Resume screeners in some firms may have to sort through as many as 300 resumes per week.  That doesn’t leave much time for individual attention to your resume.  The more reasons you inadvertently provide a screener to disqualify your resume before ever reading it, the quicker you will be eliminated.  Screeners give priority to certain aspects of the resume.  While the order of priority may vary somewhat among screeners, the following aspects either qualify or disqualify your resume:

RESUME FORMAT:  

If the appearance doesn’t match the criteria previously discussed, your resume may be moved to the reject pile.   

SUMMARY OR PERSONAL PROFILE STATEMENT: 

This gives the resume screener a quick picture as to your overall qualification for the job.  If the summary statement is missing, or if your background and characteristics don’t match the job opening, your resume is disqualified. 

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND: 

Degrees earned.  Academic awards are plusses.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:  

Your first accomplishment statement is checked to document the summary statement.  If it substantiates what

you’ve said, the screener reads on.  If it doesn’t, the resume screener stops.   

WHERE YOU WORKED, JOB TITLES, HISTORY:  

These categories let the screener know the type of experience, level of responsibility, and career track you’ve been

on.  If questions are raised by omissions, dates that don’t coincide, or an unusual career progression, your

resume could be a candidate for the reject pile.  If your experience and accomplishments are interesting, they may

override the questions enough or a follow-up telephone screen or screening interview.

Accomplishments and Performance

When working with a candidate on strengthening his/her resume, use the following questions to probe for accomplishments that can be added:

• Did you take the initiative to solve a problem that no one else was tackling? 
• Did you see an opportunity for improvement, develop a plan to seize the opportunity, and help carry it through to success? 
• Did you develop or implement a new approach that improved daily output? 
• Did you conceive and create a new function, service, department, or product that filled an important niche? 
• Did you perform a challenging job with fewer resources or lower costs than had been done before? 
• Did you devise and carry through a complex plan or procedure, perhaps for the first time? 
• Did you participate in an important project where your input was key to its success? 
• Did you implement or participate in any sales, profit, and/or cost saving recommendations? 

 The PAR formula:

P is for the Problem, challenge, or circumstance you faced that required Unusual performance to solve.  

Examples:  a project to manage, an operation or product to improve, an ongoing function to administer more effectively, or uncovering a hitherto undiscovered opportunity. 

A is for the Action or approach that you took to solve the problem, meet the challenge, or seize the opportunity. It could include a description of how you analyzed and prepared to tackle the job, as well as the people and resources you gathered or developed.

R is for the Results you obtained.  In the business world, results are best expressed in concrete numerical terms, such as dollars, tons, days, headcount, etc.

Writing Accomplishment Statements:

State what action you took to improve a situation and express how that action benefited the organization in one of

three ways: 

COST SAVINGS:    

Actual dollars, or percentage of  dollars saved. 

IMPROVED EFFICIENCIES:     

Time saved, better procedures, reduction in staff.

      INCREASED REVENUES:

      New business generated, increased sales or profits.

• State the result of your action in numerical or percentage terms whenever possible. 

• Begin with an action verb. 

• Are limited to one sentence. 

I computerized manual reports for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which cut preparation time six months and cut clerical support to 20% of that previously required.   

• Improved quality

• Increased sales

• Reduced costs

• Improved productivity and teamwork

• Reduced time of operation

• Achieved a technological breakthrough

• Increased profits

• Improved employee relations

• Established an administrative process

• Planned a program from inception

• Surpassed established standards

SAMPLE ACCOMPLISHMENT STATEMENTS

• Redesigned four large external covers from structural foam molds to pressure formed parts, which reduced cost 15-20%. 

• Reduced the annual security-operating budget by 22% by developing and implementing several cost savings projects while increasing the level of security. 

• Conducted a special study of the purchase and distribution of legal forms to branch locations across the United States, which resulted in the development of new forms inventory system that will save an estimated $75,000 annually. 

• Identified additional foreign source income, resulting in $2.5 million increase in foreign tax credit utilization. 

• Developed and installed a unique laboratory organization that eliminated duplication, encouraged cooperation, and reduced costs by $40,000. 

• Promoted a new concept in welding procedures, which reduced labor costs by $100,000. 

• Reorganized and consolidated accounting, analysis, and forecasting activities, and achieved a $50,000 annual cost savings. 

• Created and conducted an interviewer training program for managers and supervisors, which reduced candidate selection ratio from 1:15 to 1:5.

•   Reduced internal rejections from 13% of sales to 2% and customer quality returns from 2% to 0.1%

•  Improved laboratory productivity 15% by introducing new procedures and equipment.

•  Designed and directed a recruiting campaign to acquire 400 specialists and technicians for a new $1.2 billion project, and completed all hiring two months early, permitting accelerated production. 

• Reduced receivables from 45 days to 30 days. 

•  Achieved the lowest accident rate of seven plants in the Transmission and Chassis Division for three consecutive years, resulting in being named winner of the National Safety Council Award of Excellence in Industrial Safety. 

•   Originated and implemented an absenteeism control program for 400 non-exempt employees, which reduced overall absences by 82%.  

• Designed equipment and techniques for a new chemical process that raised the product market potential from $5 million to over $20 million per year. 

• Increased sales activity with new prospects and stagnant accounts, expanding sales by 35%. 

• Developed and implemented marketing campaign for new sales territory.  Built new relationships in the Kansas City and Wichita areas, generating loan balances of $50 million and deposits of $5 million. 

• Consistently exceeded sales goals, winning numerous sales contests and qualified for the 1989 and 1991 biannual National Sales Conferences. 

•  Redesigned lubricant distributor sales network, which resulted in dramatic sales increases from $200,000 to $1.1 million.