Have you ever read a resume that just listed job duties? This was a question discussed the other day by a hiring manager when talking about candidates whom he recently interviewed. He had been reviewing resumes for several weeks and was comparing how some candidates go to the extreme in giving too much information, and others just list job duties.
Job duties are basically descriptions of requirements needed to perform a certain job. You can read about job duties when looking at job postings with details such as prepare and organize manuals, process payments in a timely manner or order office supplies.
The problem with listing job duties on your resume is they tend to be somewhat practical and bland. To put them in your resume sounds like you could be reciting a procedures manual. Yet job duties serve a purpose for both the employer and the employee. They help spell out what the job requires and give structure to a position. Without them, employees would be guessing as to what activities are needed for each job.
However when duties are used solely on a resume to explain what you did in your previous job, they paint a rather dull picture. For instance, not once in our discussion did the hiring manager mention how a candidate stood out from the crowd because of their job duties.
His question brings up an area where job candidates tend to flounder with what to say on their resumes. The default for some is to start listing all their job duties with hopes their responsibilities will resonate with a hiring decision maker.
Here is what listing job duties will do to you on your resume – it makes you like everyone else. Sounding like everyone else does not necessarily make you memorable and that’s what created angst with the hiring decision-maker, job duties have little personality and characteristics attached to them.
Employers are attracted to resumes that tell them who you are and what you can do for them. Job duties fail to tell employers who you are rather what you do that meets their requirements. Instead of job duties, think in terms of how you performed your job, what made you successful and what you did to contribute to the growth of the company.
Job duties will never substitute for accomplishment statements; instead they will send a message that you lack self-awareness of how well you performed a certain task and minimizes your communication skills.
It’s too easy to list job duties as compared to thinking about how you did something well.
If you suffer from hoping that job duties will sell your skills there is a solution for you – a test question. At the end of each job duty you list on your resume ask the test question “so what”? For example, if you listed “organized training room” ask the test question, “so what?”
The answer to the question helps you determine what you want the employer to remember about you and helps you develop self-awareness of your skills. The “so what?” test question makes you think about what you do that is significant to your department or employer . Try it next time you are tempted to start listing job duties rather than accomplishments.
What are your thoughts about listing job duties on resumes? How do you make them memorable to hiring decision-makers?
