Posted By: Big 4 Guru In: Job Seeker - Resume Ah, the resume. Your chance to proudly boast of all your accomplishments and credentials. It is hard to imagine that this little piece of paper could actually hurt your chances of getting hired. You may not even realize it, but your resume could be a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment.
Ah, the resume. Your chance to proudly boast of all your accomplishments and credentials. It is hard to imagine that this little piece of paper could actually hurt your chances of getting hired. You may not even realize it, but your resume could be a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment.
When you slide that piece of paper across the desk to the interviewer, you are saying to them, “I stand behind every word on this paper. I can backup any claim and provide examples to support every statement.” If you aren’t ready or able to do this, then you either need a new resume or more interview practice.
I recommend that everyone have a 30-second statement to accompany each line on their resume. Be prepared to at least answer the question “tell me a little more about ” These responses should appear natural and off the cuff. You don’t need to memorize them verbatim. However, you should know what you are going to say and avoid stumbling over your words.
View the resume as your roadmap to guide the interview. The claims on your resume should all lead naturally and comfortable to expanded discussions about your experience. There should never be anything on there that you hope the interviewer doesn’t ask you about. A perfect example of this is listing a foreign language skillset. If you list, “conversational in French” you should be able to carry on a conversation in French. For all you know, your interviewer might be fluent in the language and begin the interview with “dites-moi au sujet de vous-même.”
So, take another look at your resume. Play devil’s advocate with yourself and be honest about things that you should leave off. Getting called out on one overstatement in your resume is enough to totally discredit the whole thing. Best of luck.
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Comments
Posted by: James Framstad
Thank you! I have been wondering why my resume hasn't generated ANY response. I have tried 4+ ways of setting up my resume' in the past 2 mos and needed some way to get recruiters/employers to respond. Thanks!
