Resume tips: Quantify your accomplishments and list quirky interests
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Did you write articles on the law? Have you won some awards? Listing those accomplishments on your resumé, without quantifying them, aren’t likely to spur a hiring manager’s interest, according to a Forbes contributor.
The Forbes article, written by a Google employee, offers some examples. Instead of saying you wrote articles on entrepreneurship and technology, try this: “Wrote 8 articles on entrepreneurship and technology, generating 107,000 page views, 8,003 likes, and 3,723 tweets.”
And if you won an award, put it in perspective, the article says. Instead of saying “accepted into Johnny Appleseed Management Program,” try this instead: “Accepted into Johnny Appleseed Management Program (9 percent admit rate, Granny Smith University selects 50 students per year).”
The article also suggests following the “rule of seven”: Check the website of the company where you are applying, find the buzzwords used, and insert them seven times in your resumé. When applying to a startup, for example, use verbs like “built,” “created,” and “initiated.”
Listing standard hobbies such as “movies, sports, and traveling” can also work against you, the article says. “Make your interests as quirky as possible,” the article advises, offering this example of interests: “Settlers of Catan, Quentin Tarantino films, Mediterranean cooking, Lego Star Wars collections.”
Hat tip to @JuriSense.
