Winning resumes

Treat your resume as a short sales letter. Ask yourself: What will prompt the hiring manager to read my resume and grant me an interview? From our experience, a good resume should adhere to the principles of AIDA: attention, interest, desire, action. If your resume has what it takes to grab the attention of the reader, it will create interest and the desire to act and get you in for an interview.

First things first

You have only 20-30 seconds to make an impact. So, highlight 6-8 major points that will grab the reader's attention.

Include a cover letter

The cover letter should be addressed to the hiring manager and should include one paragraph with the reasons you think you are a good candidate and two or three major accomplishments that are related to the position advertised. The inclusion of comparable accomplishments should increase your chances of getting an interview.

What hiring managers look for

A good hiring manager will look at some of the following:

• Comparable positions to the advertised position
• Positions of increasing responsibility with no obvious gaps between jobs.
• Promotions or stategic moves over the last few years.
• Good academics.
• No negatives like frequent job moves - candidates who have a history of too many jobs and short tenures most certainly are good at getting jobs but not good at doing a good job. 
• Good academics.

You should avoid the following

• Do not submit long resumes. 3-4 pages are more than enough. Some of the best resumes I have seen are no more than 3 pages long. Remember that you are trying to make an impact. So, be brief but factual.
• Do not sing your own praises but do highlight your achievements.
• Do not include trivia and jargon.
• Do not include gaps in your employment history.
• Do not submit sloppy resumes

If you follow the above guidelines, you will most probably have a resume that stands out and attracts the hiring manager's attention. The most important points are clarity, a list of comparable achievements to the advertised position and a personalised cover letter that shows you are not just emailing/mailing everybody but that you are very keen in the particular job and company.