Nigerians are experts in packaging. We care about the way we look, speak and carry ourselves. Unfortunately, this has not transferred to the professional space. I have come across various resumes on different platforms and I am appalled that basic resume skills are lacking amongst fresh and seasoned graduates. I think career centres that coach students need to be developed in Universities across the country. Furthermore, career coaching should be part of NYSC Community Development Service (CDS). Anyways, that is a discussion for another day.
This post is the first of a 3-part series on professional packaging: Resumes. Subsequently, I will write on LinkedIn etiquette, how to stand out in an interview and general post-offer letter advice.
Writing a resume can be a daunting task. It is very easy to copy from a random sample online but that's never a great idea. You should be able to connect with every bullet on your resume.
This post is intended to help you minimize the confusion that is associated with creating a resume.
When you write your resume, you want to avoid focusing on writing your day-to-day activities as bullet points. The truth is recruiters are not interested in what you did, what interests them is the results you delivered.
Resumes should be result-oriented to gain traction.
This post is intended to help you minimize the confusion that is associated with creating a resume.
When you write your resume, you want to avoid focusing on writing your day-to-day activities as bullet points. The truth is recruiters are not interested in what you did, what interests them is the results you delivered.
Resumes should be result-oriented to gain traction.
Here are 2 scenarios.
Scenario 1
The first bullet is so plain and does not showcase any skill or value. Things that come to mind after seeing this bullet point include:
- Why did you write the minutes?
- What makes this impressing?
- Everyone can write minutes, what makes you special?
Scenario 2
Leadership positions no matter how insignificant you think they are can be used on your resume to show your skills and abilities.
If you were a course representative or secretary of your department or a volunteer at church. These are areas you can state on your resume.
The second bullet in this scenario is not specific enough. It does not show any skills or abilities.
On the other hand, the first bullet states how many people you interacted with. This reveals great communication skills, people management skills and ability to work under pressure.
In summary, when writing a resume, stop to ask yourself what is it I am trying to pass across to the recruiter? Am I a result-oriented person? Am I an achiever? Am I a great worker? If the resume can answer yes to all of these questions then you are free to click the send button.
Other tips:
I hope this has been helpful to you. Come back on Thursday for another part of the Professional Packaging: Resume series. The focus will be "The use of keywords in your resume."
For each blog post in this Professional packaging series, I will help 10 people review their resumes. If you are interested, follow this link and enter your information. I will contact you via email within 3 business days.
With love,
Bibi L'amour.
Other tips:
- Feel free to use numbers and percentages to highlight the results of your activities
- Use action words like Coordinated, Assisted, Helped, Managed e.t.c to describe your level of involvement in each bullet
- Avoid using grammatically ambiguous words
I hope this has been helpful to you. Come back on Thursday for another part of the Professional Packaging: Resume series. The focus will be "The use of keywords in your resume."
For each blog post in this Professional packaging series, I will help 10 people review their resumes. If you are interested, follow this link and enter your information. I will contact you via email within 3 business days.
With love,
Bibi L'amour.
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