GHDC: Your Resume Should Represent Your Work History

Get Hired Misconception #2: Your Resume Should Represent Your Work History

As a hiring manager, I care about one thing: “Is this person qualified to do the job I need done?”

I have read through thousands of resumes. Most of them are awful. The only time I call someone with an awful resume is when I literally have no choice because every applicant has a crappy resume. It’s a “lesser of two evils” situation for me.

When you’re writing your resume, you’re probably thinking, “They’re gonna be so impressed with what I did last year. I mean, these three bullets show I’m a rockstar!” Guess what? I rarely need a rockstar. Most of the time, I need to fill my teams with people who can keep the engine running. It’s great when I get someone way more capable, but for most jobs, a good hiring manager is looking for someone that can step in, get up to speed quickly, and do the job well.

You think the bullets on your resume are convincing? My guess is you’re probably not even writing your resume to address the job requirements. You hand in the same resume for every application. This is another “me first” way of finding a job. You’re telling a bunch of hiring managers about you instead of describing your experience to fit the job description!

Even if your resume is beautiful, succinct, and charming, it doesn’t really matter if it doesn’t convince the hiring manager that you can do the job they need doing.

Tailoring your resume takes time, it is an investment and can be laborious, but if you aren’t speaking the same language as the role that is posted (even if the stuff you are doing is the same stuff, but is said differently) you are missing the target. If you are really as interested in this role as you are saying with your “this role sounds as if it was written for only me” then you really should make the investment to make your resume sound that way.

What kinds of resumes really stand out to hiring managers? Hear what they have to say about resumes they respond to, and how you should build your resume, in our course, “Get Hired During COVID.”