Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter encourages you to stop using superlatives to describe yourself in your resume and/or LinkedIn profile.
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I want to talk with you today about a certain peeve I have about resumes. This extends to LinkedIn profiles as well, but, I was reminded of it when I was interviewing someone for Job Search Radio last week who laid it out so beautifully.
When you read a resume or LinkedIn profile and the person describes themselves with superlatives of any kind (it doesn’t matter if there is one or 15; they are people who describe themselves with 15), when you describe yourself as a “visionary leader” with “extraordinary capabilities to enhance leadership ideas,”… No one believes you!
You just show yourself to be a fool. If anything, minimize your terms; being a minimalist when describing yourself is far more effective than these terms that are thought of as being BS. Why use the fluff when they do nothing to enhance the impression you give in people’s minds about you and instead caused them to think worse of you?
One of you done that was so visionary anyway? Let’s get practical about this. You’re going to be interviewed and they’re going to ask you, “What have you done this so visionary?”
What’s your answer? Nothing. You have nothing that is visionary in your portfolio. It was all BS, they knew it and called you on it.
So, cut the crap and get down to the brass tacks. Tell people what you know and what you’ve done. What you’ve succeeded in and how much money you help your firm make or save. Get the metrics in there (remember, if you work for a public company, you need to be careful with sharing some of that information to avoid revealing something proprietary or confidential).
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Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.
The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.
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