Accomplished. Talented. Exemplary. Outstanding.
These are only a few of the words that appear on almost every resume that a recruiter screens. With the advent of applicant tracking systems (ATS), different technologies and software used by recruiters to screen profiles, it has become far too common to see many of these mindless adjectives loosely written all over the resume. One word to describe the countless resumes filled with this gunk…Boring!
The word “selfie”, Australian in origin, has made its entry Oxford English Dictionary thanks to its frequent usage since 2005. The year 2013 popularized the concept of “selfie” and that’s when the word made its debut into the dictionary. Not only did the word make it in, but at the same time, “selfies” started springing up in the hiring industry. The innumerable adjectives that hiring managers see today in resumes or CV’s are a testament to this phenomenon.
While the usage of adjectives is not in itself a new phenomenon in the employment market; the trend to publicize, market, and brand oneself have multiplied hundredfold in 2013. With the advent of new hiring trends, especially over the internet, unified with a job market that’s been more or less swinging like a pendulum, candidates have been forced to reinvent themselves through blogging and branding in an effort to differentiate themselves from the rest of the candidates fighting for the same job. And what did enable them to stand out from the crowd became picture resumes in Europe, ten page CV’s in India and concise but adjective-filled words in the U.S. that served filled up the white space in a resume but delivered zero value.
Recruiters have vouched over and over again that screening these so called selfie resumes has led to countless wasted man hours for sourcers and miners in the recruiting industry. It is no secret that many of these profile owners can never clearly explain—let alone validate—how they were ‘exemplary’, or ‘outstanding’ or displayed ‘proven leadership’.
Here are a few strategies to rebuild, rebrand and reinvent yourself in 2014 if you own a selfie resume:
1. Replace Adjectives with Adverbs
Adjectives are beautiful. They sound good and look good on a resume. But if you want to come across as meaningful, limit your adjectives and replace as many of them as possible with adverbs or adverbial clauses and phrases. One look at the resume and the recruiter should be able to see what, when, where, why and to what extent you were successful and/or outstanding in your work. Adverbs will speak of your value and give a glimpse of the manner in which you were able to deliver value to your team and organization.
2. Give Examples
Be forthcoming about your awards, honors, and achievements. Simply stating that you won several awards will not be enough when rebranding yourself. State examples of what award and what impact you have made. Supplement your data with the business output you created or impacted.
3. Use Appropriate Visualizations
While resumes with grids, graphs and maps may not be common; it can add value to include them in your resume. For example, a chart could explain how you impacted a geography or the amount of revenue or closures you made in a year in a visual manner rather than just stating the information through words. Visuals can speak louder than words, so why not incorporate relevant information using infographics and other visuals in your resume as well.
4. Be Consistent
It’s a decade of Googling. Don’t get scroogled! Don’t assume that your resume, blogs and linked in profiles can have different companies, dates and mismatched information. All of your information is available at the click of a button. Recruiters are looking for honesty, reliability and value from the candidate that they hire. That’s how they deliver value to their organizations. After all, most great organizations are founded and based on these core values of honesty and integrity. Be consistent in what you say, write and deliver. Ultimately, this determines who you are, which matters to recruiters.
So with the onset of a new year and the outlook on world economy being cautiously optimistic, its time for job seekers out there to remake and rebrand themselves in a more meaningful, delightful and simpler way. Get rid of the jargon and let your resume speak for you!
About the Author
Susan Varghese writes about human resources and recruiting.
