What Is the Purpose of a Job Resume?
Many people are not clear on the purpose of a job resume. Since they do not fully understand the point of a resume, their document is not as effective as it could be. A resume is not meant to be an autobiography or a highly detailed story of your work history. If people view the resume as this, they will write too long a document that is unfocused and likely to be overlooked.
Other People Are Reading
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Marketing Tool
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A resume must be viewed as a marketing tool, and you as the product to be sold. A resume's task is to get you an interview, not a job. Once you see a resume in this light, you are more likely to understand the various resume formats, common vocabulary, key words and text used in an effective resume.
Eye-Catching
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A resume does not need to follow strict grammar laws, just as a marketing slogan doesn't need too. Most sentences in a resume should begin with numbers, dollar amounts, percents and action verbs. For example, for an essay, a properly written sentence may read, "I saved X Company ten million dollars by reducing the number of personnel." A properly written sentence for a resume would be, "Saved $10M via slashing headcount." Numbers and symbols jump out when a person is scanning a document. Beginning with a verb gives the reader a feeling of "action" and intensity.
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Targeted Document
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Resumes ought to be brief, like a slogan or commercial. A radio or TV commercial that is more than a minute will often result in lost interest. A resume should be one or two pages. It markets you by highlighting the most notable accomplishment, certifications and skills that relate to the present job you are targeting. If you volunteered your time to teach Girl Scouts to sell cookies, this would best be left out on a resume targeting an IT job, but included if you are looking for a sales position.
Introduction of Who You Are
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An employer will seldom hire a person and invest great resources into someone she never met. A resume is kind of an introduction of who you are and what you can do for the business. Since it is only a written document, an employer that feels your resume is up to par will generally invite you to an interview or the beginning phase of testing for the job.
Too Much Data
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It is not often that a person can send in a resume and immediately get hired. If a person thinks this is the purpose of a resume, he is likely to write too many facts since he thinks the employer is looking at the resume to learn everything the prospect ever did.
Qualifying Out
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The interviewer uses the resume to qualify people out of the job candidate pool as well. If you have errors on the resume, misspellings or didn't mention a requirement from the job description, the employer will likely toss your resume (and candidacy) aside. For example, a certain company may be looking for a candidate with at least 10 years sales experience. The interviewer will glance through the resumes he has, only looking for those with this qualification. Out of those that pass this first test, he will likely have other requirements and use the submitted resumes to narrow his search.
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References
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