Face to Face
With Fred Coon

June 22, 2004 - 20 Pet Peeves Recruiters Have About Resumes
Courtesy of Mike Worthington, ResumeDoctor.com

# 2 - Too Duty Oriented

"I like to see accomplishments, what did you do for the company," says Texas Recruiter Jan Nielsen of Career Consulting Group.

The second most common complaint among recruiters was reading a resume that is "too duty oriented." Resumes need to describe more than just job duties. A good resume must also detail your accomplishments. Mention the business benefits and results attributable to your direct effort, involvement or leadership. Steve Kendall of Management Recruiters of Atlanta explains, "Duties and responsibilities are generic to the position, and the same words could have been used by the person's predecessor or successor. Accomplishments are personal and show what difference you made while holding that position. This is what excites a prospective employer."

Also, do not just rely on long lists of buzzwords to describe work or accomplishments. Not only are you risking "burying" the important details from your reader, but also doing so often makes a resume appear too generic. Bob Lee of Management Recruiters in Jacksonville, FL adds, "Job duties and long lists of buzzwords are meaningless. For example, we know that a sales manager is responsible for sales. Instead, how much he increased sales is what we really want to know to pass on to our clients! Furthermore, identify your area of expertise, product or service. We must know how you are connected with the industry our client represents. Those resumes that say 'I am a manager' and can manage anything, anybody, anywhere are fruitless."

Jennifer Baker of Inter*Link Technology Solutions in Daytona Beach shares, "The old belief that you should leave a recruiter guessing a bit as to your experience to keep them interested in you is a major myth that too many candidates have fallen for. When looking at resumes, it is easier for a recruiter to determine that a candidate is a good fit if he/she indicates what they have done in their career. Sell yourself!"

Recruiter Tip: Melissa Hope Chaplin of H.E.A.T. Resources shares this tip: "Do not separate your skills and accomplishments from each position. Your resume should be easy to read. Someone should be able to look at it and know what you did at each job, and how long you were there." Make sure to provide specific examples of how the company benefited from your performance. Accomplishments should be quantified in dollars or percentages, for example, (Increased productivity of department). From what to what...1%, 10%, 90%?

Recruiter’s likes and dislikes in a resume were surveyed nation-wide by Mike Worthington of ResumeDoctor.com. FACE to FACE will publish all twenty pet peeves in this column over the next months.

ResumeDoctor.com is a service provided by Personnel Department Inc. PDI is Vermont’s largest independently owned staffing agency. They have been locally owned and operated for over 14 years. They have been featured in many publications, TV news programs, and radio broadcasts. You may contact them at: http://www.resumedoctor.com.

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About the Author: Fred Coon