The Best Résumé Wins - Catapult Leaders Podcast - Season 4 / Epi 35

No more dirty, stinking, rotten, no-good, filthy, smelly Résumés!

You need a fantastic resume. Why?

Because our experience here at Catapult Leaders tells us that the best resume wins.

How important are our clients’ resumes to Catapult Leaders? 

We assign one of our expert resume writing consultants to each resume we get from the clients who we are helping get that great next job.  We make sure the resumes are great and best impact the hiring folks at the companies we work with who want to hire the talented folks we connect to them.  It's that important.

Here’s how your resume works in the hiring process:

Like many, you might submit your resume to an online system that collects your resume, and hundreds – sometimes thousands – even tens of thousands - of others.

That's where it gets dicey. Listen up to get the inside info.

Catapult Leaders is America's leading executive search firm that matches Black Mid-to-Senior level managers, Early Career talent, and College Interns with Engineering, Supply Chain, Computer & Data Science, and Marketing roles - at top companies that value a diverse pipeline, equity, and inclusion.

Contact us at CatapultLeaders.com if you want Catapult Leaders to help you get a great job, or you want Catapult Leaders to find outstanding Black talent for your organization’s jobs and internships.

Transcript

Welcome to Catapult Leaders.

This is Darryl Mobley.

Let’s talk about your resume. But first…

Catapult Leaders finds, prepares and matches outstanding Black college students, recent grads, and experienced managers with the precise job and internship talent needs of top companies that value a diverse entry-level pipeline, equity, and inclusion.

You need a fantastic resume. Why?

Because our experience here at Catapult Leaders tells us that the best resume wins.

How important are our clients’ resumes to Catapult Leaders?

We assign one of our expert resume writing consultants to each resume we get from the clients who we are helping get that great next job.  We make sure the resumes are great and best impact the hiring folks at the companies we work with who want to hire the talented folks we connect to them.  And we do this at No Charge to the clients with whom we are working to get that great next job.

Here’s how your resume works in the hiring process:

Like many, you might submit your resume to an online system that collects your resume, and hundreds – sometimes thousands – even tens of thousands - of others.

The online system – in a cold-blooded fashion – compares the keywords most important to the employer with what you’ve placed into your resume and application. The system also ruthlessly eliminates those applicants who’ve answered questions with info that crosses the No-Go line of must haves for applicants.

Typically, a very small portion of the hundreds or thousands of resumes --- maybe the top 10 or 15 resumes, as determined by the system – are deemed worthy and passed on to the employer’s HR folks for review.

The HR folks further screen the resumes using their own preferences.

This process leads to only about 5 or so of the resumes getting moved to the next level – which typically is a phone screening interview. These are the top candidates.

About one-half of those who make it to the phone screening stage will then have their file sent to the hiring manager or business unit manager. This manager determines who gets the in-person interview.

The in-person interview is your championship game. Once at this step – you are matched up against the best of the best. You must win this step to get the job offer. You must live up to your resume.

So – it all starts with your resume.

A resume that appeals to all employers - - appeals to no employers. You must focus your resume toward a specific job opportunity.

How to do this?

#1 – Focus your resume towards a specific job online – if you are applying to a job using one of the online job boards.

#2 – Focus your resume towards the target job you want – if you are using your personal or professional network to hunt for a job.

You want your resume to match with the job description as precisely as possible.

When your resume matches the job, you show the HR folks and the hiring manager that you understand the role to which you are applying – and that you can do the job and hit the ground running.

If you struggle to focus your resume to a specific job – and/or if your current resume has not worked for you – I suggest that you contact a life or career coach (or contact us at Catapult Leaders) who has experience crafting powerful resumes. Your coach can help you get your resume and your life laser-focused on living your best life and getting that great next job.

When you’re designing your resume, you need to know the following about those Online job application systems that evaluate your resume:
• Online job application systems are not perfect
• Online job application systems read your resume from left to right – and top to bottom
• Online job application systems will not process info you place in boxes or in side-by-side columns – because they read info from left to right across the page. So, place your resume information in one-column
• Online job application systems do not process colors and photos you place on your resume and have no use. In fact, you can be hurt because if you have key information in crazy colors and photos, that key info – which might make all the difference – won’t ever make it to the eyes of the HR or hiring manager
• Online job application systems do best when you put your key contact info (name, phone number, email, and Linkedin profile info )  in a column at the top of each page of your resume. Also, use typical wording for your sub-sections - - wording like Jobs, Experience, Education, Interests, and so forth - - so that your resume info is easily readable by the online systems and the information can be properly plucked and placed into your evaluation
• Online job application systems tend to read word documents better than they read pdfs

Some final key points

I have never known the use of color in a resume to get the person the job – especially when submitted to online job application systems.

However, the use of color can be eye catching when used smartly and sparingly. The use of color is particularly on-point for those resumes that you actually hand over to another person, as opposed to those you upload to an online system. Please make black one of the 2 colors you use. And yes – use a standard font.

You must totally screen through the job posting and get really clear about exactly what the perfect prospect looks like to the company to which you are applying. Well-written job postings show you the keywords they value, the traits they’re looking for, and so forth. You must make sure that what the company tells you they value shows up on your resume. Scan and pluck out the job requirements, skills desired, qualifications, candidate attitudes & traits, words and phrases that describe the role.

There’s a lot more I have to share about making sure your unique & authentic resume is appealing to HR and talent acquisition folks – so that you get the interview. I’ll share more in upcoming podcasts.

But for now – use the tips I’ve shared to make your resume work harder for you so that you get the interview ad you get that job!

Contact us at CatapultLeaders.com if you want Catapult Leaders to help you get a great job, or you want Catapult Leaders to find outstanding Black talent for your organization’s jobs and internships.