Resume Evaluation: Precision of Objective

This is one of series of articles being written by Alpha Dog Resumes.com explaining how the online resume writing service evaluates the thousands of resumes that are sent to it each year.

One of the ten criteria that is reviewed is Precision of Objective.  The resume is given a score of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score.

A score of 3 or lower indicates that your resume fails to tell the reader your specific job goal.  It may fail to state obvious matters such as the position for which you are applying.  It may state qualifications that make no sense in the context of the job opening.  An unclear objective suggests a canned resume that is being forwarded to all job openings with few, if any, changes to match the job that is being offered.

For example, should a job seeker state that his objective is to “Find a job in office management, registered nursing, or daycare”?  Only if the job for which he is applying is for an Office Managing Registered Nurse in an Infant Care Center.

We will help you write a resume that works extraordinarily well but that can be tailored by you to fit each specific position for which you are applying.  Send out the same resume for 50 different job openings, and you are likely to get no response from 50 employers.

Resume Evaluation: Clarity

This is one of series of articles being written by Alpha Dog Resumes.com explaining how the online resume writing service evaluates the thousands of resumes that are sent to it each year.

One of the ten criteria that is reviewed is Clarity.  The resume is given a score of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score.

A score of 3 or lower indicates that a number of elements in your resume should be made clearer.  Do sections and paragraphs confuse the reader?  Is it unclear what you really did in a job?  Are your sentences and phrases so long and rambling that even experts in your field must diagram those sentences and phrases to arrive at their meanings?

Here’s an example.  What does the following sentence really say?

“Providing unique, valuable tactical and strategic legal expertise and business advice, while generating hundreds of millions of dollars of fees and other revenues, as a result of closing billions of dollars of complex commercial finance transactions are activities which reflect my years of extensive experience in the corporate and public finance legal arena.”

Read “On Writing Well” by William Zinsser, and you will appreciate the importance of clarity.  People like simple writing.

Resume Evaluation: Appearance and Presentation

This is one of series of articles being written by Alpha Dog Resumes.com explaining how the online resume writing service evaluates the thousands of resumes that are sent to it each year.

One of the ten criteria that is reviewed is Appearance and Presentation.  The resume is given a score of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score.

A score of 3 or lower indicates that your resume needs an appearance change.  Overall appearance and presentation are crucial in a resume that is fortunate enough to actually get reviewed by a real person.  The design must be clean and simple, with visual clues directing the reader to key elements of your skills and background.  Margins, fonts, headings, and a myriad of other design elements should work together to do one thing:  Sell You!

For example, is it useful to have a section entitled “Skills” at the top of resume for a CEO candidate?  Or should that heading be “Qualifications”?  Or should there be such a section but with no heading?  Or should there be no such section at all?  It makes a real difference depending on your target job and industry.

Also, did you know that many employers now use resume management software that will not detect key information included in certain portions of your resume?  If the computer cannot read it, that information might as well be invisible.

Resume Evaluation: Emphasis on Accomplishments

This is one of series of articles being written by Alpha Dog Resumes.com explaining how the online resume writing service evaluates the thousands of resumes that are sent to it each year.

One of the ten criteria that is reviewed is Emphasis on Accomplishments.  The resume is given a score of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score.

A score of 3 or lower indicates that, while your resume may list your past job responsibilities in great detail, your current resume does not sufficiently market your accomplishments - in other words, the ways that you made or saved money for your previous employers.  Accomplishments are difficult to write.  They require the proper action verbs and, wherever possible, quantification.

For example, a properly phrased accomplishment would be “Increased market share by 25% as a result of focusing on transit finance opportunities in excess of $100 million each.”  A bad example would be “Marketed transit agencies for new deal opportunities.”

Our Background Analyzer helps you dig deeply into your professional background to allow us to work together to sell your valuable accomplishments.  Accomplishments set you apart from the hundreds of other applicants.

Resume Evaluation: Keywords and Phrases

This is one of series of articles being written by Alpha Dog Resumes.com explaining how the online resume writing service evaluates the thousands of resumes that are sent to it each year.

One of the ten criteria that is reviewed is Keywords and Phrases.  The resume is given a score of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score.

A score of 3 or lower indicates that the resume needs to be rewritten to include crucial keywords and phrases that will greatly improve the chances that the resume will be selected by HR resume selection software.  Those keywords and phrases will also attract the attention of HR personnel.  The keywords and phrases relate to the job seeker’s industry and the specific job responsibilities.  They must be placed with sufficient density and in the optimal places in the resume.

As a simple example, does an attorney seeking a General Counsel position with a corporation need to use both the phrase “In-house Counsel” and the phrase “General Counsel” in his resume?  Yes.  Where should those words be concentrated in that resume?  Near the top of the first page of the resume.

Improper use of keywords and phrases means no interview in today’s world.  Identification of those words and phrases is a difficult key first step, and AlphaDogResumes.com works with clients to define that list in a personal telephone consultation when working through the client’s extensive AlphaDog Background Analyzer.