Many people write their resumes as though they were the audience. They leave out a lot of important details which is what their true audience is looking for. This piece of advertisement made by you is NOT for you. Your resume is meant for the hiring team looking for someone to help in achieving company’s goal.
There are four audiences for your resume. They screen your resume based on different criteria in order to get the "ONE". So before writing or send out your resume, you must think about what your audience wants so you can provide just that. Your audience members include:
1) Applicant Tracking System (ATS): This is a system used to collect and store resumes by companies. It can require you to upload an existing resume or input information in different sections that will make up your resume. The main factors to pay attention to are the font type and the formatting of your resume. Unfortunately, the ATS is capable of missing important information from your resume if the formatting is not familiar. These formatting elements include the date format, use of tables, use of fancy bullets and the on-screen ruler. Ensure you have simple fonts like Arial, Time New Roman or Calibri. Avoid the use of tables and use simple black dot bullets.
2) The next audience is a junior screener. He or she could be a co-op student or recent HR graduate who has been assigned the tedious task of sorting resumes and will be looking for a few keywords popular in your industry.
3) The recruiter is a member who will review resumes to find 3 to 5 great candidates that have provided successful outcomes from their work experience and present them to the hiring manager.
4) The last and most important member of your audience is the hiring manager. They are looking to see how you can make them successful in their job. They want to see what successes you achieved and how you did it so they can have a vision of the success you can bring. It is in your best interest to provide information that will give the hiring manager a thought of their future success with you on board.
If you can present your resume so that it meets the demands of each audience member, then you can be certain your interview is on the way!
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