By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
Jeff Altman The Big Game Hunter offers concise advice about what goes into a great resume.
Hi, I’m Jeff Altman, the Big Game Hunter. And I’m called the Big Game Hunter because I’ve been hunting down leaders and staff for organizations for it’s about 40 years now. Today, I want to tell you a story about something that happened to me at a barbecue recently. Someone walked over to me and asked me a question that I think is pretty common for people. And the question was, “What should my resume look like? Like what kind of font should I have? What kind of layout should it have? Designed to to get maximum response.”
And I paused for a second and looked at the person. I said, “Instead of worrying about the fonts or the layout, try sending a resume that actually fits the job instead of sending the same resume out for every ad that you see.”
And the person paused for a second, kind of quizzically, and said, “What do you mean?”
And I said, “You know, people tend to send out the same resume over and over again, time after time, for the same job as long as it’s the same job that they’re replying to. When in point of fact, every position description is a little bit different. And as such, it’s kind of like the broken watch that’s right twice a day. You know, twice a day it gives you the right time, but the rest of the time it’s wrong. Well, it’s the same thing if you send out a standard resume.”
Twice a day, infrequently, it’s going to give you responses. But what about all those other times where you think you’re qualified, but the resume doesn’t make a strong enough case? What you need to do is tailor the resume. Tailor it so it’s obvious to the reader how you fit the job because, otherwise, you’re going to miss out on opportunities that are essential. Opportunities where you really do have the skills and you really do have the experience, but unfortunately, your resume just doesn’t make a strong enough case.
