Learn To Write A Resume for Todays Economy

Learn To Write A Resume for Todays Economy - Article

Facing a blank page when you are trying to write a resume can be very scary. You may think that you don't have enough to
say about yourself to fill a page; you may be wondering just how to list all of your skills and experience within a single sheet
of paper. To get started, ask yourself some questions about your past jobs and your career goals. Remember the
purpose of the resume is to get a job interview, unlike the application the resume is designed by you to highlight your
strongest points.
Before you even begin writing a resume, define the exact reasons why you need one. While this may sound simple, it takes
more than saying, "I want to get a new job." Consider your career objective first. Make sure that your goals are specific in
terms of industry, position title, and future professional achievements. Once you are clear on the type of job you are
seeking, it will be much easier to compose a resume that highlights your expertise in the area of your interest.
Once you have your career objective developed, do some research on a resume format that is most commonly used and
may be most appropriate for your industry. Search the Internet or check out the books in your local library to get a better
idea of what well-written professional resumes look like. Once you find a format that best suits your field and your career
objective, use the same layout to get started.
When listing your personal information at the top of the resume, include your address, home and/or mobile phone number,
and your email address. A helpful hint about listing your email address – (A Good Idea) make sure that it contains your
name, as this helps you appear more professional. You can create a free Gmail or Yahoo email account easily; it also
maybe helpful to have one email address as a point of contact for your job search.
Before you begin listing your experiences, make sure to list them out on a separate sheet of paper, in chronological order,
starting with the most recent job you had (possibly the job you are presently holding). List up to five previous jobs you have
held, although make sure that your resume does not exceed two pages in length. Make sure that are listed in order; don't
skip any of your employments as this will create gaps in your professional history.
When listing your education, start with your college attendance and move to your most recent accomplishments. If you never
attended college, make sure to include any courses, even if they were taken as training at your previous jobs, which will help
in showcasing your qualifications. In terms of skills, make sure to list, in bullet point form, all of the abilities that confirm that
you are the best candidate for the job you are seeking.
You can omit references from your resume, but let your potential employer know that you can provide them if necessary.
You can do so in the cover letter or by including a line at the bottom of your resume that simply states, "references available
upon request."
As your final check point, ask a friend or a family member to review your resume, and give you feedback. Having a second
pair of eyes can help you correct any typos, or even bring to your attention anything that appears unclear or confusing. A
well-written, error-free resume will help you put your best foot forward and get the job that exceeds your career goals.
Resume Action Words
You've heard it over and over again – a well-written resume is a winning resume. What does that mean? How can you
determine whether your resume is written in a tone and style that employers will respond to? Synthesizing your educational
achievements, years of your professional experience, and numerous qualifications you have acquired over the years into
one to two pages is not easy to accomplish. Every phrase or statement you write has to convince your potential employer
that you are the best candidate for the job. To do so, you will need to use action or power word.
Action words, or power words, are keywords (verbs), that add strength and positive implication to your job
responsibilities or qualifications. When you submit your resume to your potential employer, there are two scenarios that will
occur. One, your application will be ran through a computer software program, which searches your resume for key terms as
indicated by the employer. If your resume contains those key words, your resume will be pulled aside for further review. Two,
a hiring manager, or most often a human resources associate, will receive a stack or resumes and scan through them
quickly to pick out those that stand out the most, again based on certain key words. It should now be clear why these action
words are critical to your success in job hunting. When listing your employment history, each job's responsibilities should be
listed in bullet point form, with each statement starting with an action word. Using power verbs or phrases will indicate to your
employer that you are driven by action and results, and that you can effectively articulate your professional experience
(thus, showcasing your communication skills).
Here is a small sample of Resume action words: - created - developed and implemented - managed - delivered -
designed - facilitated - negotiated - coordinated - budgeted - acted - communicated – consulted – directed – planned –
organized – taught – wrote - etc.
This is a very short sampling of action words. Many resources on the Internet contain extensive listings of action words or
phrases. Do some research and use only those terms that are relevant to your field of experience. Your best bet would be
to locate samples of resumes by professionals in your industry. Review those resumes for ideas on how to list your
responsibilities. Important note: do not copy exact statements from someone else's resume; you will want to make your
resume personalized to your experience. Don't fall into the trap of using the same action word over and over. If you have in
fact managed multiple projects, you may want to be a bit more specific about your role in each. For example, maybe you
were the communication liaison in one project, while you were the project manager for another task. Begin the first bullet
point with "communicated," and the second bullet point with 'managed." However, be aware of the words that you are using
and consider their value in your resume. Do not go overboard with using varying terms, especially those that may change
your role or your responsibilities.
