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What recruiters look for

This isn’t going to be a “how to write a resume” blog. There are books, web sites and seminars dedicated to the subject. Rather, I’d like to put you in the mind set of a recruiter as I would look at a resume. Here is my advice on what will get recruiters (and hiring managers) to review your resume and subsequently call you for an interview.

* Your resume should be about what you’ve done that can benefit your potential employer, not just a list of tasks or responsibilities. For example, created applications using JAVA that enabled company to track data more efficiently.
* Make sure you include your accomplishments, i.e. achieve President’s Club in 2005.
* Use quantifiable information if possible, i.e. achieved 110% of quota for 2006 or completed project on time and under budget.
* List all skills as they apply to a specific jobs. Recruiters are mainly scanning your resume looking for them, so
* Don’t be too wordy. Make your point and use bullets, not paragraphs.
* Finally, if it’s relevant, put it on your resume. If it’s not, leave it off.

This is certainly not a be all and end all of resume writing. There are many different perspectives, and I’m sure many will differ. However, those of us that have to review multitudes of resumes need them to be as reader-friendly as possible. I hope this helps. Anyone looking for additional information on my perspective of writing resumes can visit witorsch.com. I welcome a good dialogue on this subject.