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A resume that pops will give you a big lead in the job hunt by Ted Pincus

Looking to step up? Step out? It’s about time somebody told you that you’re probably doing it wrong. It’s ironic that the one thing in life that truly stands between a person and his or her career goals is nothing more than a flimsy typed piece of paper. But that’s a perennial fact of life, whether you’re a college senior now about to seek job one, or a veteran CEO who wants a change. The first, and sometimes the only, thing between you and the big decision-maker about your life is your resume.

Oh, of course there’s the job interview, the diligent preparation and the brilliant presentation you’ll make before the screening committee. But almost inevitably, you’ll never get to first base for a live appearance unless somebody somewhere scans your resume and likes it.

The funny thing is, I’ve never had to write one because I’ve had my own business. But over 45 years I’ve screened and rejected thousands of them for five- and six-figure positions I’ve had to fill for my firm. And in that time, I learned a lot about why most resumes are D.O.A. and end up in the round file in a twinkling.

Forget what you think you know
So to any of you who are about to put yourself on the market, I say: Forget what you’ve learned about preparing resumes, and listen to this gospel. I’ve seen what wins jobs. Focus on these 10 principles:

• • Recognize how vital and fragile a resume is.

Many job hunters take for granted that by mailing an elegant, eloquent resume, it’s bound to be at least read and digested by the screener.

Nothing could be further from reality. Whether sent in cold on a hunch or in response to an ad or grapevine rumor, your resume might receive less than a 10-second scan, because it’s one of hundreds that might come in. If possible, you are best served by sending it directly to the person who ideally would be your next boss.

• • Differentiate! Differentiate! You must stand out from the rest, so that even in 10 seconds, the screener realizes this is a keeper. How? Read on.

• • Put quality above quantity. Most people think that “qualifications” are about quantity: How big is the batch of credentials? But the world has learned that quality is the key criterion, and it searches for clues. I did. I learned that outstanding human qualities — if you can detect them — are far more important to future performance than a Harvard MBA and nice escalating job history.

• • Aggressiveness is no longer a dirty word. What are the qualities most sought by most businesses today and yet elusive to detect? Not brains or brawn or pedigree. They’re persistence, No. 1, followed by aggressiveness, resourcefulness, determination, energy and drive. And a positive — can-do — mental attitude.

The best in my business, and of other firms, too, had those traits above all.

• • Sum yourself up. Make yourself reader- friendly. Forget formalities. Don’t even title it a “Resume.” Call it “Personal Background Profile,” and begin with a crisp paragraph summing up “Special Attributes.” Look at yourself. How do you excel? What are your personal strengths? Express these in plain English, 100 words or less.

• • Tailor your resume to the job and industry. So many resumes are tossed instantly because of a perceived misfit with the job description. Know the job and company you’re aiming at, and spell out “My Career Objectives” in a succinct 100 words or less.

Make that boss or screener think the open job is precisely the one you’ve always died for.

Be aggressive and factual
• • Be interpretive, not just informative. Take nothing for granted. Your job history is not just a chronology of work, but of “Accomplishments.” Add a first sentence summing up factually what you achieved at each job — e.g. “helping produce a department sales growth rate averaging 17 percent per year over my five years.” Or “inventing a widget that was rated as a promising product even though it never was given a marketing budget.”

• • Describe your challenges in detail. Anything your persistence helped you overcome and paid off for somebody is dynamite! If credible, that’s what blows people away. Whether a physical disability or a sales conquest that nobody else had ever landed before, tell it — fast and factually, avoiding glowing adjectives.

• • Maximize the third-party endorsement. References are vital. Not just names and titles, but phones and e-addresses for easy contact, and cite their relationship to you (e.g. previous bosses). Be sure to add endorsement letters, thank-you letters, industry award certificates or evidence of thought leadership (where a trade editor thought enough of your expertise to ask for an op/ed or quoted you prominently.)

• • Dramatize the format. Make them remember you. Use e-mail if possible, with a distinctive typography and color. Use eye-popping quality stationery for a mailed resume, with an unusual paper stock and hue. Have it bear a portrait photo.

Above all, see if it can come not from you at all, but from someone the company respects, who can enclose a cover letter explaining why you are just what they’re after.

It says volumes. Then follow up relentlessly. Aggressiveness is no longer a dirty word.