I’ve talked before about how important it is for your resume to show potential employers how you will add value.
But rather than just talking about it, I thought it might be helpful to show you some examples of resumes that do a good job on this score, so that you can see how effective it is.
All these resumes have been disguised, but they all belong to real people, and other than changing the names and other identifying information, I haven’t changed anything else about them.
Sales Rep Resume
This first resume belongs to a sales rep with a good record of results, but whose strongest value is her enthusiasm. This lady is passionate! She has such energy and you can’t help but want to have her selling for you when you meet her.
In her case, I felt it was crucial that her resume communicate this message and so we use words and phrases to convey energy, results and movement. The use of her quote and the quotes of other people also helps with the sales message. It would be hard not to interview this candidate if her resume came across your desk for the right opportunity.
But What About Junior Employees Without Much Experience?
Can you write a convincing resume profile and value proposition if you are relatively new to the workforce? Of course!
As always, it’s about identifying your unique blend of skills, accomplishments and personality traits. This next job seeker – a recent graduate – had done just that using my proprietary resume preparation worksheet (which comes free with my book The Complete Guide to Resume Writing) so we knew what we had to offer and what his target employers would care about. This is the profile we came up with for him:
What’s Different for a Senior Executive?
Not much really. Again, it’s all about knowing what your target audience wants and what you have to offer.
In this case, my client was an senior level finance executive who wanted to work for a start-up, turnaround or fast-changing company. He wasn’t interested in steady companies that never changed and this dictated word choice (it’s OK to ‘frighten’ off the types of companies you don’t want to work for). So we focused on highlighting those things that would be perceived as most valuable to his target audience.
In Summary
I hope these examples illustrate that anyone can create and communicate a strong value proposition, no matter what stage of your career or how much experience you have. The key, as I said already, is knowing what is important to your target companies and then showing how you can meet their needs.
Also note that these resume are free of ‘fluff’ and padding. Every word is there for a reason and every word is focused on value. Your resume introduction should do the same.
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