Resume
Writer Matthew
Greene
Resume Bullets Must Be
"Smart" And Strategic!
- Less Is Always
More
by
Matthew
Greene, M.Phil.
Author of Winning Resumes – "Sure-Hire"
Tactics ... (Penguin)
"Smart" resume bullets or bulleted sentences are your best
attention-getting and selling strategy in any resume. They are
crucial to your success. According to feedback from hundreds of
successful job seekers, those bullets can truly make a BIG difference!
To grab a busy reader's attention
is your immediate goal. But a "smart" bullet in your resume (or
cover letter) can also be a powerful sales device. By
bulleting your best skills and achievements, you can sell yourself in
less than 20 seconds! Strategic bullets that target an
employer's specific requirements may even get you hired!
This is why you need to learn how to use your bullets.
But wait! On the one hand,
a black bullet or "arrow" is meant to draw attention to something
important. But if there are too many others like it, then all
your bullets will be ignored. Overdoing your bullets always
backfires! It is unbelievable that many resume-writing templates
are still so "bullet-ridden".
In resume after resume I see 20
or 30 or 40 or even 50 round black dots (or arrows or asterisks or other
gizmos). That is a very bad marketing mistake. How can
anyone hope to impress a reader so many times? In fact, you only
need 5-10 "smart" and strategic bullets to market your value.
When it comes to bullets in a resume, less is always more.
So, please don't insert a bullet at the beginning of every sentence.
It makes no sense and is very boring.
On the other hand, some
executives don't use any resume bullets. As a result, their
accomplishments lie buried in the text without anything to draw a
recruiter's attention to them. That is a fatal resume mistake
because their best selling points could easily be overlooked.
And a resume without bullets or highlighted items is also very bland and
dull. Executive and management-level job seekers pay a heavy price
for not using attention-getters in their resumes. They fail to
highlight their value!
Using Resume Bullets Decoratively or Functionally
Many job seekers feel that lots
of bullets give their resume "eye appeal" - like studs or beads that
enhance a T-shirt. Such bullets are used decoratively and
don't work. Bullets have an important functional role - to
draw attention to your most "saleable" items because
a resume is a marketing tool.
"Smart" and strategic black dots
or arrows will highlight your value. But, if your resume
contains 20 to 50 of them, this marketing tactic won't work. By
highlighting so many lines with bullets, you
WON'T draw the reader's
attention to any particular line or item. Bullets should only be
used for a few of your best "selling points", mainly in your
SUMMARY and
ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Attention-getters have a
crucial role to play in your resume – to pique the reader's interest
and to sell you. Use them sparingly, smartly, and strategically.
Don't waste your bullets! [NOTE:
Bullets work well with emailed attachments in
Word but use asterisks in those
resumes that you will cut and paste online in ASCII or Notepad format.
For guiding the reader's eyes,
rather break up those long, gray run-on sentences and use a - (dash) or
. (period) at the beginning of every line. Limit your bullets or
arrows to the most "saleable" or marketable items in your resume.
Learning to use your resume
bullets effectively is very important. This is how you market
yourself and your value to a recruiter.
mattgreene@aol.com
Tel.: 718 436-3504
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