Career Quiz Are You Prepared to Write Your Resume

Career Quiz Are You Prepared to Write Your Resume Career Quiz Are You Prepared to Write Your Resume?Put your job-search knowledge to the test with our resume quiz.Whether youre currently on the hund for a new job or happily employed, when push comes to shove, were all job seekers. But if you lost your job tomorrow, how prepared would you be to write your resume?I recently took to the streets of New Yorks Union Square area to find out just how much the average person knows about writing a professional resume. Check out the video below to watch the results, and test your job-search knowledge with these seven quick questions.JOB SEARCH QUESTION 1True or False A resume should always be one page long.ANSWER FALSEDont believe the rumors. You are NOT expected to squeeze 15+ years of work experience into a one-page resume. This page limit only applies to those professionals who (1) are searching for an internship (2) are recent college grads, pursuing an entry-level job or (3) are still rela tively new to the workforce. If you fall into one of these categories, you get one page of resume real estate. The end.If you do NOT fall into one of the categories mentioned above, youre entitled to two full pages of resume real estate. There are, of course, a few exceptions to this rule, but the majority of experienced professionals should restrict themselves to a two-page resume. This applies whether youve been in the workforce for nine or 19 years.RelatedHow Long Should Your Resume Be?JOB SEARCH QUESTION 2Which of these words is NOT an action verb?1. Developed2. Detail-Oriented3. OrganizedANSWER DETAIL-ORIENTEDAction verbs are exactly what they sound like. They are words that describe an action. When chosen carefully, they can be an effective way to illustrate your capabilities and achievements on your resume.However, not all resume action verbs are created equal. And some have been overused so much that theyve lost their impact with recruiters. There are only so many times you can say you led a team, handled a situation or supported a project before your resume job descriptions sound repetitive and boring.If you find yourself describing your work experience with the same boring words over and over again, try switching them out for strong, compelling action verbs that will catch employers eyes.Related How to Make Your Resume Stand Out With Action VerbsJOB SEARCH QUESTION 3What does ATS stand for?ANSWER APPLICANT TRACKING SYSTEMMany organizations use software known as an applicant tracking ordnungsprinzip or ATS, for short to pre-screen resume applications as they are submitted, rank them based on their contents and send only the most qualified candidates over to HR for review.In other words, your resume has to make it past a pretty tough digital gatekeeper before a human at the company ever sets eyes upon it.If your resume contains the same keywords that routinely pop up in your target job description, you have a much better chance at getting past the emp loyers ATS. Click on the following link for a step-by-step plan to customize your resume for a job listing using the right resume keywords.JOB SEARCH QUESTION 4How long does the average recruiter spend reviewing a resume?1. 90 seconds2. 60 seconds3. 16 seconds4. 6 secondsANSWER 6 SECONDSYes, you read that correctly. According to an eye-tracking study by job board Ladders, the average recruiter spends a mere six seconds scanning a resume before deciding if the candidate could be a good fit for the position. In other words, you have six seconds to make the right impression with employers.Click on the following link to learn mora about the six-second resume test and learn what you can do to ensure your resume passes the six-second test with flying colors.JOB SEARCH QUESTION 576% of resumes are discarded because of this mistake.1. Typos and grammatical errors.2. Including a headshot.3. Using an unprofessional email address.ANSWER USING AN UNPROFESSIONAL EMAIL ADDRESSWhile all of these c ommon resume mistakes could cause your job application to end up in the digital trash pile, an unprofessional email address will do the trick 76 percent of the time. (A headshot is worse, with an 88 percent rejection rate)The email address keg.stand.king99domain.com may have been funny when you were in college, but its not the best choice to represent your personal brand in the workforce today. The same goes for shared family accounts such as reynolds_familydomain.com and email addresses that are offensive or sexual in nature.Do yourself a favor and sign up for a free address with a provider like Gmail thats reserved exclusively for your job-search and networking activities.JOB SEARCH QUESTION 6True or False Your resume should include an objective statement.ANSWER FALSEThe problem with most resume objective statements is that they dont do a great job at selling your candidacy to an employer. Weve all seen that bland resume objective that tells the reader how youre a motivated self-s tarter looking for opportunities in ___ field that will allow me to leverage my ___ skills.Ditch this generic resume objective statement with its fluffy adjectives in favor of a compelling professional summary, also known as a career statement or career summary, that explains the type of position youre targeting and why youre qualified to land such a role.Click on the following links for more job search tips on how to write an effective resume professional summary.JOB SEARCH QUESTION 7Which one of these items should you include on your resume?1. Core Competencies2. References3. Street AddressANSWER CORE COMPETENCIESDont waste your limited resume space by listing your references or including a note like References available upon request at the bottom of your resume. Employers wont request that information until you make it to a face-to-face interview, and they know youll provide the information when they ask for it.Similarly, theres no reason to include a street address on your resum e anymore. In plus-rechnen to wasting space, including your street address on your resume can raise some security concerns (think about all the places youve uploaded your resume) If youre targeting a role close to home, by all means, include your city, state and zip codejust leave off your street address.Core competencies, however, are an important component of your professional resume. These terms, also known as areas of expertise or skills highlights, act as relevant keywords to help you summarize your qualifications within the top third portion of your resume and improve your applications ranking within an applicant tracking system.Click on the following link to learn more about incorporating relevant resume keywords into your core competency section.The resultsSo, howd you do? If most of these questions seemed like they were written in a foreign language, dont panic. The average professional isnt aware of these standard resume rules. In fact, theres no reason you know all this i nformation.Bottom line Your job is to know the ins and outs of your profession. Our job at TopResume is to know the ins and outs of resume writing.Leave it to us. Learn more about TopResumes resume-writing packages.Recommended Reading11 Steps to Writing the Perfect ResumeFree Guide How to Jumpstart Your Job Search5 Signs Its Time to Hire a ProRelated Articles