The Recruiter’s Role in Creating a Fantastic Résumé

185609341Years ago, before I was a full-time recruiter, I attended a job fair with a stack of nice, clean and freshly printed résumés to hand to prospective employers. I thought it went great. Several employers were impressed and we had a good dialogue. I followed up with the employers and no one called me back. At first I didn’t understand it. But I have since realized why this approach failed. Or rather I failed using this approach. My résumé was not polished enough for them to remember me after the night of talking to hundreds of people. I also brought the same résumé for every prospective employer. BIG MISTAKES. However I have learned from that experience and now pass that knowledge on to the candidates I work with.

So how much responsibility do we as recruiters have in the résumé of the candidates we are recruiting? I have seen many different responses to that question in action as well as hearing opinions. For me it is pretty simple. If you find a great candidate, then it is imperative to help them shine on paper.

A résumé really has just one purpose: to get an interview. During the interview the candidate reaffirms why the employer needs to hire them. Recruiters receive dozens of résumés for their open positions. The hiring mangers we submit candidates to receive that plus some from other recruiters. Helping candidates shine on paper allows them to shine for the end client on the interview and in person once they get the job.

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To be really effective at making placements, recruiters need to spend the time to work with candidates to make sure that the résumé shows the real skills of how they fit that job for that employer. Here are several tips I use to help candidates create a much better résumé. After all, I feel this is my responsibility.

  1. Create a customized résumé for every job they are applying for. No more one-size-fits-all approach. Even if the job titles are the same but it is for two different companies, I always have them customize the résumé to match that particular organization. Use the job description to pick out the keywords that are important to the organization.
  2. Make sure that the candidate is always 100 percent honest and truthful in their experience when customizing the résumé.
  3. Help the candidate understand that a résumé is no time to be bashful or modest. A lot of people have a hard time “bragging” or “boasting.” I think humility is a wonderful trait, but not in a résumé. I tell the candidates I work with, if you have done it, make sure it is on the résumé.
  4. Help the candidate understand that accomplishments are best. The employer will want to know what the candidate themselves have done. Not the team. Not that they were part of something or that they helped. If they helped or were part of a team that did something. Then they achieved that same thing. Employers see words like helped, or part of a team and think that the candidate cannot accomplish things on their own. It is also understood that few if any accomplishments are really ever due to one person only. This is not embellishing. For example, I won a championship in football as a teenager. There is no need to point out that I was part of a team that won the championship.
  5. Formatting matters: Make sure the candidate has the month and year for each job. Bullet point format is the going trend.

This may seem so basic, but it is amazing how many people do not understand these basic principles and yet how much difference they make. There are many other ways we can help candidates write a great résumé. We should not write it for them, but taking the extra time with a candidate to help the résumé shine always pays off for the candidate, the recruiter and the clients we serve.

MORE: Hiring in 2014: big challenges, real solutions

 

Bryon Mecham

Bryon Mecham
Bryon Mecham is a senior recruiter for MedsysGroup.

Bryon Mecham

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