Business Analysis Homebase

Proof that the business analysis mindset and process can be applied to any situation, here is a rough guide to business analysing your resume:

1. AS-IS – Show What Can You Do Today
Focus, first and foremost, on your recent experience, showing immediate transferability to the position at hand. Less relevant and dated experience should be eliminated or condensed into brief bullet points near the end of your resume.

2. Refine the process – Keep It Focused and Professional
A resume should be specific, provide ample context, and be all business. Your next employer will be investing significant time and money in hiring you. What does your employment track record demonstrate about your reliability, and how does it confirm that you can deliver outcomes?

3. Make it an “At a Glance” dashboard – Consider Your Resumes Length
For students, recent graduates, or people with just a few years of experience, try to keep your resume to 1-2 pages. Professionals with +20 years of experience need to condense their extensive work experience into 3 pages at most. Many resumes nowadays include hyperlinks to an online work portfolio that demonstrate recent projects.

4. Review – Get the Words and Punctuation Right
If you draft it yourself, have someone with excellent writing skills do an editorial review and carefully proofread it. Ensure your resume’s grammar, spelling, and punctuation are spot on. Also, be sure to keep the language clear and simple.

5. Document Analysis – Analyse the Job Ad
Analyse the job advertisement carefully for skill fit. Provide a 1 sentence “career snapshot” summary; outline your qualifications; list technical skills, and bring to the forefront the essential abilities that the employer is seeking for this vacancy. Study the company’s annual report and website, and weave the themes and terms found there into your resume and cover letter.

6. Refine the process – Functional Decomposition
Connect the dots in your front page Executive Summary and Cover Letter. Make sure your resume looks good by ensuring that each bullet point starts with a different action verb. Use a crisp, simple presentation format for a professional-looking resume.

7. Communicate the purpose to the stakeholders –
Customise the resume to match the stated requirements of the job you are applying for without misleading. When people lie or exaggerate on their resume, they are almost invariably exposed, sooner or later. Be honest and always put your best foot forward by providing evidence that qualifies or quantifies how well you perform your duties.

If this has helped, you may find value in our resume optimisation guide as well.

John McCaw