Getting Your Resume Noticed By Avi Singer

Getting Your Resume Noticed

As the manager for a recruiting team that has hired over 150 people over the past 2 years, I have come across thousands of resumes. This is aside from the thousands of profiles I have looked on LinkedIn or various other recruitment sites. The most common theme among resumes and profiles that stood out is just that, they stood out. It is not enough to just have a resume anymore; your resume has to be something that will attract the eye of a recruiter or hiring manager.

So what needs to be in a resume for it to stand out?

1. Clarity – What did you do well? What are you exceptional at?  Too often resumes are just a long list of tasks and responsibilities. That does not stand out.
2. Numbers – How good are you at your job? You need to be able to quantifiably state what level performer you are. How much did you sell? What was your customer satisfaction number? How did you measure your productivity and what was it?
3. Match – Make it easy for a recruiter or hiring manager to see if you are a good fit for their open role. If they have to struggle to see where you might fit they won’t bother. There are hundreds of others to look at.
4. Customization – Take the time to match your resume to the role you are applying for. Look at the company website and job description and use their key words in your resume (innovator, self –starter, creative). Key words that are used internally by the hiring manager or recruiter will resonate and create a connection.

What else?

To stand out, resumes should be reflective of the role they were designed for. If you are applying for a creative role, your resume should be creative. It should not a simple black and white resume on a typical template. Throw some color and style into it and make sure it reflects your skills. One creative resume I saw was a plastic action figure of the applicant with the resume on the packaging. That’s creative.

A sales resume should be able to sell the applicant. If you’re applying for a software engineering positions make sure your resume clearly states which programming languages you are proficient in and your level of proficiency.

In many situations where applicants are telling me that they are not getting any responses or calls I assume there is something wrong with their resume. Some simple tweaks can really change things around. I have seen it happen.

About Avi

Avi Singer is a Human Resources Leader currently working as the Vice President of People at Undertone, a Crain’s Best Place to Work 4 years in a row. He has held prior Human Resources, Learning and Organizational Development Positions at Blue Man Group, Google and DoubleClick. At DoubleClick he was responsible for designing a hiring model that doubled the organization’s size from 700 to 1500 employees in just 2 years. He was also instrumental in lowering attrition by 50% resulting in $9 million in annual savings.

Avi has introduced various organizations to new models for management and leadership development, learning through social networks and talent/succession management.  Prior to joining the corporate world, Avi spent 5+ years in the Education and Not-for-Profit sector.

Avi has graduate degrees in organizational psychology and marriage and family therapy. He is currently excited about social networks, change management and leadership development.