3 Biggest Reasons your resume is not getting noticed
If you have been making these resume mistakes that I am about to tell you, your chances of getting interviews from now on is about to go off the chart. Keep watching.
I know how frustrating and discouraging it can be when you apply for jobs online and you don’t hear anything back from the employers. I’ve been there myself, and I’ve seen many of my clients and students struggle with the same problem.
And that's the reason why, in this post, I’m going to share with you the 3 biggest and most common resume mistakes that are hindering you from getting noticed and show you what you should do instead to obtain more and better results. By the end of this video, you will learn how to optimize your resume which will help you stand out from the crowd. You will also learn how to tailor your resume, capture the employer’s attention, and how to sell the value and impact you bring to the table.
So, if you’re ready to land your dream job faster and easier, keep reading.
1. “One size fits all” Resume
Do you use the same resume for every job you apply to?
One of the biggest reasons why your resume may not be getting noticed is because you use the same resume for every application. This approach may have worked in the past, but not in today’s job market where we now have more CV submissions than ever due to online job boards.
Remember, in-house recruiters and HR managers often receive hundreds of CVs every day. When you have that many profiles to go through, you can’t “figure out” or “discover” hidden relevancy between your past experience and the role’s requirements.
Therefore, unless your CV is catered specifically to each position by emphasizing the relevant skills and experience, it is extremely difficult for your resume to be noticed or pique the interest of any employer.
Of course, you do not have to rewrite the entire CV for each application. A good strategy is to have a base version of your CV and then modifying it to fit the requirements of each position and company before submitting your profile.
By tailoring your resume to the position, it will not only increase the likelihood of hearing back from the employer, but it will also save you much time and frustration.
2. Your resume is NOT Obvious enough!
Do you know the average time it takes for HR professionals to decide whether a profile is interesting or not? The time that it takes for them to open a new CV, quickly glance through the content, and decide whether to read further or close it forever. It takes about 6 seconds. What it means is that unless your CV can grab the reader’s attention in the first few seconds, it will be closed and forgotten for good.
Earlier, we learned that we need to tailor our CV by including the skills and experience that are relevant to the role and the employer.
But that’s NOT enough! Again, we only have just a few seconds. Your CV should not only “contain” interesting and relevant information, it should SCREAM these details! You want to mention them everywhere that you can, including your professional summary, job titles, work experience, skills section, and even your cover letter so you can make them super obvious even only when skimming through the resume.
This is how you can ensure that your resume always captures the readers' attention and consistently leads to interviews.
3. Not Results-Centric
The last reason why your resume may not be getting noticed is because you are not making it results or achievement-oriented.
Many people make the mistake of simply listing their job duties in their resume, without showing the impact or the value they brought to their previous employers. But there is nothing outstanding or impressive about simply carrying out job duties. That’s what everyone else is supposed to do!
Instead, what will make you stand out, at the end of the day, are the results you produced, the accomplishments you made, and the problems you solved. Basically, how you made your team and company better as a result of you being there.
Therefore, you want the majority of your resume’s content to be results-centric rather than responsibility-driven. You want to show the employer that you are not just a doer, but rather, a performer, a problem-solver, and a value-creator. You want to convince them through your cv, that you have what it takes to deliver the results they are looking for.
If you want to take it a step further, you can use numbers and stats to measure and quantify your success. This will make your experience that much more concrete and convincing. Numbers and stats are powerful because they provide a useful context for your accomplishments, as well as making your resume more eye-catching and memorable.
Here are a few examples of how you can use numbers and stats to make your resume more results-centric.
Instead of saying: “Oversaw online advertisement on major social media platforms including audience targeting and A/B testing,”
Better version would be: “Increased regional market-share by over 20% through carefully targeted, A/B tested online advertisement on major social media platforms.”
Here is another example,
“Managed a team of 10 sales representatives and provided coaching and feedback.”
Better: “Led a team of 10 sales representatives to achieve 150% of the quarterly sales target and increased customer satisfaction by 25% through coaching and feedback.”
As you can see, by using numbers and stats, you can make your resume that much more engaging and attractive and show the employer the tangible impact and value you can bring to their organization.