Many people fail to create a professional resume because they don’t know what hiring authorities are looking for. Most people have their own idea of effective resume writing; sometimes it brings success, sometimes it doesn’t. But as long as your resume brings you interview invitations, your idea of effective resume writing is absolutely correct. Unfortunately, many job seekers fail to deliver effective resume simply because they forget whom they are writing for. A resume was never meant to be a source of self-assessment (self-appraisal); it is rather a marketing tool to land you an interview. In this blog post, we would like to list some of the research findings that might be helpful in making a difference and landing an interview. The research was about surveying hiring authorities from a variety of disciplines with the purpose of defining what effective resume is all about for them. 
- Specific evidence of success by the means of quantifiable accomplishments makes a huge difference for 95% (here you have one of the most important components of a professional resume).
- Over 95% prefer a reverse chronological order (now think twice before choosing any other style of listing your professional experience).
- Clear articulation of previous experience and skills is one of the most important things for 87%.
- 52% believe that a resume adjusted to specific job opening is one of the critical components (double your chances by rewriting your resume for every job you apply).
- For 84% of respondents, no grammar/spelling/typographical mistakes are extremely important when scheduling an interview for an applicant.
- Over 91% prefer 1 or 2-page resumes (that tells us something about how long it should be. No need to include everything you know about yourself
– HR managers need only professional experience that would relate to what needs to be done in their company). Besides, over 80% consider too much information is something HR authorities don’t like at all.
- Photos, marital status, number of children, irrelevant hobbies irritate 90% of hiring managers (as you can see, personal information is not appreciated much here, so don’t include it).
- Over 60% spend less than 1 minute to review a resume/CV. About 18% need 1 to 2 minutes to do the same.
- 65% is interested neither in the “references are available upon request” statement nor in any type of educational experience before college.
Based on the aforementioned facts, your resume should be written in reverse chronological order. It should contain no personal information that has no business with a job opening. Your document is to be no longer than 2 pages and it should have your previous experience clearly described.
The accomplishments section is your key to success: they should be quantifiable and they should relate your experience to the applying position. Keep in mind that no fluff statements like “effective leader” or “talented manager” will help you get an interview invite. Sometimes, having an effective resume doesn’t always bring positive results for a specific job opening. There is just so much chaos that goes on in US companies and organizations, especially in relation to the hiring process. By recognizing the simple fact one can get the expectations in order realizing it is not all about resume writing. Nevertheless, by doing everything you can in terms of developing a professional resume you significantly increase your chances of receiving an interview invite.
