Having a really strong resume is a VERY powerful tool. Don’t be surprised to hear that most people don’t know how to go about building the best resume to showcase their skills and experience. A resume is woefully misused and often a major obstacle preventing them (really good candidates) from getting the job they really want.

“It’s marketing, marketing, marketing” Bronwen Hann says, Senior Partner of Argentus Search Group, a Specialty Search Firm in Procurement & Supply Chain. “People just don’t market themselves properly”. Quote, MM&D Magazine October 2008

This all starts with a really strong resume. So as soon as you consider starting your search, the first thing you must do is take a close and really critical look at your resume – its likely time for a complete re-write. Read your resume as if you were looking to hire yourself. Most resumes are tired and boring. If yours reads like a boring novel (a sea of words – no white space – cramming too much on the page) rather than a page turner where your accomplishments jump off the page at the reader, roll up your sleeves and get cracking. There are many resources (templates) to help develop your resume on the internet so use them and take the following suggestions to heart.

Learn to BRAND yourself, toot your own horn, and tell the world your true value. A resume is not a job description. The traditional resume just isn’t enough to get yourself noticed, especially if you are seeking a management or senior executive role. Talent Acquisition experts have to read through hundreds of CV’s. They are very savvy and are looking for something more, something different in a resume so you need to be sure to deliver what makes you special to get their attention and get you moved along to the interview.

A great resume needs to be smart and crisp and fresh – a bullet pointed, punchy, achievement based document (three pages maximum – no two pages is definitely too brief)), packed with MEASURABLE PROOF of what you have accomplished in your career and what interesting skills and experience you will bring to a prospective employer. With the right packaging, this will get your resume to the top of the ‘to be interviewed’ pile – because let’s be completely honest, the role of a resume is to do ONE THING – get you to the interview – not get you the job. You will get you the job. The resume is the calling card.

If you think of this whole process as a marketing exercise to Brand YOU, and you solicit the help of others you trust (mentors, peers) to help describe your strengths, you increase the odds exponentially of getting yourself noticed. After all, in SCM it’s all about quantifying results – and that’s exactly what your resume needs to be bursting with. If you’re putting your resume out there, you had better be sure that you can easily demonstrate you can hit the ground running, bring fast results to a perspective employer in showing specific category expertise as well as being able to come up with examples of your successes with specific numbers which can be quantified. That means something to hiring managers.

Employers are no longer interested in resumes that all look the same – they are looking for that something that differentiates you. If you can’t put a document in front of an employer that is refreshingly different that everyone else, you are putting yourself at a decided disadvantage. There are words which are tired and woefully overused –  whip them out of your resume as soon as you can if you have them – “professional” “capable” “team player” “mentor” “big picture” “seasoned” “strategic” “results oriented” are some of what I am talking of. Everyone uses them, try to change it up and go for something different.

As Recruitment Specialists in Supply Chain Management we know our stuff. A SCM/Procurement resume must be chockablock full of succinct industry speak and clearly emphasize performance metrics which jump off the page at the reader. You want the reader to go “Yeah, I want and need to see this person” because you put them in the picture and create the feeling of excitement. Why? Because your job is to lead them there – people just don’t have time to do it for themselves these days – you have thirty seconds to grab them, make great use of it.

Soft economy – NO WAY. Not for SCM professionals especially in the Canadian market. Times have never been better for you to be moving your career forward. Companies are hunting hard for talent in Procurement & Supply Chain & Logistics. The competition is fierce for your skills but keep your role focused on branding yourself correctly to those companies to get out there ahead of the pack.

Over and Out

Bronwen