Lead with the Headline

Anticipation of something great to come is a tingly feeling. That slow roll up of expectation which ends in a peak of excitement; it happens in love stories, horror movies and especially sports. However, we are talking about YOU and moving to your next level. YOU should be the peak of excitement from the beginning.

So many resumes and even in interviews, people don't get to the point. They dance around what they can do for the company. They use words they believe will entice the HR person to want to know more. No! It's your 2 seconds to get on the list for an interview. You're competing with The WORLD for the position. No one has time to leaf through a "page turner" resume. HR needs you to tell us, as concise and detailed as possible, what YOU possess that will add to our company.

Once you do that, then the interview comes. Again, just get to the point. When asked "tell us a time when ........" , they don't need to know every detail of the moment. Stop wanting to give too much background information about the scenario. It's about you, and you alone. HR doesn't need to know about Bob and Jane, if they did then they would have interviewed them; yes, they applied too.

Your resume is the headline that should grab them. It won't be because of what you left out, but of what you included about what YOU can add to their bottom line. If you lay the resume out right, the interview won't be to learn more about what you can do. Rather, it will be to find out if you fit into their work environment which is exactly what a good interview should be doing. It can only do that when YOU lay out clearly on your resume what YOU have to offer.