DARTON recently hosted a networking event that featured guest speaker David Pinkley. David is Managing Director and Founder of The Resume Sage www.theresumesage.com, an executive resume writing firm based in Charlotte. With a background in public accounting and a passion for networking, David delivered a dynamic presentation that resonated with DARTON’s team of senior-level project and interim professionals.
In follow-up to his presentation, David graciously agreed to serve as a “guest blogger” to recap the key points from his presentation. Introducing David Pinkley!
The 30 Second Interview
By: David Pinkley, The Resume Sage
Traditionally we think that the purpose of the resume is to get the interview. That’s no longer true. The resume doesn’t get you the interview; the resume IS the interview. Hiring managers have little excess capacity these days so the cost of time to interview every candidate who doesn’t get hired is great. Companies are examining resumes more critically and instead of meeting 10-15 candidates, they are inviting only the top 3-5.
This is what I call “The 30 Second Interview.” It’s the amount of time you have to convince the reader of your resume that you are worth an hour of time face-to-face. How does reader of your resume evaluate you in 30 seconds? I’m going to tell you. They are looking for three things: 1/ Readability, 2/ Credible Content, and 3/ Personality.
1/ Readability (or perhaps more aptly stated “scan-ability”). Your resume says a lot about you and its format makes an immediate first impression; just like your appearance makes an impression. Recruiters and HR professionals are overwhelmed with responses for even the most obscure job openings these days. Resumes that are easiest to read/scan get viewed first. That may seem arbitrary but if you’re trying to narrow a tall stack of resumes you would use any reason to eliminate them. If your resume is confusing, if the formatting is inconsistent, if you overuse word processing gimmicks (italics, underlines, bolds, font types and font sizes, etc), or if you have wall-to-wall words with very thin margins you make your resume more difficult to read. You risk it being placed at the bottom of the stack, or worse, placed in the rejection stack without a word of it ever getting read. Yes, formatting does matter but only during the first few seconds. Beyond that it’s less relevant, which leads me to point #2.
2/ Credible Content. Content is credible when it’s defined. The more detail you use to describe your experience the more believable it becomes. It’s impossible to overstate how critical this is: your creditworthiness as a job applicant is directly tied to your ability to communicate your career story. This is hard work and when we don’t know what to write we resort to what everyone does. We rehash the job description creating a resume that’s bland and contains little, if any, content that makes us unique. Another popular mistake is the use of what I call Hallmark Words. Hallmark Words look good on paper (i.e. greeting cards) but don’t have much meaning. Common Hallmark Words include: strong communication skills, team player, quick learner, detail-oriented, and out-of-the-box thinker. Do we really know what these words/phrases mean? Hallmark Words are the kiss of death because they make you look like every other candidate. My advice is to distinguish yourself by writing credible content that demonstrates how you are qualified. Unfortunately being qualified for a job is no longer good enough, which leads me to point #3.
3/ Personality. We’ve all been conditioned to believe that the resume should not reflect our personality so we don’t bias the hiring decision. So we write resumes that are objective and factual. But this approach strips the most important element from your resume. YOU. The more personalized your resume is, the more opportunity you have to make a connection with the reader. I’m a strong proponent of listing hobbies, volunteer activities, community involvement, etc. on your resume. (To be clear, I’m not suggesting you include anything that would give rise to discrimination and strongly advise you to stay within the limits of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.) If you like reading twentieth century fiction, include your favorite authors. If you play golf disclose your handicap. Another way to personalize your resume is to define your working style. Explain how you executive projects; why people like to work with you; how you define leadership. Include anything relevant to the job that someone may find professionally intriguing. This is not a radical point, just a reminder that hiring decisions are emotional to a large degree and the more interesting you are on paper, the more likely you will be to continue progressing in the interview process.
1/ Readability/scan-ability. 2/ Credible content. 3/ Personality. These are the three criteria that your resume is evaluated on to determine whether or not you should be considered for a job. It IS the first interview and it is your silent sales force. It should speak the same message that you would speak in a face-to-face interview.
For More Information
Contact: David Pinkley, The Resume Sage at (704) 358-6000 or david@theresumesage.com
Learn more about The Resume Sage at www.TheResumeSage.com
