Does Your Resume Sink or Stay Afloat In A Pool of Applicants
By Martin Buckland - Executive Career Management Professional
The Globe & Mail, Canada’s largest circulation national newspaper, recently released a publication entitled Canada’s Top 100 Employers - 2015 Winners. In the magazine, numerous organizations shared various corporate statistics encompassing the size of their workforce, average age of employees, staff volunteer hours, and initial vacation allotment. What I found most intriguing were the companies who shared the total quantity of job applications received last year versus the amount of jobs posted. A total of 18 Top 100 employers received a combined 859,362 job applications against a total of 17,957 postings; this equates to an average of 48 applicants per job.
The most phenomenal statistics come from Carswell, a division of Thomson Reuters. Last year, Carswell received 49,432 job applications for a mere 79 job postings equating to 626 job applicants per opening!!
In such a highly competitive and massive applicant pool, it is imperative you submit a resume that stays afloat and entices a hiring influencer to call you for an interview.
Here are my top 3 tips to ensure your resume doesn’t sink to the bottom, never to be seen again.
Design a resume that will pass Applicant Tracking Systems. ATS systems are the robots reading your resume with a goal to reduce the quantity of resumes for review by a human being. ATS software prefers cleanly formatted documents. Avoid using shading, underlines, graphics, columns, headers and footers, all of which may hinder the scanning process.
Articulate your personal brand – what’s so special about you? A resume isn’t about you; it’s about how you can solve the hiring managers’ problem. Replace an outdated Objective statement with a powerful 15, 17, 19, or 21 word personal brand statement.http://downsizewithdignity.com/personal-branding-tips-career-transition/
Emphasize career achievements not job duties and responsibilities. Facts and figures on how you’ve boosted sales, introduced new revenue streams, increased the client base, regained the competitive edge, launched new products, and other quantifiable contributions intrigue the reader and leave them wanting to know more about you.
Don’t be a lost fish in a sea of applicants; catch the eye of the reader to land your next job!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Martin Buckland, President of Elite Resumes, is a leading resume writer, career coach and job search strategist with a global clientele. Martin currently holds the following certifications: Certified Professional Branding Strategist, Certified Professional Resume Writer, Certified Employment Interview Professional, Job and Career Transition Coach, Certified Job Search Trainer and Co-Pilot Executive Coach. Visit his website at: http://aneliteresume.com/
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