Your resume is easily the single most important document in helping achieve your career goals.
After all, before a potential employer meets you, the only way they can form any kind of opinion about you, and whether or not they should hire you, is through your resume.
So if you want to increase the number of interviews you get invited to, and therefore increase your chances of getting that dream job, then you need to STAMP your resume.
How did we develop the STAMP technique?
Here at the Job Search Bible, we asked dozens of career experts for their views on the single most important consideration for a resume.
From their responses, we distilled the common themes into a simple, easy-to-remember acronym that acts as a prompt for you to make sure your resume covers all the things needed to get you more job interviews.
What does STAMP mean?
STAMP is an easy-to-remember acronym that acts as a prompt for you to make sure your resume covers all the things that an outstanding resume should cover.
Each letter of STAMP stands for:
S = Sell Yourself
T = Tailor to Individual Roles
A = Align to the Job Specification
M = Measurable Achievements
P = Presentation
S = Sell Yourself
The sole purpose of your resume is to get you invited for an interview. So you need to sell yourself, and sell the benefits of hiring you!
Rather than simply outline your previous work experience, or significant achievements, go a little further and explain how you can add value to the employer.
Example:
“I have well developed sales skills that I have used to generate 25 new clients, bringing in a combined revenue of $1m.”
T = Tailor to Individual Roles
It’s very easy for job seekers to get a little lazy and fire off the same interview for multiple roles. It’s easily done, as it saves a lot of time and effort.
However, it’s really counter-intuitive.
Every role you apply for is different, so take the time to tailor your resume for each specific role you are applying for. Yes, it’s more effort, but it will definitely pay off.
The same applies to your cover letter. Don’t simply regurgitate the same old cover letter for each application – instead, tailor it to the specific role.
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A = Align to the Job Specification
In the majority of cases, you will have some prior insight into the role you’re applying.
This is usually available in a job specification, but the same information could also be available in the job advert, or directly from the recruiter or employer.
Basically, the employer is telling you exactly what they are looking for in a candidate!
So make sure you include information in your resume that directly reflects the job specification.
M = Measurable Achievements
When you talk about your prior experiences and achievements, make sure you do so in a measurable and quantifiable way.
Example:
“Made changes to 15 procedures that resulted in a 10% increase in productivity.”
…which is much better than…
“Improved ways of working that increased productivity.”
P = Presentation
It’s a well-known fact that, when faced with dozens of resumes, most employers only spend a few seconds skimming through each one as a way of filtering.
It’s also well known that you only get one chance to make a first impression. So whilst the content of your resume is crucial, so is the presentation.
Make sure that basic elements of your resume are done right, for example:
- You have used a consistent font;
- You have used headers to break-up the content;
- There is enough – but not too much – spacing between sections to make it easy to read;
- Only one colour for your text.
Summary
Based with this new information, wee recommend that you dig out your current resume, review it, and STAMP it to get invited to more job interviews:
S = Sell Yourself
T = Tailor to Individual Roles
A = Align to the Job Specification
M = Measurable Achievements
P = Presentation
Good luck!
