To determine the effectiveness of your resume, writes Scott Herrick, “[ask] the ultimate two-word question after every line on your resume: So what?”
By asking the “so what?” question, you are forced down the path to getting what you have on the resume mean something to a potential hiring manager. Hiring managers are into results, not just the chronology of your employment life. They are into your motivation for doing the work, not just some listing of jobs. They want to know how well you will fit into the team, not just some drab list of job skills.
Herrick goes on:
What you are trying to produce is a benefit to the hiring manager to interview you over everyone else that applied for the job. If there is no benefit the hiring manager can see from the resume, there is no reason to do an interview with you … By continually asking “so what?” on each line of your resume, you will get to the point where there is a genuine benefit to the business (or your current management team) for the work you do.
