Interviewing and Resume Strategies

Good morning guys, my name is Hannah. I am a search consultant here at Govig and Associates. And, today I wanted to share a few tips for people who are considering a new role, or, are interviewing for a new opportunity. I wanted to share a strategy for answering interview questions. And I wanted to share a couple of different tips to enhance your resume and set you apart. 

So, first off, there is a method called the star method that my career coaches taught me about back at Eller at U of A, “Bear Down.” And this is

S: Situation 
T: Task 
A: Action 
R: Result 

So, when companies ask you to tell them a story. Or, to answer a question or share an accomplishment, they’re more interested in what you’ve done than what you are doing. So, if you can share the situation, what was happening in the company? And then the task, either a task that was given to you or something that you took the initiative to start. The action, the specific actions that you took. And, the result, that’s the most important one. What did your actions result in? What benefit? What value did you bring your previous employer? Did you bring your team? Did you bring yourself? What were the results? And that brings me to the resume tip. One of them is to include numerical results and achievements on your resume and in your stories. If you can use anything with numbers or percentages, it will set you apart from everybody else. And, employers like to see numbers. 

For example, if you took the initiative and you developed a new sales strategy, new idea, anything, and that resulted in a 37% increase in sales. Or you developed in a new training program, and that resulted in four people on your team being promoted. Or, you started a new initiative, and it resulted in exceeding your goal or your quota by 28%. I mean whatever it is, if you can have numbers, it’s just a step up. And, it will set you apart from everybody else. And, if you are talking to a recruiter like myself, it makes it easier for us to sell you as a candidate to the hiring manager because not everybody is going to have specific achievements.

A lot of people have been promoted. Great, show that off. Hiring authorities take less than six seconds usually to look at a resume. So, don’t list the company along with the role every time. List the company once and then sub the roles that you’ve had underneath there. So, if you have been working at ABC company, do not list ABC company for all four of your promotions. Because, again, within that six seconds right off the bat that can appear “jumpy” sometimes. So, just one formatting strategy is to list the company once and then have your promotions underneath that, all the different roles that you have had. 

So, I hope that was helpful for you. And, if you have any questions or any thoughts, feel free to reach out.

And, we have a candidate toolkit on our website. https://govig.com/resources/candidate-toolkit/

Here on my team, we have three VP of Sales roles open right now. We are in building products, I specialize in residential interiors, and we also have a regional sales manager role open throughout the United States. So, if you know anybody, or if you are interested, feel free to reach out. And, if you have trouble finding talent, feel free to reach out. And, I hope you have a great day.