Good Afternoon,
I am Jill, the supervisor of the writing team at Right Now Employment. I was told you are looking for work again but you could use some tweaks to your resume to make its format more visually appealing to decision makers. First things first, you should know 93% of all hiring managers use a resume scanning software called applicant tracking systems (ATS) to filter candidates from their application pool. To get an idea of how you stacked up against your competition, I passed your resume through the very same software that hiring managers use to select the best talent out of hundreds of candidates.
Here is what the software found: 19% of resumes in the current job market still look like yours which indicates that your format is outdated. With that, some older applicant tracking systems (ATS) will have problems reading your resume.
Your resume only scored a 46% in the ATS software when compared to the other candidates pursuing the same jobs as you. Anything lower than an 80% is cause for concern.
I know we’ve all been told that looks don’t matter as much as substance, but in the case of your resume this just isn’t true. I found your design to be visually uneven. The appearance is not polished, and it doesn’t say “high potential” as your experience suggests. Remember that your resume is your marketing tool. It’s the first impression a potential employer has of you.
You should consider reworking a few of your bullet points to increase the impact to the employer. If employers see too many long sections of text, they might find it difficult to zero in on the most crucial information. The size and type of bullets should also be taken into account. Although seemingly minor, the visual impact of a resume is the key to ensuring that an employer will read it thoroughly.
Your career summary is modern, defines you as a professional, and covers those areas most relevant to your career level and job target. This is a key component to compel the hiring manager to keep reading and yours is just the right length.
From the way your resume is worded, you come across as a “doer,” as opposed to an “achiever.” Too many of your job descriptions are task-based and not results-based. This means that they tell what you did, instead of what you achieved. This is a common mistake for non-professional resume writers. To be effective and create excitement, a great resume helps the hiring executive picture you delivering similar achievements at his or her company
When I read your resume, I did not find the kind of compelling language that would bring your work to life. Instead, I saw many passive words and non-action verbs. Strong action verbs, used with compelling language to outline exemplary achievements, are essential parts of a well-constructed resume. I have attached a couple samples to give you an idea of what the formatting should look like. However, because everyone’s work experience is different your content would need to adjusted line by line as needed. I hope this insight helps! (I know it’s a lot to take in.)
Honestly, with all of the above concerns being considered, I’d suggest a rework of what you currently have. However, completing a rework of your resume will not be for the faint at heart.
With that being said, I MUST let you know any changes you make at this point are optional. What we recommend can only serve to help increase your overall resume score, thus you’d increase your chances of being selected for an interview. Whether you change anything or not we can still submit you for this role!!
Here are your options:
Option #1 – Is a free option. You are welcome to work on your resume yourself using the samples we have included as a guide. Now, I can honestly tell you the hardest part for you will be is reconfiguring what you have now so that it serves you better. You have a strong background of experience, you just need to fine tune what you are presenting so that hiring mangers and CEO’s can see the value in chatting with you.
Option #2- For a small fee you could have my team do the resume rework for you! I do recommend this option above reworking your resume youself. That’s mainly because with the time restraints in getting a revised resume back to your recruiter and the size of this task, it may be easier to have the professionals do it. Especially since we have the ATS at our disposal which will help us make sure we increase your score. With the ATS we can address and correct all the areas where you lost points. This is a much more efficient process than taking a guess at what to fix. If you think a rework by my team might be the way to go, I can tell you the cost is $250.00 and it includes a cover letter to use in conjunction with your submittal resume.
If this is of interest to you at all just know our standard processing time for a rework is typically 1-3 business days for us to have a proof returned to you for review. We can process reworks in shorter timeframes if needed. Just let me know. Again no pressure either way. You can use what you already have, work on what you have yourself, or we can help you if you so desire!
Good Luck!
Jill