How To Turn Your Resume Into a Marketing Tool

 

Turning your resume into a winner.

 

You can't find the job of your dreams without first getting asked for an interview. That's why it's so important to make your resume stand out and give a hiring manager a reason to want to know more about who you are and what you have to offer.

 

It may not sound like it's that important, but you have to accept the fact that companies want to make money. They are not just in business to hire people, so you have to show them how hiring you will benefit them. Otherwise, they have no reason to pick you out of the pool of other applicants. Trust me, if you don't market yourself effectively, there will be someone else who is more than willing to do whatever it takes to sell themselves to the company.

 

If you want to make your resume stand out, here are 4 things you can do:

 

Show your value in a measurable way – It isn't enough to say that you learned a lot about how the company works or to show that you are skilled in your industry. All of that is nice, but most companies are more interested in their bottom line. Show them that you are a good investment by offering measurable/quantifiable achievements. For example, if you help streamline a process that saved the company money, don't just say that you helped your office be more productive - show how much money you saved the company.

 

Don't give too many details – When you are describing your previous responsibilities, don't give too many details. They just cause the reader to lose interest. Instead, just write about the goals of your position and what you did to achieve them. Remember that your resume is a marketing tool, not a biography of your work experience.

 

Create a story – I've written about this before, but it's a good idea to look at your resume as a way to tell the story of your career. Even if you have worked in several different fields or have held many different positions, if you look hard enough, you'll see that they all have a common theme. Find the theme and build your story.

 

Focus on what the company needs – Before applying for a job, you should do some research on the company and the department you want to work in. From that research, you should be able to get an idea about what the company needs from someone in that position. Once you know what the needs are, you can build your resume around those needs and show them that you can help them achieve their goals.

 

Showing an employer why they need you will help you get more interviews and get a new job faster. It's important to do the work, take some time to research the company, and customize a cover letter and resume for the position you want. Often times job seekers are reluctant to put in that type of effort, especially when they keep sending out resumes and not getting so much as an email or phone call in response. The thing is, unless you give a company a reason to hire you, they won't.

 

What do you think about these resume tips? Do you tailor your resume to every job you apply for? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

 

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for ManufacturingWorkersBlog and Nexxt. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.