If you’re not hiring a resume writer, why judge a candidate based on how well their resume is written?

Let’s say you have an opening for a salesperson. You post an ad detailing the duties, responsibilities, and necessary qualifications. Candidates respond and you review resumes in anticipation of finding that right-fit person. As you begin sifting through the resumes you begin to get discouraged. The words on the paper are flat, uninspiring, and dull. One candidate writes:

“Responsible for generating $2 million per year in sales for the past five years. Exceeded quota by 5% for 4 out of 5 years. Awarded top salesperson.”

Ugh. “Responsible for” is so 20th century. There’s just not much energy behind these words. Then you come across another candidate’s resume. It reads:

“Catapulted sales to more than $2 million per year for four straight years, knocking out competition, and consistently surpassing peers”.

Wow. Catapulted? Knocking-out competition? Consistently surpassing? Power words. This person obviously has the joie de vivre your company has been looking for. Quick. Grab a phone and set up an interview before this person is off the market.

I am shaking my head in disbelief as I think and write about this. The accomplishments of the two “candidates” are very nearly identical. However, and this is a BIG however, the first “candidate” could likely be the better bet for the organization. Why, you may ask? Because the first candidate is specific in the percentage over quota attained with that percentage a quantifiable number: 5% of $2 million = $100,000. This ain’t chicken feed. It also signals to the hiring company the candidate’s understanding of the necessity of providing concrete sales numbers. Ask any sales manager or CFO.

The plethora of blogs and websites out there on resume writing, while they offer good formatting tips and remind job hunters of the importance of a resume being error free, are placing way too much importance on job candidates choosing one word over the other to attain maximum readability impact for human resources staff or hiring managers. Are the resumes intended to inform or entertain?

Companies would be wise to start looking past resume hyperbole and at a candidate’s ability to deliver to company goals. After all, isn’t that the whole point in hiring? If you don’t believe me, ask yourself just how many of the top performing people in your company are great writers? My bet would be few. The fact of the matter is, if you aren’t looking to hire a writer, why are you deciding who gets the interview based on who has the most well written resume?