Résumé Help: Sell Yourself through Examples of Achievements
In today’s example we see the résumé for David, an insurance executive on the rise. Based on this résumé, the hiring company would never know David’s true potential. The reason is a lack of details of the scope of his responsibility. Also, his achievements are missing. Achievements are the best way to sell a candidate. Because I have been helping people for a number of years, I see windows of opportunity. An employer does not have the time to consider windows of opportunity on a résumé. If you do not sell yourself with the first read, you lose your chance at the interview.
;)
Take a look at the sample and you can see a few questions that I would ask David to go beyond a vague overview. We need to get the core by showing measured results for every achievement. For example, David wrote: “Led Underwriting and Operations Departments for entire state through innovative underwriting practices and back end support.” The reader might cruise right past that statement. It’s not impressive. However, it would be impressive if David were to provide an example of one of the practices that he innovated, how operations were before the change, and the measured improvement following the change. Throughout David’s résumé, there are possibilities to think a little deeper and show an example of an achievement. With these changes, David will sell himself and win interviews!
For more tips on effective résumé writing, check out these links:
Résumé Help: Formatting the Professional Experience Section
Résumé Help: Copied from the Job Description
Résumé Help: Excellent English Skills Are Essential
To see additional résumé suggestions that will help you as you create your own résumé, please click on the image below.
If you would like a résumé critique, please contact Debra Wheatman at debra@careersdonewrite.com or visit us at http://careersdonewrite.com. The Résumé Help blog appears weekly on Mondays.