The people who read your resume—both recruiters and prospective employers—read between the lines and form judgments about your character, intelligence and ability to communicate based on how you present the information. You need to be thinking about this when you sit down and write your resume. Your mission: to craft the kind of resume that delivers the unspoken message that will make your case.

What messages should a resume send? Try these five for starters.

1. I Can Focus

To perform the multiple functions for which they’re responsible, safety professionals must be able to focus and prioritize. Looking at your resume is the best way for prospective employers to judge your capability to do this.

Advice: Keep your resume focused. Concentrate on highlighting your two most recent or relevant jobs. Do not attempt to give equal attention to each of your past jobs especially when your experience has been diverse.

2. I’m Youthful and Energetic

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you have to be young. What I am talking about is displaying the qualities of energy and enthusiasm that are associated with youth. Lots of people over 40 possess these qualities; lots of people under 40 don’t. So, no matter what your age, you should strive to give your resume the aura of youth.

Advice: Write in crisp and concise words. And choose words and phrases that sound youthful:

• Passé: People person, self-starter, go-getter;
• Youthful Sounding: Enjoy interacting with people, self-motivating and motivated to succeed.

Consider asking a smart "20-something" to review your resume and give you his impressions. Does he understand the terminology and non-technical terms?

3. I’m a Tower of Strength

Companies want safety professionals with a proven ability to handle adversity and recover from setbacks. Your resume should make it clear that you have.

Advice: List examples of how you solved problems, recovered expenses and learned to compensate for weaknesses in your organization. Emphasize how quickly and effectively you made adjustments.

4. I Know My Stuff

Unless we’re talking about an entry level position, employers seek applicants who have experience and complete knowledge of the occupational health and safety field and the industry. Just saying you do isn’t enough; you have to prove it.

Advice: Sprinkle buzzwords, keywords and industry terminology into your resume. But don’t overdo it. You don’t want your resume to sound like a Material Safety Data Sheet or technical document.

5. I’m Politically Correct

The term “politically correct” is a loaded one that summons up strong emotion and opinion. Just understand that when seeking jobs in corporate America, your personal feelings about political correctness don’t matter. Whether you like it or not, employers have to display politically correct behavior and to ensure that their senior managers do as well.

Advice: Use politically correct terms wherever appropriate in your resume. Examples:

• Multiculturalism;
• Diversity;
• Global community;
• Cross-cultural;
• Mainstream multiethnic;
• Socioeconomic; and
• People with disabilities (never use the word “handicapped” unless you’re an oddsmaker at a race track).

Conclusion

The main point I’m trying to make is that a resume is more than just a list of professional accomplishments. It’s a form of subliminal communication in which key elements of your personal and professional being are conveyed. Be aware of this and use it to your advantage.

Wishing you career success,
Lauryn Franzoni
ExecuNet, www.execunet.com

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