How to Make a Lasting Impression in Six Seconds

How to Make a Lasting Impression in Six SecondsHow to Make a Lasting Impression in Six SecondsPinReading the title sounds a bit like speed dating. However, in speed dating, you have 60 seconds to make a lasting impression on the other person, which could result in a future date, or be a complete bustSimilarly, with your resume, you have only a handful of seconds to make a lasting impression on a potential employer.Heres how to make a lasting impression in six secondsLook for keywords.In todays market, employers receive hundreds of resumes for open positions. As they scan resumes, theyre looking for keywords that show them this person should be moved to the next level instead of the circular file.In addition, more than three quarters of employers rely on keywords to narrow their vast applicant pool to choose the most promising and bring them to the interview stage. Many companies today use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to filter through resumes. They enter position descriptor key words into the search criteria and may immediately cull 4,000 resumes down to 76.The more must-have keywords they see in that brief scan, the more likely that candidate will move to the next stage and land a phone or face-to-face interview. Writing resumes that get you hired is all about how you display information and what keywords you use, no matter how experienced you actually are.Identify with keywords.So how do you identify these keywords? Look at the job posting. The job description lists must-have qualifications for applicants.Some of these might be the name of the city where the position is based, specific skills, required foreign languages, programming languages, or educational degrees.Once you have identified these keywords, use them early and often in your resume.In addition to using these words often and as near to the top of your resume as possible, use them in your titelbild letter.Fitting in the most important keywords without appearing to keyword stuff your cover let ter is an art. A tool to help you with this is called a word rechnerwolke. The most popular version of a word cloud generator is Wordle, but there are many other options out there. You can use your favorite word cloud generator to compare the frequency of words in a job opening and your resume or cover letter.Why is this a good idea? Youll quickly see if any words in your resume match the words in the ad. What youre seeing in that word cloud is the key vocabulary in the text- keywords. Youll also get an idea of how often you use certain words to describe yourself. Does your resume word cloud show an active, effective candidate?Does anything in the word cloud match the position for which youre applying? If it doesnt, get some guidance from the best resume writing service you can find to boost your chances.Create a skills punch list.Beyond creating an intriguing executive resume cover letter to make a lasting impression, its a good idea to create a skills punch list to include in your resume.These keywords can be anything that make you stand out and emphasize the things at which you are best. Dont forget, youre offering a unique spin because of your individuality. Build on that uniqueness. Some examples of skills would be customer service and relations, staff leadership, information technology, and others. Just make aya that they relate directly back to the skills or qualifications outlined in the job posting.In addition to creating a skills punch list, incorporate the keywords into your career summary, your professional experience, and your accomplishments. Make sure as youre formatting your resume to use bullet points, bold text, and indentations to your advantage to make your resume look clean.Be sure to evaluate.Once your resume is complete, its time for evaluation. Heres a way to evaluate your resume, and its based on the way it will be evaluated when it reaches the employers desk pick up your resume and scan it for 30 seconds, then cover it and write down what you remember.Actually, 30 seconds might be longer than most HR people look at it, but theyve developed serious speed-reading skills. What do you remember about your resume? What stands out? Now consider that your resume is something with which youre familiar- and it was probably hard to remember what you said about yourself. Imagine what its like to read through hundreds of resumes to find the best candidate to call for an interview.Once youve done this, get some objective feedback. You can get feedback from friends, family, and colleagues or even professional executive resume writers- members receive a discountAsk them to look at your resume with these questions in mind Why should I hire you? Who are you and what do you bring to the position? If the answer to these questions isnt obvious, then you need to work on your resume to make it stand out and help you land the interview.Erin Kennedy, MCD, CERW, CMRW, CEMC, CPRW, BS/HR,is a certified executive resume writer and career c onsultant, andthe CEO of Professional Resume Services, Inc.Shes a nationallypublishedwriter and contributor of 16 bestsellingcareer books. She has achieved international recognition following yearly nominations of the prestigiousT.O.R.I. (Toast of the Resume Industry) award. Shes also one of only a few professionals worldwide to achieve the coveted certified master resume writer distinction. With more than 18 years of writing experience behind her, Erin has written thousands of resumes for every career level and every industry.