10 AM: HR sends me an overview of the resumes.
12:20 PM: Lunch break. After consuming my sandwich, I have a cup of coffee and start to go through each resume. I only have 20 minutes before I get back to work.
12:50 PM: I’ve read through 10 resumes while being interrupted by phone calls, colleagues dropping by for a chat, and 6 monitors streaming live market prices and news from all over the globe. I put aside the resumes I would like to interview. Now, back to work.
My previous trade experience is what I can remember from when my desk needed additional staff. I was responsible for narrowing down the candidates from the human resource team and inviting them in for interviews.

How can I maximize my time and pick the best resumes? Assuming that HR has done the basics, I spend 30 seconds looking through bullets under each candidate’s work history. How did they impact? Does it relate to our work?

My eyes then turn to extracurricular activities, and this is where the fun begins. It reveals the candidate’s character. Given that I work 12 hours a day, I want to find out if the person I am working with would be a good fit for me. Finally, I am looking for technical skills. I’ll know in 60 seconds if this candidate is worth my time.

Your resume is half the battle.

A strong resume is a powerful tool to present yourself and your strengths to recruiters. These are three key principles that will help you start writing a resume.

1. Prime real estate is resume space.

Would you want to waste prime real estate areas building low-yielding assets as a property developer? Make sure to only include the most important information on your resume.

Be sure to place the location at the top of your resume. The most important achievements should be at the top of each section.

2. The sum of all parts is a powerful story.

Resumes are not just a collection of your past experience. Your resume must tell your story in a structured, compelling way. The recruiter must be able to quickly understand your strengths and see how you could fit in with the team.

3. Your resume should contain 100% about you.

It’s not about the company. It is not about the school. It’s about YOU and your impact. What will you add to the team’s success?

This series will consist of six parts: Writing a powerful resume. The next articles will cover the pre-resume checklist and then a detailed review of each section, including the skills, education, and interests.

Enjoy!

LIBER is an online career platform. A wide range of tutorials and tools are available for free to users. The key offerings include a professional resume builder, video tutorials by experts, a mock interview platform with common questions and sample answers, as well as the PDF Resume Starters guide.