Make your resume stand out with better job titles

(MoneyWatch) COMMENTARY You already know that hiring managers and HR reps spend about six seconds looking at resumes, and that's barely enough time to see your name, much less make a meaningful assessment of your skills and aptitude for the job. So how can you help HR take an interest in your resume in those brief six seconds?

One method is to tweak your current job title so it tells your story in just a few words. That's what the SimplyHired blog asserts, anyway.

Here's the thing: Your current job title -- which is probably at the top of the resume and one of the first things anyone will see -- may be too generic and use the specialized, non-transferrable language of your current company to seem relevant to the person scanning resumes. If your job title is "Assistant Production Manager," that isn't precise enough to imply if you are producing videos, software, carburetors, or chicken feed. If you're seeking a job making videos for Web sites, you might want to tweak that title so it says "Assistant Production Manager for Online Video."

Of course, you'll need to use some judgment here. You need to be honest and not re-engineer your job title so it no longer reflects what you really do for a living. But some additional descriptive words can possibly get the attention of a hiring manager who isn't planning to read the fine bulleted print to see what your actual responsibilities and accomplishments were.

Photo courtesy Flickr user buyalex

[Lor3442]

Communicating your value is critical on a resume or CV. Yes, the job title should "pop" and really express who you are. But an equally critical piece is your elevator pitch/summary. Can you clearly and succinctly state who you are, what you do, and the value you bring? Now, can you do it in one short paragraph? In other words, why should I hire you? Practice writing this pitch AND verbally delivering it. It's one of the most important career skills you can have. Loraine Antrim, http://twitter.com/#!/loraineantrim

[Lor3442]

Communicating your value is critical on a resume or CV. Yes, the job title should "pop" and really express who you are. But an equally critical piece is your elevator pitch/summary. Can you clearly and succinctly state who you are, what you do, and the value you bring? Now, can you do it in one short paragraph? In other words, why should I hire you? Practice writing this pitch AND verbally delivering it. It's one of the most important career skills you can have. Loraine Antrim, http://twitter.com/#!/loraineantrim