Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Do NOT put company specific job titles on your resume!


 I look at a lot of resumes. I find it interesting when I've looked at a resume and it does not scream "perfect match" to me. However, after talking with the person they are obviously a great match for the position.

Why did I not think it was a better match initially?

The job titles did not match up. Maybe they were applying for a project manager position and put their past job titles as IT Manager or Managing Engineer or IT Operations Consultant or... you get the idea. 

None of those ostensibly indicate that you were a project manager even if that's all you did in those positions. Company specific job titles can CONFUSE recruiters (whether in house or 3rd party recruiters) and WEAKEN your resume, which in turn decreases the number of responses you'll get on your resume.

RULE: It doesn't matter what the specific company calls the position, call it what it is.

RULE: Don't lie! If your duties in that position have no relevancy to what you're applying for don't indicate that it does. Leave the lying to the politicians.


EXAMPLE: I am a recruiter. I've been called Career Advisor, Job Specialist, etc. I did not recruit 100% of the time in those positions. News flash: even "Recruiters" don't recruit 100% of the time. Yet, the one was straight recruiting and the other was preparing the candidates to be recruited. Both are recruiting efforts. So, I replace those titles with Recruiter.


RESULT: I received numerous interview requests.

Last example: A gentleman applies for a Network Administrator position. His resume has Engineer as his last job title. It turns out more than 50% of what he did was Network Administration. In politics more than 50% means you win. Yet this resume will be overlooked by many recruiters which means no interview - you do NOT win.