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Why Your Resume Stinks (And What You Can Do About It)

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Why Your Resume Stinks (And What You Can Do About It)

What’s wrong with your resume? Well, the biggest reason it stinks is it’s almost exactly like every other applicant’s. It’s probably boring and filled with the same tired clichés that populate all the other resumes for that position.

Does this sound like something that could have come from your resume? “Results-oriented Mechanical Engineer with over eight years of experience in increasingly more responsible roles.” If so, you might want to consider switching to a human-voiced resume that sounds more like you and less like all those other cookie-cutter resumes the hiring manager must read through.

What is a human-voiced resume?

First off, it isn’t a document in which you list all the “tasks and duties” you performed at previous jobs. Who cares about them? The hiring manager either already knows what they are or learned about them from the dozens of other boring resumes she just read. Anyone who held that job would have performed those same tasks.

Instead, let them know how you left your mark at other jobs. Take an engineering position, for example. Tell them how your design changes made improvements in the company’s product or saved them thousands of dollars in production costs. These visible changes you enacted are a critical part of your story and will set you apart because you are the only one who can tell it!

How to tell your story

A human-voiced resume contains your story. It’s unique because it belongs to only you: what you changed, upgraded, or fixed while you worked there and the impact it had on the company. Your story is your brand, which makes it that much more important you tell it.

Your story needs to be short (remember, hiring managers are busy), and it should describe a problem, how you solved it, and the overall effect it had on the business.

Look at the mechanical engineer. A drilling company was concerned about the amount of time it took to pump oil over a long distance. You redesigned the chambers of the pump casting, allowing more oil to flow faster. This change enabled the customer to generate more revenue and gave your company an opportunity to charge more for its castings. That’s a story you can relate in a resume the same as you would in person—in your own voice.

When you tell a story, the hiring manager will believe you will be a capable employee. And you don’t have to use worn-out adjectives like “creative, innovative, or resourceful” because your story does that for you. Tell the story and let the reader decide whether you’re “creative, innovative, or resourceful.” It’s much more useful than listing your tasks and duties!

Do you need more help with your resume?

We’re here for you. Contact Pro Resources for the light industrial or technical/professional position you’re hoping to find. We’ve been in business for over 30 years and will use our experience and expertise to help you find your next job.

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