Make Your Addictions Job Resume Stand Out From the Crowd

So, you’ve found your dream job and are worried that your addictions job resume may not be up to par to land it?  Understandable in these times and, even in this digital world, a quality resume (on paper) is essential to a successful job search.  Because the job market is, shall we say, crowed – it’s now more important than ever that you stand out from the crowd with your resume as your compete against other job candidates for those positions. So, here are a few tips to make your resume a winner and help you land that dream addictions job:

Use Power Words

There is a difference between using “power words” (or verbs) and over-used words, however.   In fact, LinkedIn released a list of the most overused resume words that you may want to use sparingly or avoid altogether as they are just going to lump you in with everyone else.  Topping that list were words like “responsible”, “strategic” and “creative”.  You can find the full list here.   Conversely, Power Words and Action Verbs can help you when describing your previous experience and positions.  These are words like “initiated”, “improved” and “delivered”.  For a full list of those types of words, Go Here.

Add Your Accomplishments (with Flair)

It’s long been suggested that you back up your “Strengths”, such as “Negotiation Skills”, with an example.   However, you may wish to take this a step further if you have any examples that show your personality, or even quirky side.  Such as – “was able to negotiate ‘Flip Flop Friday’ for employees with management in return for monthly non-profit work.”  It’s ok to allow your personality to show through a little bit in your resume as many others will not bother (or dare) to do this.

Be Brief

While we don’t want to leave out pertinent information, there is a lot that used to be listed in resume that is, frankly, irrelevant and unnecessary.  Leave off the personal information such as family details, martial status, and photograph.  Provide professional experience that is relevant to the position, or make it relevant, and not necessarily a play by play of every job you have ever had.    Leave room to showcase your personal interests and non-work related activities.  I know this kind of flies in the face of what I’ve just said but more and more companies are hiring based on personality and you want to put some of that out there for them see.  Let them know if you work with non-profits, have a non-offensive blog or organized networking events in your area.

Think Outside the Box

The days of the 1-2 page CV are gone and there are so many different things that you can do with resume that it boggles the mind.  A guy named Chris Spurlock turned his resume into an infographic last year and it went viral, with over 8,000 visitors in a matter of days.  Some people want to make a video (use caution with this one) while others incorporate a mixture of the traditional and their own style.  However, you may run into issues if you try to think too far outside that box, particularly when meeting up with a more traditional hiring manager.  A few things to avoid are: cutesy fonts, bright colored paper, silly jokes and listing personal views on politics, religion or any other social issues.  The addictions job field is pretty liberal so you should be ok straying outside the lines a bit with your resume.

A key thing to remember here is that you have approximately 2-5 seconds to impress someone with your resume and either make it to the next round or get tossed in the trash bin.  This has nothing to do with your skills, personality or qualifications for that job – it’s ALL about how your present yourself on your addictions job resume so put some time into it.

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