Why Beating Around the Bush Doesn’t Work in Resumes

Hiring managers are very busy people.  Not only are they given the responsibility of bringing in new candidates for the company, but in their positions, they have many other tasks to complete as well.  The last thing they have time to do is sift through a lot of fluff just to get to the point you’re trying to make in your resume.

That’s right.  Beating around the bush is not allowed in resumes—or at least hiring managers would prefer it were that way.  Here is why beating around the bush really just doesn’t work in resumes.

Discussing Career Goals Wastes Time

Although there is a time and place to discuss your career goals—usually during the interview—your resume isn’t the place for that.  Instead, your resume is where you want to specifically address those things that you can do for the company.

If you try to beat around the bush on this topic, the hiring manager will be forced to dig deeper into the resume to get past your broad goals and zero in on how you can help the company in the position for which they’re hiring.  And if you don’t successfully (and quickly) make your point, you could easily find your resume in the rejection pile.

Generic Details Fail to Reveal True Qualifications

Another qualm hiring managers have with resumes that don’t get to the point is that they simply don’t answer enough questions to determine whether you’re truly qualified.  If you spend time writing about how you “helped the company achieve its sales goals” without providing any specifics about how you accomplished it, you’ve given the prospective employer no information that will help them decide if you can do the same for them.

Furthermore, the hiring manager may perceive this type of generic statement simply as a way for you to exaggerate your true accomplishments.  This is why it’s always in your best interest to be as specific as possible when outlining your accomplishments.  The more direct you are in your resume, the less guessing the hiring manager will have to do—and the more likely he or she will be to invite you in for an interview.

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