Replacing the Objective Statement with a Qualifications Profile on your resume Does your current resume begin with a generic objective statement telling the reader what type of jobs you are looking for? Let me guess that it reads something similar to this: "I am seeking the opportunity to expand my skills, knowledge and experience in a challenging professional environment. I am honest, reliable, eager to learn and open to tackling a range of tasks. I am a strong and empathetic team player and always complete tasks to a high degree of quality and to deadlines" If this is how your resume begins, it's time to make changes. In the competitive job environment where hiring managers may receive upwards of 500 applications for a single position, an objective statement is more likely going to lead to your resume being deleted. From a hiring manager's perspective, they are not interested in a non-specific, all-purpose statement that adds no value to the resume and provides them with no reason to want to hire you. You may have the best skills and be the perfect fit for the job however, you may never get this opportunity because your resume has already been deleted. What is a Qualifications Profile? A great way to introduce yourself on your resume is by creating a qualifications summary or career summary. Rather than telling the reader you are seeking an opportunity to expand your skills, rather promote what skills you actually can bring to this specific role. A targeted resume including a targeted profile will encourage the reader to continue reading the resume as opposed to pressing the delete button. For example, if you are applying for an IT job that requires programming skills, list you're programming skills within your introductory profile. That way, the reader will straight away be interested to read on as they know that you have skills that are required for this position. How long should my Qualifications Profile be? The last thing you want to do is turn your qualifications profile into an essay! Statistically, a hiring manager will only spend between 15 to 20 seconds when initially reading your resume. If they open your resume and see a half page profile they are more likely to be turned off as they won't be bothered to read all this information. A well written profile should be no longer than 2-4 sentences. It needs to be targeted and present value. Final thought: When you begin to write your new resume, don't forget the number one rule. Your resume is a marketing document. The more you can showcase your skills and achievements the greater chance you will have of being selected for the interview stage.

Does your professional resume stand out from the competition? Will your resume meet the expectations of employers or hiring managers or will it end up in the deleted items folder? Resume writing is an art form and while there are no exact rules that will ensure you get the job, there are plenty of mistakes that you can make that will prevent your resume from being noticed. No matter if you are a recent student or a high flying executive, a compelling written resume that highlights your skills and promotes your talents to the hiring manager will ensure that you give yourself every opportunity of making it to the interview stage. What will make my resume stand out from the competition? The most important aspect of resume writing is marketing yourself correctly. Do not waste the reader’s time with irrelevant information that will not aid your job description. Statistically your resume has less than 30 seconds to shine so make sure the most important information is placed on the front page. If you require a certain qualification or licence make sure this is easily located on your resume. The more you make the recruiter or hiring manager work to find your information, the greater chance they will delete your resume. Replace the Objective Statement with a Qualifications Profile Do you have a generic, obsolete and boring objective statement at the top of your resume? Something that reads like: "Self-motivated professional seeking a position with a company where I can develop my career and skills". If so, remove this immediately and replace it with a qualifications profile or career summary. Rather than telling the reader what you want, tell the reader what you can offer their organisation and therefore why you would be a good fit for this role. Target the Reader As a hiring manager, when I read job candidate resumes, I want to instantly find certain requirements that I am looking for in prospective candidates. For example, if I am hiring a computer programmer and one of the requirements for the job is to be proficient in a range of computing languages such as C, Java, Perl etc. then I expect to see this on page 1 of the resume. By hiding this important information on page 3 is not beneficial for this job application. Employers can often receive hundreds of resumes for a particular job. The harder you make their life, the greater the chance that your resume will be deleted. Strategic Keywords With demand for jobs so competitive, many firms now use software programs as a way of performing "first round interviews". Using selected keywords will ensure that your resume passes the first stage of selection and will not be deleted before a hiring manager has even had a chance to read your application. The best way to find these keywords is by simply reading the job positions. See what the company is looking for and make sure your resume is full of these keywords!

