While there are many fewer jobs open today, there are lots more job seekers submitting resumes for those few positions that are open.  Assuming that the purpose of the resume and the cover letter is to move a small number of applicants to interviewees, what do you look for?  How do you sort through the massive pile of resumes to find that handful that represent the really exciting, viable candidates?

For me, I begin by looking for concrete examples and tangible results.  Language that regurgitates the duties or responsibilities for the position held, vague summaries of the job, or abstract language simply doesn’t cut it.  Said differently, I look for:

1.  Action verbs – e.g., led, completed, delivered, managed;  words that show motion.

2.  Specific results – e.g., specific accomplishments, concrete examples, tangible results – usually involving numbers.  I.e., reduced cost or responding to help desk queries by 6% while increasing customer satisfaction from 4.2 to 4.5 on a 5-point scale.

3.  Benefits to the employer – e.g., what made you valuable to this employer?

So, instead of being satisfied with resume entries such as

• led large and small projects to upgrade campus network environment

look for resumes with more informative entries like

• led six-person team responsible for $1.5 million project to replace campus core network routers.  Project completed on-budget, one month early.  

This is likely the person you want to interview.

And, if you are updating your resume, this advice for reviewing resumes is also good advice for you.