A Quick Guide to Improve Your Resume
Ready to make a new start? Before you begin looking for a new job, take a look at your resume. Food and beverage industry recruiters and headhunters sift through dozens of resumes every time there’s a job opening. You want your resume to stand out; to provide the best first impression of you and your skills in order to land a coveted interview.
We’ve recently provided some advice on how to visualize and set goals for your career, including some tips on revising your resume, but let’s take a closer look at some dos and don’ts to help you advance your career and land a new position.
What Not to Do
Hiring managers and HR officials are trained to look for red flags. Do any of these apply to your current resume?
- Too generic: Make sure your resume highlights the skills and work experience that apply to the job or industry to which you’re applying. Be specific, provide details–including a brief description of your employer or its products and services–and be sure to use relevant keywords and a “career objective” statement at the top.
- Inconsistent dates: Format your resume so your start and end dates at previous jobs are always stated in the same way. If there’s an employment gap, include an asterisk with a simple and direct statement explaining it, or address the gap in your cover letter.
- A seeming lack of forward motion: Sometimes we have to go backward to get additional training before advancing in a food industry career. If that’s happened, address it clearly and provide a brief explanation.
Sell Your Sales History
If your background is in sales, there’s even more competition for jobs. You’ll want to make sure your wins and successes are called out clearly and quantitatively — show your work in dollars, clients and growth rates.
We’ve previously provided advice from some of our top recruiters, who shined a light on what they look for in food industry sales resumes. Take a moment to review their advice. It explains the best way to tout your skills and abilities and how you’ve been able to close the deal in highly competitive sales situations.
Remember: Time Is of the Essence
HR managers and recruiters will spend less than 10 seconds on each resume they receive. That’s not a lot of time to get your story across!
Think in bullet points and use them to your advantage. We recommend highlighting facts, figures, and statistics to make your accomplishments stand out in those few precious seconds.
- Were you a manager? How many people were on your team? Did the team grow under your leadership? Talk it up!
- Were you in sales? How many new clients did you bring in, or how many new partnerships or distribution deals did you help close? How big of a budget did you manage? How much revenue did you bring in for your company? This is where you can set yourself apart.
- Did you work in food safety? What was your audit report record? How many improvements did you make? Where did the company’s safety grade stand when you left, compared to where it was when you started? Show how you made food products safer for consumers.
When you’re ready to take the next step to advance your career, make sure your resume is in tip-top shape to help you stand out in a crowded field. We’ve got a series of blogs providing advice you can use today to highlight your achievements and get recruiters interested right away. We’ve also got a list of great jobs that could provide the perfect opportunity for you — check out our current job posts.
Kinsa Group’s recruiters and our broad network of food industry executives are always looking for top talent and we’d like to help you find the best opportunity to match your skills. Submit your resume today to secure your future.