Your resume is the initial tool to “sell” you to a prospective hiring official.  Does your resume allow you to cause “Eye Watering” when the prospective hiring official reads your resume?  What does “Eye Watering” mean?

An “Eye Watering” resume is one that is dynamic, full of facts and data and literally says, “Hire Me—I am your best candidate!  Hire me NOW!”

An “Eye Watering” resume possesses the following characteristics:

• Crisp, polished, professional looking
  • Easy to read fonts, font size 11 or 12, little to no color
  • Headers to identify each section
  • A clear objective statement of what type of position the candidate is seeking
• Documented results
  • Data, figures, numbers
    • What did you do, how did you do it, what did you achieve?
    • Is the data verifiable?
    • Do not lie—facts are facts—a hiring official may call to check to see that the data you claim is indeed accurate
  • No superfluous information
    • Nobody cares about your desire to hang glide, tour Antarctica, or bake cookies
  • If you are fresh out of college, 1 to 2 years, you can include your GPA if greater than 3.8
    • If out longer, delete the GPA, nobody cares—hiring officials are interested in results you accomplished in your job
  • Ability to work in a team environment
    • Describe how you work in a team environment; leader, follower, supporter
      • Over time, you will fulfill each of these roles—show how you do that
    • Measured and documented contributions to the organization
      • What was the result of your efforts?
      • How did that help the organization grow?
    • Active, dynamic action verbs that show excitement, interest, and desire to become a valuable individual contributor
      • Use words such as: Built, Designed, Led, Analyzed, engineered to portray your motivation for a new position

If you follow these ideas, you will create an “Eye Watering” resume that will immediately call attention to you and your capabilities.  This type of resume will ensure that the phone rings and you earn an interview!