resumes

The blog "Rands in Repose" had a really good post about what hiring managers look for when reading a resume. The upshot is that you have spent hours tinkering with your resume and have only 30 seconds to make a favorable impression--that is, an impression that will get you a phone screen. This particular person is in high-tech, but most of what he says applies across industries.

After describing his process of reading resumes, he gives some suggestions. Some interesting points he makes:

• He will look to see if you have a blog or other public web presence.
• When describing skills and experience, give meaningful and believable descriptions.
• It is a good idea to include seemingly irrelevant experience. If you don't have directly related experience, at least show that you have held jobs before. Seeing that someone worked through school makes a favorable impression.

I recommend that my 100WB students read this article; it's a glimpse into the mind of your audience. In this case, the audience has the power to give you something you want--or not--so it is very important to know what they are thinking.