If Twitter has taught us anything, it’s that “short and to the point” is effective. Can you say it in 140 characters?
In the old days, we called this catalog copy. I used to write sales blurbs for big print catalogs and usually only had 15-20 words and 1×2” space to sell it. “Soft waterproof leather, snuggly thermal insides, ice-gripping soles! These boots are made for hiking! Sizes 9-13, $89.99” – Ta-daa! 120 characters and spaces including the price and sizes!
Everything I see in ‘resume trends’ for 2016 is emphasizing writing it for an audience that scans and skims, especially recruiters! The “22 second…no, make that 13…wait, we’re down to 8 seconds” resume scan is the reality. Twitter resumes offer an interesting exercise – can you pull out your most important and sell-able attributes in 140 characters?
Here are a couple of mine. “Is your resume a compelling story that get the employer’s attention? Talk to me about my “Essence of YOU” methodology!” and “8 seconds. That’s all you have to get the manager’s attention with your resume. I write compelling resume stories!”
Resumes are word stories and of course we use a lot of them. My job is to take your story and make it compelling, carve out the excess and entice the reader to call you. Your job is to be able to tell that same story in 3 -5 min when they ask the No.1 interview question – “Tell me about yourself?”
The Twitter exercise is worth doing. Give it a whirl!