Do you currently find yourself in a position of applying for multiple jobs every single day yet never seem to get a call back or interview request? Why does this happen? If you have the right skills and experience surely you should have hiring managers calling you to arrange an interview? Unfortunately job seeking is not as simple as just applying for jobs and waiting for the phone to ring. Demand for new jobs is more competitive than ever and with more and more people applying for jobs via online websites it is now much easier to send off your resume in a much shorter time period. I recently worked with a job seeker who had been laid off after 10 years of loyal service with the same company. This person told me that she was applying for up to 20 jobs a day. When I asked her if there were 20 new jobs being advertised every day that suited her skills she said she didn’t care. "The more jobs I apply for the greater my chance of getting an interview." In my experience, if you are applying for jobs and never hearing back it is typically down to two main factors. Reason number one, is your resume is not good enough to attract the hiring manager and therefore your resume is most probably being deleted before the reader even has a chance to recognise the skills that you can bring to the role. The second reason you may be getting overlooked is simply that you are not qualified, skilled or experienced enough for the types of roles you are applying for. Your resume is just not good enough: Before you apply for another job take a long hard look at your resume. If you were the hiring manager would you hire yourself based on your resume? Your resume is your marketing document and as such needs to be written to highlight your value added skills that you can bring to your next job. If you are applying for a management position you need to emphasise your management experience. Don’t assume that the hiring manager will know this information unless you provide evidence. For example, rather than just stating "5 years of management experience" which does not tell the reader much information apart from the obvious, you need to include further explanation to highlight this experience "5 years of management experience leading expert teams, capable of analysing all areas of operations and implementing dynamic improvements, cost savings and overall growth and profit" - From a hiring managers perspective it is obvious which statement stands out. Are you qualified for the job you are applying for? Although you may think you could perform a certain job and maybe if given the chance you would prove to be the perfect person, unfortunately if the employer needs certain requirements they then expect that those applying for the role have these requirements. If the job requires an accountant with minimum 2 years of experience with specific skills in auditing, it is not reasonable to think that they will hire a graduate accountant with less than 1 year of work experience. My advice is don’t waste your own time by applying for roles where you don’t meet certain expected requirements. Final thought: If you are not receiving interview requests and feel that you are being ignored every time you apply for a job, you’re not alone. Job seeking is a tough business, but in order to give yourself the greatest opportunity of finding success you need to ensure that your resume is written, structured and presented correctly. Every time you apply for a new job you may need to adjust or tweak your resume. Remember that the best resumes are those that are achievement based and written to target that specific job you are applying towards.

Preparing a highly targeted and personalised cover letter and you are already on your way to a brand new job. Obviously, you will need a professionally written resume also! By impressing the reader (hiring professional) and they will enthusiastically move onto your resume. Disappoint the reader and your resume will be deleted. Will a perfectly written cover letter ensure that you get the job? Of course not. However, a poorly written cover letter will guarantee that your application will not get the attention that is needed to be one of the top candidates. In the current job market there are three areas of your cover letter that you need to pay special attention to: Target the employer’s needs: Too many times, we write our cover letter and resume from our point of view. From the perspective of the hiring manager they want to know that you have the skills to do the job you are applying for. If the employer is looking for a candidate who is going to need to travel and spend time outside of the office then you need to emphasise that travelling is something you are willing to do (and enjoy). If you do not feel that the job is right for you, then the easy solution is not to apply for the job. However, if you do decide to apply for a certain role then target the needs of the employer and the skills that they require from the perfect candidate. Don’t be afraid to emphasise your previous achievements: When applying for a job you need to prove that you are the best candidate. The only way to do this, is by emphasising your achievements and all those skills that make you both unique and special. Try to establish yourself as an expert. Remember that in order to stand out, you need to be in the top 5-10% of all the candidates applying for the role. While no one likes arrogance, employers DO want to see examples of your achievements that would make you the right person for the job. Provide examples how you will add value to the organisation: If you don’t believe that you have the skills to add value to the particular organisation then why is the hiring manager going to hire you? It is not enough anymore just to present your skills and achievements but you need to prove to the reader that you are capable of adding value to the role and to the whole organisation. Providing examples of the added value expertise that you can offer should be highlighted in your cover letter to help differentiate your application as compared to others.

In order to succeed in the Australian job market your Australian resume needs to be written, structured, formatted and presented in the correct way. With competition for jobs in Australia at such a high demand, and in order to stand out from the competition, you need an Australian resume that adequately highlights your skills, achievements and value that you can bring to your next role. Below are my 3 most important tips for making your resume stand out. Include a Qualifications Profile Remember the number 1 rule about resume writing - highlight your achievements. Your resume is a marketing document and as such you need to emphasise to the reader your skills and expertise. Many times, job candidates will begin their resume with an objective statement where they describe to the reader the type of job that they are interested in. Unfortunately, a hiring manager is not interested in the types of positions you wish to apply for, but they are interested in knowing that you are passionate about the job position that they are advertising for. By replacing an objective statement with a qualifications profile will ensure that your resume begins with a powerful profile that highlights your value-added skills and qualifications. Strategic Keywords The use of Strategic keywords is essential for a modern day resume. When applying for a certain position, your resume may be one of a thousand that the company will receive. Rather than reading through every single resume, companies now use software programs as a way of performing the first round selection. By using strategic keywords you will not only make it through the first round of selection but you will give yourself every opportunity of standing out above your competition. Demonstrate Flexibility, Adaptability and Innovation Although you may not have local experience do not despair! In my experience employers want to hire job seekers who can demonstrate flexibility, adaptability and innovation as well as a passion for wanting to gain knowledge and experience. Think about extra-curricular activities, work experience, community service or volunteer work that you have performed and exhibited skills of flexibility, adaptability and innovation. Remember that an employer wants to know that you are going to bring value to the organisation. Use your resume to demonstrate that you are a forward-thinking self-starter with vision and desire to implement innovative solutions to any problem that may arise.