What Do Hiring Managers Look For When Reviewing Your Resume?

How many times has this happened to you? You found that perfect position so you put together a resume and sent it off with the hopes of getting a call back for an interview. You waited and waited but no one called so you scratch your head and wonder what you could have done better.

Sometimes the position was already filled. But all too often, the resume simply did not reflect what employers are looking for. So how do you get more calls for interviews? What do hiring managers think about when reviewing your resume?

They want to know if you have the qualifications to do the job.

An employer’s main goal is to fill a need. If they need a sales executive, they will not hire a nurse. It seems simple, but many jobseekers are using resumes that do not have a clear direction or career path. This is why it is so important to target your resume to each individual company and to the job you are seeking.

A good way to start is to throw out the old objective statement and replace it with a headline followed by a skills summary (sometimes called qualifications or accomplishments summaries).

Here is an example for a sales executive.

DIRECTOR OF SALES

 

Results-delivering senior executive with an exemplary record of leading regional sales organizations to exceed plan year over year by as much as 400%. Currently lead $30M sales team for five product lines as a western regional sales manager for XYZ Company. Adept in building key relationships and crucial partnerships. Expert in recruitment, training, and team building demonstrated by a proven history of success.

As you can see, it is obvious to the reader what this jobseeker is looking for and what unique skills he or she brings to the table.

Another tip to ensure you have a resume with a clear focus is to sprinkle industry keyword phrases throughout your resume. For this jobseeker, he or she might use keyword phrases like “negotiations”, “deal structuring”, or “account management”. On the other hand, if this person is a nurse, he or she might use “auditing charts” or “patient education” for their keywords.

Once you learn to write your resume around what employers want, you will significantly improve your odds for getting calls for interviews.

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Jennifer Anthony is the Director of ResumeASAP, offering professional and affordable resume writing services. If you have comments about this article, or if you are interested in learning more about professional resume writing, please contact Jennifer Anthony by e-mail.

Jennifer is also President of the Accredited Career Writers Association International and her career articles have been featured on hundreds of websites including CareerBuilder, MSN Careers, AOL Jobs, CNN, Net-Temps, TelCoa, and Telework Recruiting.

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