Resumes should be clear and concise, but they must also be compelling. And the single most compelling thing you can tell me is that you will bring a return on the investment of my money.

Every hire in an organization is an investment of capital. And in the church world, that’s capital that comes out of offering plates and widow’s cupboards. Particularly in a lean economy, this makes every hire at the same time questionable and precious.

So how can your resume justify you as a good investment of precious resource? There’s an old adage in management that says, “the best predictor of future performance is past performance.”

“the best predictor of future performance is past performance.”

Showing me your prior successes will encourage me to believe in your future success. It’s almost a Jerry McGuire way of “showing me the money.” Try incorporating the following into your resume, and it will become a competitive advantage for you:

1. Show me the ways you have met or exceeded the expectations of your job.
2. Show me an initiative you started or helped lead
3. Tell me the results of your leadership
4. Show me something you did that you weren’t asked to do.
5. Show me the ultimate profit margin in church work.

When you show me these things, you are essentially showing me the money. If you will remember that every hire is an investment, and show how you are a good investment, your resume will stand out, and may even be a difference maker in the hiring process

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This is the second in a series of posts on writing a good resume. We’re getting more and more of them in our executive search firm, and I get more and more questions about how to write a good one. Church doesn’t really teach people how, so here’s a collection of learnings I’ve picked up from both the best practices of corporate search world, and my 15 years as a Pastor.]