Understanding can be the most critical component of the job search process
➔ You’re applying for a job. You want to tell the person (or machine) who will be reading your resume about all the wonderful things you’ve done; the great places you’ve worked; and all the talent you can bring to the organization.
Yet, when you write your resume, you burden it with language that the reader can’t understand. OMG! After reading one particular resume, boy, did I LMAO.
These acronyms are reasonably widely used today, so it’s more than likely you would be understood. (But there is no guarantee.)
Put yourself in the other person’s shoes
However, in certain industries, at certain companies, acronyms are regularly used – to the point where the people in those industries take them for granted, but when people outside of those industries read them, they haven’t got a clue.
And who will most likely be the first person to review your resume? Chances are that the first set of eyes to see your resume will be a younger staff member who has had little exposure to the business world and probably has no idea about the things that were meaningful on your last job. Therefore, without spelling those acronyms completely, that staffer will be more confused than impressed by your resume. And, at that point, what do you think will happen to it?
Workitdaily.com made this observation: “As you write your resume, remember that jargon and acronyms not only vary by company and by industry, but sometimes by geography as well. Also, you cannot assume someone in your own industry will be the first person screening your resume. As you describe your former accomplishments, strive to do so in a way that reads clearly to an outsider. Someone who doesn’t understand the content of your resume will never fully grasp what a qualified candidate you are.”
To effectively communicate with another person, you must not only express yourself clearly, but also you must speak in a manner in which your target recipient will understand.