3 Simple Things You Can Do To Strengthen Your Resume

As a clinical sales recruiter, I specialize in placing sales and revenue management professionals, and I’ve seen tens of thousands of resumes throughout my career.  Since I often sift through ‘em quickly, it takes a great RESUME to stand out from the crowd and get my attention.  And job seekers in health care sales, pharmaceutical device sales, clinical laboratory sales, and pharma sales always ask “What can I do to get my resume  noticed?”  Beyond the basics of an easy-to-read, error-free, well-structured resume, there are qualities that catch my eye and cause me to consider candidates more closely, and I’d like to share them with you.  Here are some easy changes you can make to your resume:

1.  Highlight your performance. If you’re in revenue, it’s vitally important that you demonstrate that you can ring the cash register. You show the hiring manager why he wants you on the team by highlighting your revenue numbers, number of closes, key influencer sales, expense budgets, sales, profit, growth, revenue rankings, goal attainment, and so on.  You can list that as numbers, dollar amounts, percentages, or whatever is appropriate.  I have seen some eye-catching resumes that incorporate colored graphs to illustrate, but be careful not to overdo it.  Use whatever style that best represents your growth.

2. Write a well-crafted objective statement. Think elevator pitch.  Don’t make the mistake of assuming that a CV objective statement will limit your opportunities.  It won’t.  What it will do is capture the reader’s attention and lead him or her into reading the rest of your resume.  (So make sure it’s compelling and not a canned filler statement.)  It’s entirely appropriate to tailor your objective statement to the career opportunity territory so that you can highlight what you can bring to that particular organization.  Once I’ve read the rest of your resume, I might see that you’d also be a great fit for another opportunity.

3.  Add something special. If you’re new to the field, try a preceptorship, and put that experience on your CV (it’s a great keyword source).  It shows that you’re serious, and ready to go the extra mile.  And it can go a significant way to answering the “experience” question for hiring managers.  Also, I have seen resumes with quotations that sum up their attitudes, drive, determination, etc.  Or, I’ve seen others with a list of their recent reading material (although you must be able to talk intelligently about those books).  But be careful about listing too much information.  For instance, hobbies work only if they’re relevant to the job.  Don’t let everything on your resume take away from your message:  you’ve something to offer to contribute to an organization’s success.

Above all, remember that your RESUME is not about you; it’s about the employer.  You’re using the RESUME as a marketing document that highlights why you’re the person to help Them succeed.

If you need more help, check out this CV Training movie scene from Career Confidential.

Article courtesy of  Peggy McKee - Owner / Senior Headhunter at the nationally
recognized clinical laboratory and pharma sales recruiting team of PHC Consulting.
© Copyright 2008 PHC Consulting | All rights reserved

Related posts:

1. CV Objective Statements: Tell the Hiring Manager Why He Should Read the Rest of Your Resume Don’t be fooled by people who tell you that resume…
2. Tips for Landing a Clinical Sales Job The term “laboratory sales” covers a lot of area: laboratory…
3. Don’t Send Your Cover Letter As An Attachment to Your RESUME Just a quick heads-up: When you send your RESUME to…

3 Simple Things You Can Do To Strengthen Your Resume