Show Notes | October 15, 2020 | Episode 82

When you send a company your resume, you want to look like you were molded and cutout specifically for that job. 

And you want to make it as easy on the hiring manager as possible to decide that they have to call you for an interview. 

In this unique episode, VirtForce founder and CEO Kimber Hill critiques a resume in front of a live audience. During the critique, the audience asks questions about the resume in real time.   

Kimber goes over the proper length of a resume, how to tweak it for the job you want and how many past positions you should include on your resume.   

Right off the bat, Kimber notices the resume she is critiquing is a functional resume, not a chronological resume, meaning it is categorized by experiences and skills relevant to the job the candidate is applying for.

Functional resumes can be used to conceal periods of unemployment, otherwise known as resume gaps. They can also show that you read the job description and took the time to tailor your resume, highlighting how your skills match with the job qualifications. 

Pro tip: Keep it on one page!

The next thing Kimber notes is the length of the resume. It's three pages. If you can, it is recommended to shortly and concisely communicate your work history on a single page. 

Pro tip: Narrow down your work history!

The resume also includes too many positions for the job the applicant is applying for. 

If you are sharing your resume in hopes of landing a fitness instructor job, you don't want to include former positions that would be irrelevant.

When a hiring manager sees a long list of different positions, they think, "Wow, this person doesn't stick around long." You don't want to give that impression. 

You want to be smart enough and selective enough to only list the positions that apply to the one you're applying for. 

Example: Being a team member at Pizza Hut for four months in 2015, is not relevant to being a fitness instructor today. 

Pro tip: Start sentences with verbs!

The writer of the resume being critiqued did a great job using bullet points beginning with action verbs to describe their work experience. 

Example: Proficiently managed customer expectations among demographics including the FBI, military and government. 

Pro tip: Quantify, quantify, quantify!

Numbers attract eyeballs and they help detract the hiring manager from the dates that show how long you worked former jobs.

Example: Oversaw 12 consecutive projects copy writing response letters for 365 people.

Put some juicy concrete data in your resume.

If you don't have enough work experience and you are getting rejected from job after job, go out and volunteer, get an internship or take on a project that you can quantify on your resume. 

Don't forget your objective statement where you clearly state the job you are seeking. If you know the exact position and company name, you should include that too. 

The bottom line is, when hiring managers read your resume, they not only want to know what you did, but how what you did impacted the company.  

Tune in to hear what questions our live audience had. 

If you are a new listener to VirtForce podcast, we would love to hear from you. Please email support@virtforce.wpengine.com and let us know how we can help you today.

Links and Resources

Kimber Hill LinkedIn

MilSpouse CoffeeHouse Podcast

In this episode, we mentioned the following resources:

Resume Boot CampFreemium Course (Episodes 47-60): https://bit.ly/RBCEp47Premium: http://bit.ly/vf-bc

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