New Article by ThinkingAhead Partner Kay Linder Reveals the Top Question Job Candidates Should Ask About their Resume – but Almost Never Do
(PRWEB) September 27, 2016 -- Kay Linder, who leads the healthcare technology and innovation practice at executive search firm ThinkingAhead, has published a new article that reveals the number one question that job candidates should ask about their resume – but unfortunately, most of them never do.
“When it comes to finessing a resume, candidates typically try to answer key questions posed or implied by the job description itself,” writes Linder, who since 1998 has been a member of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. “But there’s another question they must be asking: would I call myself for an interview?”
The article goes on to explain why this unusual – and perhaps seemingly unimportant – question forces job seekers to switch their paradigm, and ensure that their resume is ticking five boxes before they send it to a hiring manager:
• Format: candidates need to pay meticulous, if not obsessive attention to font type, font size, and overall spacing and layout.
• Size: candidates can liberate themselves from the torturous “one page maximum” rule – especially if they have more than 15 years of experience, in which case 2-4 pages is acceptable, and in many cases expected.
• Content: candidates need to focus on what they’ve accomplished vs. what they’ve been responsible for, since hiring managers care about the former, and have little or no interest in the latter – since they can get that information from a job description.
• Context: candidates shouldn’t assume that hiring managers are familiar with their previous employers. One or two sentences describing purpose, size, location and so on is a wise move.
• Writing: while professional resume writers can be a wise investment, they can’t magically turn a bad resume into a good one. Candidates have to do the heavy lifting by supplying the content or “guts” of the resume. Otherwise, it will be all style and no substance, and hiring managers can see through such resumes in a glance.
Concludes Linder: “Candidates who objectively evaluate their resume in light of these facts, and make necessary changes on their own or with expert help, won’t think twice when asking themselves: `based on my resume, would I call myself for an interview?’ They’ll confidently answer yes – and so will more impressed and interested hiring managers!”
The full text of “The Number One Question Job Candidates Should – but Almost Never -- Ask About their Resume” is available here.
For additional information, interview requests and media inquiries, contact Kay Linder at klinder(at)thinkingahead(dot)com.
About ThinkingAhead
ThinkingAhead recruits high caliber candidates for a global list of client companies, ranging in size from the INC 500 to Fortune 100, while operating on a contingency, engaged and retained fee basis in the following specialties: Commercial Banking and Commercial Finance, Energy Industry, Healthcare Technology and Innovation, Information Technology & Gaming, Nonprofit, and Pharmaceutical and Medical Device. Unique in the marketplace, ThinkingAhead is an employee owned company with approximately 50 award winning consultants, widely recognized as Subject Matter Experts in their respective specialties. Learn more at http://thinkingahead.com.
Kay Linder, Thinking Ahead Executive Search, http://www.thinkingahead.com, +1 252.453.3399, [email protected]
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