Time for some resume clean up

If you haven’t looked at your resume in a while, it might be time for some resume clean up. For instance, take a look at this example accomplishment:

-Evolved scope of spending 25% for BMD and communicated results to management.”

Are you thinking….”huh?” and “What’s BMD mean?”

Yeah, me too.

I see a lot of this on resumes that need resume clean up. Candidates sending out your resumes, you ARE on the right track if you’re including accomplishments. BUT get in the habit of reading them as if you’re not an insider. OR have a friend or someone you trust read them, someone who knows nothing else about your career other than what’s on your resume.

Then take the feedback, revise and state what happened in very clear terms of Situation, Action, Result.

Here is a way to revise the above:

-In response to a depressed pandemic economy, proposed and implemented a 25% reduction in the materials spending budget for Bob’s Manufacturing Division, which improved profits by $210 million.

This is made up, but it’s an example of increasing the context so that it is very clear what you did and how it added value.

Always remember, it’s important to not only show that you did something (i.e., reduced the time to close the books from 10 to 5 days) but to show how and why it added value (allowing management to quickly respond to a declining market and preserve profitability).

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