How to Differentiate Your Resume

Differentiate your resume from the crowd, writes Deborah Walker in her article for Quint Careers, Is Your Resume Lost in the Great Internet Void?.

Dozens of fast-food restaurants sell hamburgers and fries. How do you choose which one you want? Chances are, one of those restaurants has a differentiating edge, something that you like better than all the others. The job market is the same way; it’s flooded with choices, so you have to make your resume stand out from all the competition. The best way to differentiate your resume from others is with accomplishments. And those accomplishments really stand out when:

• They are measurable. Can you define how much you accomplished in dollars saved, contracts won, or percent changed? [Editor’s note: See our article, For Job-Hunting Success: Track/Leverage Your Accomplishments.]
• They support your transferable skills. Can your skills be used by this company, even if your job experience is in a different industry? What skills will transfer from one job to another? [Editor’s note: See our article, Transferable Job Skills — a Vital Job-Search Technique.]
• They connect to corporate bottom-line objectives. How can you help them save time, save money, increase their profit margin, improve sales, or increase revenue?