You finally have your new resume. Either you developed it or you hired someone like me to work with you to develop it. And now you have the key document you need to start applying for jobs. Hopefully you’ll apply for jobs that can use and benefit from your skills, talents, abilities, and work style.
How do you know if your resume will get the kind of response you want? Get some market feedback.
Whenever I develop a resume for a client, I’m using information about them and about their field to position them effectively. I know a lot about the person so I easily capture their Core Value Proposition and impact. I also know an awful lot about writing clear prose, constructing compelling arguments, building a case, and organizing information most persuasively. And I understand what most recruiters and employers look for in resumes. All in all, I have a track record of producing resumes that effectively position clients to get their “right fit” work.
What I don’t always know about is their particular field or industry. That means I can’t be the final arbiter of what language works most effectively and which results are the most appropriate. Feedback from people who know you, your work and/or your field is essential to evaluating the effectiveness of your new resume.
Once the resume draft is complete, I recommend that clients consult with a few colleagues, connections, friends or family to ask these questions:
- Does this capture the me you know?
- Does this accurately reflect my work and impact?
- What jobs do you think this positions me to get?
We use the answers to these questions – market feedback – to improve the resume and its positioning of you. One career changer brought back vital language that changed the whole feel of his resume. Another was encouraged to be even more emphatic about her accomplishments. And yet another learned that she needed to emphasize some accomplishments she thought were minor, because they made all the difference to the reader.
Most of the changes suggested are relatively small because the resume as a whole was good. Fine-tuning with market feedback turns resumes from good to great – and it’s great resumes that get the desired response “let’s schedule an interview.”
