Writing A Resume That Works For You

Do you have a resume?

This question is all that one hears today when looking for a job. But what is a resume? It is a marketing tool that you use to describe your life-work experience. It should show your background, accomplishments and skills, and how they were used to help you succeed. And, how what you bring to the table can be utilized by a new employer.

Here are a few tips for getting your resume read and acted upon:
1. No more objectives. All objectives sound the same, “I’m looking for challenging and rewarding work as a (place job title here) for a company that’s growing.” When everything is the same nothing stands out. Plus, they’re written from the employee’s point of view, what you want. Instead, use a Skills or Summary section where you can describe 5 or 6 reasons to hire you. This gives you the opportunity to match your skills and experience to the specific opportunity available. It will provide a common theme to all your correspondence, show effective communication skills and focus. And will also help with answers to interview questions such as “why should I hire you” or “what can you do for this company that the others can’t?”

2. Watch the little things. Include your name, address, up-to-date phone number and professional e-mail address. Use a simple font. Print it on white paper. Make sure the copier you use makes a good copy. Know your dates of employment. Watch your spelling. Again, WATCH YOUR SPELLING! It has to be legible, that means clear, precise and to the point. It doesn’t matter what it looks like if there are mistakes, missing information, and careless errors.

3. Two pages are ok if you have the experience to back it up. Face it, in today’s job market; we’ll have 7 different careers and about 15 different jobs before we retire. To cut that experience down to a page doesn’t tell enough about you. And if you’re going for your first job, talk about what your school or community achievements were.

4. Have someone else proof read it when it’s finished. To us, it could look like the Mona Lisa, to others, a finger painting. Get the opinion of one you respect and listen to what they say.

5. Do: use action works and key industry phrases; use bullets to emphasize points; list any awards, certificates, licenses, degrees; list volunteer experience (especially when you have no employment history). Remember KISS-Keep it short & sweet.

6. Don’t: use personal pronouns; include personal information (marital status, kids, social security number, religion, height, weight); include a photo, put your references on the resume; talk about why you left other jobs; say anything negative about any previous job or manager; mess with academic credentials; change dates of employment; repeat the same job tasks over and over, instead talk about what you accomplished; list hobbies\interests unless for example, you’re a skier looking for work as a ski instructor.

7. It’s not chiseled in stone. Always be ready to tweak your resume by adding new skills, new jobs, new certificates\licenses\degrees. When you answer an ad, they always list the skills the position requires, make sure that they are listed in your skills\qualifications section.

The goal is to create a document that gets read and gets results. The resume won’t get you hired, but it will get you in front of the people who can.