Corporate Meetings
February 12, 2025
A difference in the opinions, values, understandings and thought processes of individuals lead to a conflict. When individuals strongly oppose each other’s ideas and concepts, a conflict starts. It has been observed that when people think in dissimilar ways and are not willing to compromise at all, conflict arises. Conflict can start anytime and at […]
Interpersonal relationship refers to a strong association among individuals working together in the same organization. Employees working together ought to share a special bond for them to deliver their level best. It is essential for individuals to be honest with each other for a healthy interpersonal relationship and eventually positive ambience at the workplace. Why […]
A conflict arises when individuals have varied interests, opinions and thought processes and are just not willing to compromise with each other. It is always wise to adjust to some extent and try to find a solution to the problem rather than cribbing and fighting. Conflicts and disagreements only lead to negativity and things never […]
Negotiation is defined as a discussion among individuals where everyone contributes equally to reach to a conclusion benefiting all. Lot of factors influence the process of negotiation, our emotions being one of the major factors. Our mood decides a lot many things. If one is in a happy mood, everything seems perfect and good to […]
The decades starting with the 1990s witnessed the proliferation of a new kind of sector among the various agencies and governmental departments engaged in public service. This sector was the Non-Profit or the NGO (Non Governmental Organizations) that mushroomed all over the world to fill the gap between the governmental agencies and the public. The […]
“Wow Factor” is about achieving harmony or a balance between the distinguishable qualities, your new passions, and strengths. The wow factor is the USP that distinguishes you from others and attracts attention. A lot of us hardly bother to analyze what their wow factor could be, but the fact is that all of us possess it. In a highly competitive job world where one has hardly a few seconds to capture the recruiter’s attention, a resume should be able to stand out amidst the clutter.
According to an analytical study by The Ladders, the average time taken by recruiters to scrutinize a resume is just six seconds. The recruiters also extensively make use of the Application Tracking Systems (ATS) to shortlist the resumes that meet their benchmarked criteria or scores. Under this scenario, if your resume fails to fulfill the standards or the benchmarks of the ATS, then it may not even be seen by the recruiters. So, how will you be crafting an effective and impressive resume that will attract the attention of both humans and the ATS applications eventually helping you land the interviews and the job offers?
The first step in discovering the wow factor begins with self-awareness and involves a careful thought process, analysis, and gut-checking. While preparing your branding statement, stress should be on maintaining specificity, objective orientation, and achievements across the career. Here’s an example of a statement that lacks specificity, achievement orientation, and does not show action:
To achieve specificity, this could be written as:
To achieve action focus in your resume, replace passive language (responsible, accountable) with powerful action verbs such as pioneered, grew, developed, drove, established, transformed, and a lot more. Described below are a few of the effective strategies on how one can include a wow factor in different sections of the resume.
Summary section of the resume: Bland or generic resume summaries are no longer in demand in the current job market; instead, it has been replaced by smart and crisply written career snapshots. Ideally, two to three wow statements can be included in a snapshot to capture the attention of the reader with your noteworthy career highlights or success stories. Alternatively, you can highlight one of your personal branding statements at the top of your resume and include two more wow statements in the summary section to let the recruiters know the value you can add and your unique strengths.
While drafting the WOW statements, you must aim for maintaining brevity to make a bigger impact with fewer words. The objective of a well-written summary should be to offer a quick snapshot and the details can be provided in the experience section of your resume. Also, your hiring managers will be scanning for the industry-specific keywords or the hard skills, and incorporating them into the wow statements will be an ideal way to attract quick attention.
Given below are some of the examples of wow statements used for C-Suite level profiles:
The Experience section of the resume: The experience section of the resume should capture career achievements instead of responsibilities handled during different professional stints. You need to describe at least the recent 3-4 experiences in achievement-centric terms in reverse chronological order. It would be recommended to at least describe 3-5 major achievements for important roles.
If you are struggling to recollect your achievements for those relevant roles, then you can recall those special events or experiences when you must have been appreciated for making a meaningful difference with your contributions in the context of that role. Prepare a list of these achievements in 3-5 bullet points for each role.
Described below are a few examples of achievement-centric descriptions of the experience section for senior-level professionals in bullet points:
Honors & Awards and Education Section: Include honors & awards in the topmost section of your resume if it is relevant to the position you are applying for. If you have a good enough list of accolades, then create a special space in your resume to prominently highlight your achievements, as this could serve as a crucial wow factor for influencing your recruiters.
If you are applying for a role that requires a certain type of certification or a degree such as an MBA, then do highlight it at the forefront and provide the complete details of that qualification in the education section at the end of your resume.
Listing the Contact Details and Social Media Links: Your details such as your name, mobile number, personal email address, and also your LinkedIn account or website links should be prominently highlighted on the top of your resume.
The other criteria that would be impressive for the recruiters to see in your resume may be your details of high-profile clients that you have handled, list of publications, affiliations/memberships, patents, board positions, and public speaking engagements.
To sum up, the wow factor provides your resume a differentiating edge and can maximize your chance of bringing you a step closer to the job that you have aspired for. So, utmost attention should be given to all those elements which make your resume sound memorable and impressive to wow the recruiters.
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