What makes a really successful resume?

I remember reading an opinion piece by Julia Ross, one of Australia's (in fact with the international expansion of her organisation - the world's) top recruiters, on what she thinks makes a successful resume.

She clearly believes that it should be written and designed to strategically sell the jobseeker's key skills and experience, as opposed to just presenting a bland list of information in the old fashioned chronological format. She referred to this as being formula driven.

These days recruiters and employment professionals make their first level decision about you very quickly through your resume. Research* shows that it is likely they will decide whether or not to grant you an interview within 60 seconds. So it stands to reason, if this is the case, that your resume needs to make an impact very quickly. This means it needs the most important information in the most prominent position. At Successful Resumes we believe that it also needs to be dynamic, though honest in its use of language, The Truth Well Told we call it. It should also be easy to read, attractive in appearance and provide some information as to the human qualities of the jobseeker, we include a personal profile in most of our documents. Finally the resume, ideally, should be no longer than 2 pages.

In marketing language your resume is your branding, your advertisement. And just as all washing detergent is merely white and crumbly powder until you put it in a fabulously designed box with a great sales message on it, so you are just another jobseeker until your resume turns you into a desirable brand by selling YOU!.

Julia Ross confirmed what we have been saying, and living, at Successful Resumes for more than 10 years now (we have always been ahead of our time!), and that is forget the old fashioned ideas of what a resume should look like. Throw out your pre-conceived notions on layout and order. If the job you held 4 years ago is currently 3 jobs back in your current resume list, but it is the most important to your next application, then don't leave it there, bring it to the top.
There is no rule that says it needs to be down the list. Brought to the top and emphasised with a clever layout, it will probably have the desired effect on the employer for whom you want to work.

The sad truth is only the youngest, the most inexperienced and most cynical recruiters and employment professionals insist on the old fashioned formula. We believe, as apparently does Julia Ross, that as long as the dates you have worked are evident it doesn't matter what order you present them in.

At Successful Resumes we are continually seeking new ways of making a positive impact for our clients, we stay in touch with the way employment and recruitment leaders are thinking. Our clients are the beneficiaries.

Good job hunting.