The

conditions are perfect. The employer has a need and they want

to interview you. To put it in marketing terms they are "ready

to buy", but one quick look at your resume and they set it

aside. What happened? Here are the top 9 reasons your resume

submissions are not converting to interviews.

1. Your resume has no direction.

You appear clueless as to what you want and why you want it. If

they do not know what you are looking for, they will not try to

figure it out. They will just shrug and set it aside. They are

in effect saying, "Come back when you know what you

want."

2. They don't want to feel like

bottom feeders. First impressions really do count, especially

with resumes. If your resume looks cheap, shabby, generic or

like it was thrown together as an afterthought, it will reflect

on you. If the overall look of your resume doesn't immediately

gain the respect of the reader, you are in trouble. They want

to feel good, not feel desperate, about calling you in for an

interview. Studies have shown that readers decide within the

first 10-15 seconds whether they are going to investigate

further or move on. That is how long it takes to run your

resume through their mental filter and determine whether you

are good enough for an interview. If they cannot get past the

first impression, you lose. What they are in effect saying, "I

am not sure we want to be seen with this person."

3. You got noticed, but you got

noticed the wrong way by placing style over substance. What

they are in effect saying, "Nice paper, beautiful font, so

what?"

4. You confused the reader. Your

resume lacks coherence, there is no logical flow (note:

so-called functional resumes are notorious for this). They are

saying in effect, . . . well, they don't say anything. They

just scratch their head and set your resume aside.

5. You made them feel like you

are testing their IQ. I have written hundreds of resumes for

people working in fields where brain power is esteemed --

attorneys, physicians, academics, etc. I occasionally would get

insecure job seekers in these fields who wanted their resume to

be full big words with a stilted style thinking these are a

signs of intelligence. It has quite the opposite effect. By

setting your resume aside they are in effect saying, "Who is

this idiot trying to impress."

6. You are too aggressive, too

pushy. You come across like you are the chosen one who is going

to come in and solve all their problems with a snap of the

fingers. By setting your resume aside they are in effect doing

what they do to telemarketers, they are hanging up on

you.

7. You are too needy, too eager.

If you look like you are desperate and willing to take

anything, red flags go up. They wonder what is wrong with you

and you lose the interview.

8. You are too wordy (and I am

not talking about the length of your resume). If you take 200

words for something that could have been adequately explained

in 100, you will lose them. You will become boring. Once they

are bored, you are done.

9. You generated some initial

interest, but in the end, gave them no compelling reason to

call you. You had a great opening line, but you left off

benefits and accomplishments. This is what happens when your

history is simply a laundry list of where you worked and when

you worked there. What they are in effect saying, "We don't

know enough about this person to call him or her

in." http://savvyresume.com