Recently we were hiring for a part-time receptionist position. While meeting people and reviewing resumes I was stunned by the sheer number of duplicates. Allow me to explain.

For me it was about two things: Resumes and energy.  I am going to write about resumes here and energy in a later blog.

Resumes-
Nearly every resume was the same, a plain white page, with a bunch of words. There was nothing to draw the eye anywhere among all the words. There was nothing that really stood out, and rarely a cover letter among the bunch.

Here is how I think a candidate can stand out:

When I am reviewing resumes, the first thing I look for is that a person took the time to write a thoughtful cover letter, telling me a little bit about themselves. It gives me a sense of personality, and any person that works for me, especially a receptionist, needs to be personable. It’s also a sample of writing, attention to detail, proofreading and ability to use spell check, as well as a way for me to determine if a person can create coherent sentences—or at least edit the free cover letter they found online to make it sound like they can!

The next thing I look at is the formatting of a resume. If a resume isn’t formatted in an easy to read way, and I have a hundred to review, I probably won’t take the time to read it. I want to know when a person worked where and what they did there. It’s that easy. I don’t want a list of qualifications or things they think they are good at. I want real world experience. The cover letter is the place to list the things they think they are good at. The cover letter is the place to toot your own horn, the juice, and the first way I want to start to get to know a person. The resume should be easy to read facts.

Personally, I also like it when someone takes the time to use colored stationary.  Grays, blues, and the old manila are all good. Nothing with too many designs of course, that would make the resume difficult to read. BUT, I do like it when there is at least a small graphic element on the person’s paper. It really doesn’t take much time to grab some free clip art to make your resume stand out from the rest.

These three things help a person get their foot in the door. They make me WANT to read their resume, and probably interview them.

Next, the interview—