10 Reasons Why Your Resume May Not Be Generating Any Phone Calls or Emails

So, you've been posting your resume online to job search engines, company websites and you've even sent it to your best friend who sent it to his supervisor, who sent it to his manager (or so they said), and so on. It's been three months or longer and you know you're highly qualified for any company, so what could be the problem? Well, there could be a number of reasons why your resume just isn't making the cut. Critical things such as:

1. No focus or specific target
2. A weak summary or profile to start
3. No relevant keywords to what you're applying for
4. A one-size-fits-all resume
5. A laundry list of duties
6. Lengthy job descriptions 
7. Lengthy resume overall
8. Boring verbiage
9. Limited or no accomplishments listed
10. Information not relevant to what you're applying for


Now, let's start with #1. As a hiring manager myself, the first thing I look for at the top of a resume is the focus. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a candidate's resume start off with a weak objective and then proceed right to the experience. What's even worse, is when a person doesn't take the time to change the target to match the position they're applying for. For example, if you are applying for an Editor position, don't leave 'Seeking a Graphic Artist Position Where I can Grow With The Company' on your resume from when you applied earlier for the graphic artist position. Take the time to change it. If you're going to do a resume blast, then make sure you're blasting to similar positions. Don't just apply for any and everything that you are not even qualified for just because you "think" you can do the job.

Weak summaries or profiles will not prompt a hiring manager to read further. You don't want the summary to be long and drawn out either. The summary is an introduction that says why you would make a good fit right from the beginning. This does NOT include your daily duties either. Save that for the Professional Experience section.

When using keywords (which by the way are very important for search engines and resume databases to pick up your resume) make sure you use ones related to the position you're targeting. Not soft skills such as multitasking or communication skills. You need strong ones. All you have to do is look at any job posting of interest and you'll see keywords right in the posting.

A one-sized-fits-all resume does not work! Nobody wants to see that you're all over the place. Companies are trying to hire someone for a certain position to solve a problem, so your focus needs to be on helping them to solve that particular problem. Also, companies want people who are stable and will be with them for awhile. If the resume isn't targeted, then it confuses the hiring manager. That's great that you're a Jack (or Jill) of all trades, but the fact that you can do carpentry, sales, security, HR and marketing does not help the company who's just seeking a marketing coordinator. Just list information related to this position.

Duties! Duties! and more... Duties! This doesn't work either. Many people assume that you must list any and every single thing you do on a resume which simply isn't true. A snapshot is what a resume is. Your duties should be described briefly and then lead into your accomplishments.

See the above for lengthy job descriptions.

Ahhh the one page myth! Resumes are typically one to two pages. If you have 10 years of work experience and you've moved up through the ranks there is no way you're going to get all of the relevant information needed on one page without the resume looking dull and dry. Senior level executives can be as many as three. It's really the content that matters.  Also, if you have multiple positions to list, it is better to stretch it to the second page than to try and cram everything onto one page. Now, generally the one page resume is mainly for new high school and college graduates because they usually don't have more than 3 years of work experience. Oh yeah, high school graduates need resumes too these days.

Are you repetitive in your verbiage? Do you start every description off with Responsible for...? If so, please stop this. It puts us to sleep. This is a quick way for your resume to end up in the slush pile... or trash.

Accomplishments are really the heart of the resume. This is where you really make yourself shine! Quantifiable results are best, but if you can show results of your duties, and how you've helped a company to either make money or save money that will be plenty. Many people make the mistake of thinking accomplishments just mean sales and awards, but that's not all!

Information not relevant kind of goes back to the Jack or Jill of all trades. It also means that if you've been an elementary school teacher for your entire career to date, and now you want to transition to a corporate training position, then you'd better think of some related skills and expertise to list or don't apply for the corporate training position. Just because you can manage a classroom of 4th graders, doesn't necessarily mean that you can train a group of project managers for Coca-Cola.

So, those are just "some" things I see on resumes. There are other reasons as well. Start with paying attention to these and you'll be off to a great start!

Good luck in your career search!

BluePrint Resumes & Consulting