How to Pass the Hiring Manager’s 30-Second Test

By Barbara Safani, M.A., CPRW, NCRW, CE RW, CCM

Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers works with Fortune 100 companies and individuals to deliver targeted programs focusing on resume development, job search, networking, interviewing, and salary negotiation. She is a triple certified resume writer, frequent contributor to numerous career-related publications, and co-creator of a leading resume writer certification exam. Ms. Safani advises members of the NY chapter of the Financial Executives Network Group and chairs a SHRM networking group for HR professionals in career transition.

Personal Marketing Strategies for More Powerful Qualifications Summaries

The average hiring manager spends less than 30 seconds reviewing a resume. With so little time and so much at stake, applicants must strive to create a self-marketing tool that passes the hiring manager’s initial screening test. Hiring managers scan resumes to quickly see what “pops” or sparks their interest in a candidate. Their first glance at the document often focuses on the text within the top third of the page. This makes it imperative for candidates to create a career summary at the top of t he document to quickly communicate competency, scope, fit, and value add. Below is an overview of the three “tests’ hiring managers use to screen candidates and recommended writing strategies to pass each test and score high grades with the hiring manager.

The Competency Test: Strategies for Showcasing Your Skills

First, the hiring manager looks for your competencies to determine if you have the experience and scope necessary to perform the job. When writing a resume, make sure that your areas of knowledg e and expertise are communicated clearly within the top third of the first page of your resume. Don’t hide the competencies within your profile summary; instead create a separate section in the resume called core competencies, areas of expertise, or areas of knowledge to call direct attention to your qualifications. Make sure your competencies section discusses specific rather than general job expertise. Try to match your competencies to the words and phrases that are most commonly used in your industry. Review job postings and job descriptions for positions in your field that are similar to the ones you will be targeting in your search to create a clear match between your competencies and those necessary for the position.

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The Creative Writing Test: Strategies for Showcasing Your Personal Brand

Create a professional identity

A professional identity is not the same as a job title. The professional identify conveys your personal brand and the scope of your responsibilities through a few targeted words. When placed in bold near the top of your resume, your identity calls attention to your candidacy much the same way that a catchy headline on the front page of a newspaper grabs the attention of the reader.

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Offer a mission statement or personal quote

What are your goals and dreams and how successful h ave you been at attaining these objectives in different business environments? Share your value proposition with your reader to build rapport and establish a connection between your successes and the goals of the company.

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Discuss business environments

Have you worked in particular business environments that have helped shape your brand? Were your achievements focused in a turnaround, high -growth, or international environment? Have you worked across several businesses or across multiple industries? This may very well be part of your value add and it is certainly information that will gain your reader’s attention and encourage them to read on.

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Name drop

As a hiring manager scans your resume, he will be quickly looking at the companies you have worked for. If you have worked for several Fortune 1,000 or fast-growing start-ups and your association with these firms is part of your brand, add the company names to your headline to build credibility and interest in your candidacy. If you have worked for lesser known companies, but held account responsibilities for well-known firms, showcase the names of your clients if this is not considered proprietary information.

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Add a testimonial

One great way to build authenticity into your profile is to showcase a quote from a senior executive or customer. Content for these testimonials can be found through a variety of sources including performance reviews, 360 assessments, and customer satisfaction surveys.

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The Math Test: Strategies for building your portfolio of accomplishments

Problem-Action-Result Statements

Hiring managers believe that proof of past successes helps them determine how successful you will be in their organization. The best way for you to prove your success is to discuss accomplishments thoroughly rather than focusing heavily on job tasks. To create accomplishment statements, examine a problem you have faced in the past, the actions you took to fix the problem, and the associated results of your actions. Think of the before and after picture and try to assign a number, dollar value, or percent change to your results. Accomplishment statements must be present throughout the resume and the profile section of your resume should include overall accomplishments that help set the tone for and frame your candidacy.

Example

• Year over year success building businesses that yield as much a $250M in new revenue; couple innovative marketing concepts with solid merchandise planning and program development skills.


• Accelerated purchases as much as 300% by successfully leveraging concept development to create connections between intrinsic brand elements and consumers.

Accomplishment Hooks

Hiring managers are looking for examples of how you have helped the companies you supported make money, save money, save time, improve a process, reverse an existing problem, be first to market, build relationships/brand identity, grow the business, attract new business, or maintain existing business. Accomplishment hooks should be woven throughout the document and the strongest hooks can be incorporated into the profile or career highlights section. Statements should be front -loaded which means that the key metric driving the accomplishment should be at the beginning of the statement.

Examples:

Make Money

• Accelerated profit margins by 30% with projected sales of $400M by launching seven innovative insurance and POS products in just three years.

Save Money

• Cut expenses incurred by temporary staffing agencies by $5M; consolidated vendor list by 60%.

Save Time

• Eliminated over 30 administrative hours weekly by authoring and designing 50-page web-application interface that standardized and automated responses to general support desk inquiries regarding the group’s flagship product.

Improve a Process

• Streamlined 10,000-user email list to improve distribution and accuracy of mailings significantly.

Reverse an Existing Problem

• Reduced product imperfections by 500% by implementing more stringent controls to improve fabric and product quality; achieved ISO 9002 status.

Be First to Market

• Pioneered CarpetSafe® exclusive insurance product for ABC Carpets offering replacement carpet if original is damaged through general wear and tear or staining.

Build Relationships/Brand Identity

• Garnered $13,000 in grant and donation money and free publicity for Furnish a Future by forging partnership with Corcoran Realtors.

• Successfully launched $50 million gourmet sales market despite president’s skepticism of products’ earning potential.

Grow the Business

Attract New Business

• Grew female customer base from 15% to 60% by repositioning merchandising strategy and offering high margin apparel, home, health, and beauty products.

Maintain Existing Business

• Reversed strained relationship with $22B supranational client; renewed three-year contract despite internal and external expectations that account was unsalvageable and secured an additional $4B in business.

Add charts and graphs

By adding a visual component to your profile section, you can quickly communicate dramatic results to your audience without taking up too much space on the document. Charts can chronicle success over time, across products, or across businesses.

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Great qualification summaries tell an authentic and compelling story. Content, format, and design all play a role in your story and each component should be considered when crafting your unique message. Hiring managers need to read the “book jackets” of a lot of stories and quickly decide which ones to read in greater detail. Try some of these strategies to improve your chances of getting on the “must read” list and “must interview” list of employers.