.

3.)  We fail to keep a learning journal 

Recording your work experiences on a bi-weekly or monthly basis may sound intimidating or possibly excessive. Believe me, it is tremendously helpful. Few professionals actually do this but the ones that do are rewarded with a bank of information to help them update their resume, write their annual review, and reflect on how they've developed as leaders over time. If you don't record your accomplishments and key developmental moments expect to dig deeper to think of them when it comes time to update your résumé. 

4.)  We fill up prime real estate with stuff that's unnecessary 

I see a few common themes when it comes to unnecessary information found on résumés. The biggest offender is a dominance of bullet points defining the scope and responsibilities of your past work experience. While it is important to define your past roles to future employers it is equally as important to include measurable accomplishments to demonstrate what you have actually done. Another leading offender is the “Skills” section. If you are an IT developer or computer programmer this section is a must. For the rest of us feel free to delete your MS Word, PowerPoint, and MS Excel-esque skills as everyone has them.

So what is the best way to combat Résumé Neglect? At a minimum, you should be aware of the 4 causes mentioned above and consider each when crafting your document. Having a friend or spouse look over your résumé and talking through your past work experience can add objectivity. Probably the quickest and easiest way to overcome Résumé Neglect is to hire a professional. Experts that craft dozens of résumés per month can help bring hidden accomplishments to light and will let you know what does and doesn't belong. For a moderate investment you can stand behind your resume with confidence knowing your résumé won’t be neglected.

-Aaron Rehberg is the founder and owner of Rehberg Careers Inc specializing in career coaching, professional branding, and business consulting.  www.rehbergcareers.com