The Three Ways To Create a Bullhorn Resume

Featuring a guest post today by Rick Saia of Pongo Resume. Rick is an approved career expert here at Tim’s Strategy and a certified professional resume writer.

Have you been sending cover letters and resumes but getting no bites? Maybe you weren’t exactly what they were looking for. Maybe you had more than they were looking for. Or maybe, just maybe, your resume was not “loud” enough to compel the hiring manager to call you for a job interview.

How, you might ask, can a resume be loud?

Simply by providing three elements – what I like to call the Three A’s – that can transform it into a bullhorn that shouts your value: Assertiveness, Accomplishments, and Aesthetics.

1. Assertiveness – Singing your own praises can be tough for a lot of us, but that’s what your resume must do. It should clearly and confidently state the difference you can make for the employer if you’re hired. For example: Which of the following two statements is assertive?

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Consistently leaps tall buildings in a single bound to deliver strong, effective business results without failure.

Both are assertive, but the second (with apologies to the creator of “Superman”) makes the clearer connection between what the person can do and what it could mean for the employer.

2. Accomplishments – Stating what you did in your previous roles shows you have the experience. But stating what you accomplished in those roles is more impressive and can make the hiring manager pause to envision how you could do something similar to help the company accomplish its goals.

Compare these pairs of typical statements:

Audited purchasing process.
Uncovered inefficiencies in purchasing process that saved close to $75,000 in annual costs.

Responsible for generating new business from physicians in Greater Buffalo.
Generated a 10% increase in annual sales by successfully convincing five physicians to buy our products.

The first sentence in each pair describes responsibilities, while the second sentence describes accomplishments within those responsibilities. Especially in today’s tough job market, your cover letters and resumes must demonstrate how you’ve made a difference for an employer.

Think of how you made or saved money for a company or how you made a process more efficient. Those are the things hiring managers notice when they’re looking to fill a position.

3. Aesthetics – Words are not the only difference makers in a resume. Your resume must have a “look” that makes it easy to read, which means typeface, font size, and layout are important. Look at your resume from a distance of about 2 feet. If it’s a text-dense block of letters and numbers without bullet points and an unhealthy mix of boldface and regular-face type, you need to give it an aesthetic overhaul. Look at resume samples on the web for ideas, or use an online resume builder that has all the design rules built in to its resume templates.

There are many ways for you to broadcast your value in your cover letters and resumes. But you need to stand out among the others who are seeking the same job. To give your resume the “bullhorn” treatment that shouts your value, remember to make assertive statements, cite specific accomplishments from your work history, and design your resume so that it’s aesthetically pleasing.

Then, see how many people “listen” and call you for interviews.

Rick Saia is a certified professional resume writer with Pongo Resume, a full-service online resource for job seekers that provides tools and support such as an online resume builder. He has written resumes and cover letters that have earned him many interviews and job offers over more than two decades. In print and online, his journalistic skills have benefited daily newspapers, high-tech journals, market research firms, and tiny startups.