Let’s talk about resume bullets and why they’re the most important part of the resume. The bullets are where you have you have a chance to shine and get the reader to say “This person gets it. We should bring them in to have a conversation.”
Writing attention-grabbing bullets not only provides clarity about what you did in a role or on a project but it does something else too, which may or may not even show up in the job description…
It demonstrates your ability to communicate using the written word. If you send me a resume that jumps off the page, the reader almost subconsciously thinks you can probably be persuasive in email (How many work emails per day do you get that are fighting for your attention?). Or maybe the reader is thinking more about how you can help them pitch my next project to the C-Suite or a big prospective client.
No matter how good you actually are at doing your job, if your resume lands flat, you’re limiting your career earning potential.
So let’s talk about how to beef up your resume bullets.
Yesterday, I talked about voice of the customer, and I want to dive a little deeper into that so you know exactly what I mean and where to go to do it.
If you’re actively applying to jobs, the #1 place to go is…
… the job description itself.
What better place to see what words a prospective employer uses to talk about a job than the job posting? Nowhere. Using their exact words back at them helps for search if you submitting through a tracking system (which I wouldn’t rely on as your primary application method) and establishes instant credibility.
You know what you can never have too much of on a resume? Professional credibility.
Next, go to the company’s website to see what the company values and the words it chooses to describe those values. If you can sprinkle that into your resume story, then you’ll be a step ahead of your competition.
Social media is another place you can go. This one can be tricky because their social media persona may be a little different than how they want you to behave in the office (e.g. Wendy’s roasting people on Twitter for laughs).
Do you ever listen to earnings calls? Maybe that’s just me… but those calls are a good source of information about where a company is going and how the most senior people talk about the company, which should be a decent indicator of how others will too.
If you’re looking at how to sell yourself for a job at your current company, there are probably a number of emails and webcasts you can also mine for data to help craft your message.
That’s it for now.
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