6 Tips from an HR Professional on How to Get Your Resume to the Hiring Manager

HR tips can prove invaluable when you are in the process of getting a job. Have you ever applied for a job position and thought, “Why didn’t I get an interview? I was perfect for that job.” You apply for a position and then… silence. No one calls. There is no email. The job that was “perfect for you” closed weeks ago, and you never hear from HR. If this is something you have experienced, there may be several reasons why. To navigate this process effectively, you need to know what HR professionals look for when they are reading your resume and to help with that, the MCCS Miramar HR team has put together 6 tips to help you get your resume to the hiring manager’s desk.

6 HR Tips from an HR Professional:

1. Apply for jobs that fit your qualifications.

The first step in choosing what positions to apply for is to look at the minimum qualifications listed on the job announcement. If you don’t have the minimum qualifications listed in the job announcement, your resume will not move forward.

2. Delete your objective statement.

Why? Objective statements are outdated. Everyone wants to work for a forward-focused company, where their intellect and education can be utilized. Instead, create a 3-5 sentence paragraph at the top of your resume that is specific and summarizes your most noteworthy achievements relevant to the position for which you are applying. Look at the job posting and find the “Minimum Qualifications” section. If the job requires a baccalaureate degree and 3 years’ experience in the industry, then start your summary paragraph with how you fulfill the minimum requirements.

Resume Example: Graduated from SDSU with a BA in Business Administration. I have over 4 years’ experience in business operations for ABC company. Additionally, I am working towards a Google Data Science certificate.

When you start your summary with how you fulfill the minimum requirements, the HR Generalist who is reading your resume is now paying attention! They are going to keep reading.

3. Tie your skills to the job you are applying for.

Read the job posting and note the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA’s) you have that are in the job posting. Let’s say you are going for a Training and Curriculum Specialist position. This position calls for curriculum design, creating classroom training materials, creation of individual development plans, preparing status reports, etc. Go through and highlight all the KSA’s you possess that this job is looking for. When you are done highlighting, make a bulleted list of your (KSA’s). Title it: Key Skills or Areas of Proficiency or Technical Skills and list them out.

• Curriculum Development
• CPR and First Aid Certified
• Individual Education Plans
• Volunteer Coordinator
• Budget Execution
• Expert on Excel and Access Database

This goes below your Summary of Qualifications Section and before your 1st job experience. Then, you need to tailor your job experiences to fit the job you are trying to get.

4. Tailor your resume to the job.

Your resume needs to be tailored to the job you are applying to. Each job has minimum criterion that need to be met to push your resume forward. If your resume does not quickly and easily identify the minimum requirements needed for the job, then your resume does not move forward. The HR Generalist is looking for specific examples that prove your competency for this position. You need to provide concrete examples of what you have done.

Here are a few HR tips on what you should say versus what you shouldn’t say on your resume.

5. Avoid these common mistakes.

• Photographs – these do not belong on a resume.
• Inappropriate email addresses – get a new professional email address. Don’t use skaterlife123@aol.com
• Putting personal information on your resume, i.e., information about your children, the last book your read, your off-work activities, your religion, your age, your home address, and your current salary, etc. These do not belong on your resume.
• Do not include the date you graduated from college unless you graduated within the past 5 years. If your formal education is from the 20th century, don’t use it.

6. Implement these best practices:

• Tailor your resume to the job you are applying to.
• Upload your resume as a PDF and title it with your name. Resumes have come in, titled, “USA Jobs Resume”, “Resume- use this one”, “draft resume”, “USPS resume” (and they are applying for a Financial Analyst position), or “USNAVY Resume” and they are applying for a MCCS posting. We see the title of your document when you upload it to our careers site. Be professional.
• Try to keep your resume to 2 pages, or 3 if it makes sense.
• Proofread your resume. Spelling errors, changes in font and text size, hard to read, and too many pages are all detrimental to the probability of your resume moving to the next level.

The HR Generalist who is reviewing your resume needs to tie your knowledge, skills, and abilities to the job quickly (less than 3 minutes). They review a multitude of resumes. Your resume needs to be well-written, easy to follow, and it needs to relate to the job you are applying for. This takes time but you increase your chances of being pushed forward in the hiring process when your resume matches the role you’ve applied for. For more information on the training and growth opportunities for employees, visit here. To search for openings and apply for your perfect job with MCCS, visit the MCCS Careers site, visit the MCCS Careers page.

Other Useful Links:

• PPD’s LinkedIn Success Workshop, located at The Hub, Building 5305 in Classroom 7
• Transition Readiness Resume 101 Workshop, located at The Hub, Building 5305
• Transition Readiness 10 Steps to a Federal Job Workshop, located at The Hub, Building 5305