I’ve spent over 25 years helping clients write resumes and one of the most common problems I’ve consistently encountered is ambiguity. It still surprises me so many people tend to be vague when describing their previous roles and responsibilities. Now given that there are many job descriptions that leave you wondering what in the heck does this job DO all the blame shouldn’t be placed on the job seeker. However, vague descriptions of your previous roles add absolutely nothing to your resume. Recruiters value and are looking for specifics. They want to know not just exactly what you did but what was the outcome? You should be writing your resume with facts and figures. The more specific you are the better an idea the hiring manager will have of what you did and the skillsets, including transferable skills, you could bring to a new employer. Try not to use general terms like “results oriented”. Instead be concrete, use active verbs and describe the actual result.
Easier said than done right? Here’s an exercise to help get you started thinking in facts, figures and concrete outcomes instead of generalities. Sit down and write out a list of everything you did in your previous roles. When you walked into the office, cubicle or your previous space what did you do after you hung up your coat and got your coffee? Specifically, did you check email and reply to customer inquiries? If so, why, how many? Did you work on sales reports? Why? What did that do to help the company? Think in terms of why did you do what you did and what did that deliver for the company. No one will have the same qualification and experiences as you do so take advantage of that and demonstrate your particular qualifications. Share your unique career story to the hiring managers.
