Fifteen seconds. According to Brad Karsh, this is the time allotted to make an impression on future employers. What is said or read in 15 seconds could determine your future.
Earlier this semester career expert, Brad Karsh, led a presentation on breaking into the job market. The founder of JobBound, a company that helps students land jobs, Karsh teaches how students to get hired for their first job in a competitive job market.
As I sat listening to the presentation, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking if I sent my resumé to anyone in that moment it would most likely be thrown out. According to Karsh one of the biggest mistakes you can make that happens more often than not, people is listing your work experience in chronological order.
While organizing a resumé in chronological order seems like a logical thing to do, putting the most important information at the top could be the difference between landing a job, and being overlooked.There are four main ways to make certain your resumé gets attention and that your education and experience impresses a future employer.
Karsh recommends these four tips:
1. Know your target. It is important to direct your resumé to the corporation or organization in which you are applying to.
2. Focus on benefits. A future employer wants to hire someone that will benefit his or her company. Karsh gave the example of, if a person’s starting salary is $40,000, the company he or she works for spends approximately $100,000 on him or her. Getting the point across that you will be advantageous to their company is important.
3. In your resumé be your own person, be relevant and be unique. Along with your resumé, the company you’re applying to will be looking over several other so you want yours to stand out.
4. Add personality. It is important to have education, experience, activities and interest mentioned in a direct way, but adding personality can make or break your chances.
While these tips seem to be extremely helpful, one comment Karsh made really stuck out. One of the most vital aspects to a good resumé is numbers. Karsh recommends infusing your resumé with meaningful numbers. A future employer doesn’t want to know that you held a position in your sorority or fraternity, or that you were on an executive position for an RSO or that you were on the student body government, they want to know how you made a difference within these organizations.
Follow these tips and start perfecting your resumé to give a lasting impression on future employers!