Is your resume sending the right message?

One of the many things I seem to be doing with this economy is acting as a career advisor. With so many friends and family 'on the beach' as it were, I'm getting a number of requests to look over resumes for feedback.

Aside from the obvious spelling and formatting consistency checks, I'm also a stickler for economy. I believe that words should be used sparingly and powerfully. I know it's a REAL challenge to write with the readers limited time and interest in mind. After all, don't we all think we're fabulously educated and qualified and doesn't EVERYONE want to read every detail of our professional lives with keen interest?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news [it's a gift!] but most people reading resumes are doing it grudgingly. Think of it this way. I'm a manager and someone just quit. Not only do my resources have to carry the weight while I look for someone, I have to look over this pile of resumes in addition to doing my already overallocated job.That doesn't sound like so much fun does it? Keep that image in mind as you wordsmith your resumes.

Make the resume as easy to read as possible.One big way to make resumes easy to read is to use bulleted lists. Most people state their qualifications like this:I was the maker of widgets. I was responsible for making high quality widgets and won an award 2 years in a row. I taught others in my department how to make widgets. I am also learning how to make prayer wheels.There is no guarantee that the reader will get far enough into the paragraph to see it all.

Instead you'd be much better to lay the verbiage out in a bulleted list like this:

I was the maker of widgets.
I was responsible for making high quality widgets
I won an award 2 years in a row.
I taught others in my department how to make widgets.
I am also learning how to make prayer wheels.

Isn't that much better? Granted the trade-off is that you will use up more whitespace but I think it is worth the real estate you give up. After all, if the hiring manager isn't reading it then what good is it doing you anyway?

Another tool that is a little more geeky is to do a wordle display of your resume. If you don't know what wordle is read this.
To create your wordle graphic, just go to wordle.net and paste in the text of your resume. The resulting graphic will show you which words you've been emphasizing and perhaps overusing.

Here is my resume as a wordle graphic. What does yours look like?Do you have any resume tips to share?