Posted on December 23, 2020 by Archan Trivedi
To begin with, what is a strategy? A strategy generally comprises of setting a goal, determining actions to achieve the goal and catalysing resources to execute the actions. A good strategy clearly directs people how the decisions should be taken and how to allocate resources in order to accomplish the key objectives. But what exactly is a Resume Strategy? Why is it so important? A resume strategy is just like a business strategy as it provides steps and guidelines about how a resume should be created to make your resume go from “what a mess” to “that’s fantastic”.
Now, here’s something we both can agree on. Writing a perfect resume is not everyone’s cup of tea. It is not something that can be taken lightly and just drafted without a proper strategy. Many people struggle to write a fascinating resume, even those who make critical business decisions on a daily basis. This is clearly obvious as it is not easy to sum of one’s whole professional career in just a couple of pages. Mostly recruiters or the hiring managers often scan a resume in under 10 seconds as they receive thousands of resumes and it surely becomes hectic and tiring to just select the best from those. And this is where people run into trouble because their resume doesn’t get noticed. The trick is to create your resume in such an irresistible manner that appeals the recruiters, and you get an interview call. Simple, isn’t it? No? Okay, let me lift up the veil for you.
For an instance, imagine you being a director of any multinational company. Obviously, you must have had many accomplishments and made tremendous contributions, but what if all this does not get noticed on your resume and you do not get your dream job? Hurts, doesn’t it? It would clearly be unfair because you are the perfect fit for the job you desire. Do you even wonder why this happened? All this can surely be achieved with a proper strategic planning and thinking. An apt resume strategy helps you highlight your core competencies as a director and create your resume accordingly. That’s when I realised how important is having a perfect resume strategy that can get my acknowledgements noticed and get me the job of my dreams.
The most critical phase occurs even before the resume drafting begins. Unfortunately, this is a step that most of us tend to skip and rush to draft our resume. The main purpose of a resume is to trade your professional expertise to a hiring manager. Imagine trying to sell an unfinished or a semi-finished product. Can’t be sold, right? The same logic applies to draft a resume too. A proper strategy must be formed and implemented to create a perfect resume that can be caught in the eye of the recruiter. A perfect resume strategy tailors your resume according to various jobs and their core requirements as well as highlights your skills and expertise. The ultimate motive of building up a resume strategy is to make your resume stand out from the other resumes.
Here’s how it works! Your resume acts as your marketing tool. A good resume strategy consists of so many things which includes beautiful formatting, crisp and concise writing, perfect grammar, etc. Personal branding also plays a vital role in shaping up your resume. Different jobs require different types of resumes. You should customize resumes for each position that you are willing to apply for considering various core industry skills as the missions and visions vary from company to company. A strategic resume will boost up your confidence and ensure a higher success rate. The main purpose to create a customized resume strategy is to make your resume impressive and different from the other resumes so that the recruiter finds it appealing in a single glance and calls you for an interview.
A couple of years ago, this advice of developing a resume strategy would have seemed preposterous. A resume strategy? Why would one need that? With the increasing competition in the job market, many professionals realised that they need to highlight and emphasize their accomplishments in their resume. Do you see how huge this is? You can move a step closer to the job of your dreams simply by developing and implementing a properly fit resume strategy that defines your professionalism and highlights your key points. Amazing, isn’t it?
