Over the past 5 ½ years we have been on a roller coaster ride with the economy and in turn employment market. Being headquartered out of Queensland and historically doing a lot of work in Western Australia the challenges in the mining industry and the corporate anxiety around politics last year has meant we’ve seen our career opportunities change.
We are in a buyers market with an abundance of great candidates to choose from. If you are a seller it’s now more imperative than before to ensure that you package your product perfectly. With the growth of online identification of candidates by both internal and third party recruiters this means not only your resume but your LinkedIn profile as well. Recently I have led a number of CEO assignments for clients. With both I was able to also advertise online to use as a reference page for my engagement of candidates. Pre GFC we would have had about 50 people apply via online now anywhere from 150 to 200 great candidates – all very qualified and experienced come to us. As an executive job seeker that’s tough competition!
So what do you need to do to ensure you get invited in for an interview. Some key points to consider when evaluating your own resume are:
- The primary purpose of a resume is to get you invited in for an interview with a prospective employer or the recruiter representing the employer.
- Ensure you have a “positioning statement” on the front page that tells the reader what you do, why you are great and what you seek next. Don’t leave it open for them to make their own assumptions.
- Ensure your resume is customised for every role you apply for. Choose the key achievements from each role that are most relevant and inline with what the advertisement is asking for.
- Highlight key career achievements on your cover page relevant to the role you are applying for. “Sell the sizzle not the sausage!”
- A resume is an introductory brochure not “War and Peace”. 4 to 6 pages are ideal.
- Edit your resume. Do a spell check and grammar check and then have a friend read it for objective feedback.
- Use standard formatting and send it in Word or as a PDF.
- Make sure your name and telephone number are on every page
For your LinkedIn profile remember that the website is changing rapidly so you need to keep up with what they are doing.
- Their search platform uses SEO. What does that man for you? If you are a CFO looking for a CFO role ensure this is repeated numerous times on your page. Also include “Chief Financial Officer.”
- Ensure you are choosing the right industry code – check your colleague’s profiles out to see how they position themselves.
- Don’t stretch the truth! Remember LinkedIn is a public forum.
- Some good tips on how to use LinkedIn on Wiki how
We have found that substantial confidence has returned to many industries over the last 5 months. In saying that there are many people still looking for a role and also now wanting to change, providing a very competitive market. In order to secure your job of your choice you have to package yourself better than anyone else. Have an active LinkedIn profile – recruiters want to find you and check you out! Make sure your resume positions and presents you in the right way – you lead the reader down the path demonstrating that you have done what they have advertised for, you have done it well and that you want to do it again. Position yourself to sell!