Additionally, you can find key action words in job descriptions. Review your resume against a job description and make sure
that all required qualifications are addressed in your statements. This will also help you identify action words that the
employer uses, which you can in turn use to customize your resume or cover letter to that specific job. Always make sure
that you are consistent in the way you list all of your responsibilities and qualifications, and make sure that your statements
exude positive attitude and focus on actions and results. By doing so, you are guaranteed to create a winning resume that
will get you noticed.
Hobbies And Interests – Is There A Place For Them On Your Resume?
There are two types of resumes: chronological and functional. As its name implies, a chronological resume is one that lists
your experience and education in order, starting with the most recent jobs or achievements. This type of resume is
sometimes also referred to as reverse chronological resume, because the order of the listing starts with your current
employment. Functional resumes focus on your qualifications, not your career time line. This style of the resume highlights
what skills you have, rather than where and when you acquired or utilize them. In other words, instead of listing your
experiences by your job titles, your resume will contained sections titled by your skills such as verbal and written
communication, customer satisfaction, project management, etc.
The functional resume style is recommended for college students seeking internships or their first jobs out of college, for
those with no professional experience, those who have not worked for some time, or for career changers. This resume style
allows you to reference your hobbies and interests in a way that apply to your career objective only; listing hobbies and
interests outside of your career objective is not recommended as it doesn't promote you as a professional in any way.
Any time you are composing a resume, it is important to keep in mind your career objective. You want to present yourself in
a best possible light to your potential employer. Thus, the information on your resume has to answer one question: Why are
you the best candidate for the job?
The biggest mistake people make on their resumes is including information that is not related to their professional
experience. Facts pertaining to your volunteer positions, community work, interests and hobbies that disclose your race,
ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or any personal descriptors that do not directly impact your
professional performance must be excluded from your resume. The functional resume does not require you to list names or
organizations you have worked or volunteered for; thus, you can list the experience you have acquired there without
potentially disclosing any demographic information. Additionally, do not list your hobbies and interests. This is typically seen
as amateur, and gives your resume less credibility.
Only ever list hobbies and interests if they apply to the position you are applying for under specific functional sections. For
example, if you are seeking a position in graphic design, and have samples of work that you have done as a hobby, indicate
this fact on your resume or in your cover letter. I your hobbies are related to the type of work you are seeking utilize them to
your advantage. If you have read books or completed seminars at the community center that are applicable to your job,
make a mention of them. Any employer will welcome the opportunity to have you demonstrate the qualifications that make
you a perfect candidate for the job.
Three Things To Make Your Resume Unique
A resume is a one- to two-page document, try to keep it to one page summarizing your career objectives, professional
experiences and achievements, and educational background. To stand apart from other candidates, you should consider
the information in your resume carefully and make sure that it is personal to you. Here are three tips on making your resume
unique to you:
1. Customize your career objective. Think of your whole resume as a sales tool; your career objective is your opening
statement. You want your employer to know what you want, not just restate what other people want. State your commitment
to your career goal. If you are unsure of what you want, how is your employer to believe that you really want the job at their
organization and you are not just applying because you want to get out of your current work environment? Don't be afraid to
state what you want from a job and from an organization. While you want to state your commitment, you also want to show
that you are willing to take action to achieve your goal. Indicate what direction or action you are willing to take in order to
accomplish your career objective. Lastly, be specific about what you are looking for in a work situation. While you can say
that you are looking for a "challenging" environment, this doesn't mean anything to your employer, as people define
challenges in various ways. Avoid using generic and broad terms. Simply state what you want, and what you are willing to do
to get it.
2. Highlight the best elements of your experience. This is the most commonly missed aspect of writing a resume. The
entire professional experience section on your resume is unique to you. Take advantage of that. Use power words to list
your responsibilities, and make sure that you have a winning attitude in each of statement. Focus on those responsibilities
that best describe the skills you acquired while in each job that make you the most qualified candidate for the position you
are seeking. Quantify your responsibilities when possible to showcase to your potential employer that you are drive by
results and are capable of exceeding goals. Don't be shy about promoting your qualifications – you earned them with your
hard work and dedication.
3. Personalize your cover letter. The biggest mistake professionals make is not spending any time on their cover letter.
Your cover letter should receive the same attention as your resume as they go hand-in-hand. Address your cover letter to
the appropriate person at the company (contact info is typically listed in the job description). Make sure to mention what
position you are applying for, and demonstrate how the information in your resume aligns well with the job requirements.
Your cover letter also allows you to address any information in your resume that may raise questions – take the time to do
so, as you don't want your resume discarded because you chose not to create a personalized cover letter. Overall make
sure that your cover letter supports your resume and presents you as the most qualified candidate for the job.
How To Format Your Resume
Having a well-formatted resume is almost as important as having a well written resume. Most employers receive a stack of
resumes of qualified candidates and scan them quickly before they decide whether or not they want to read further. In
addition to key words, what stands out the most about your resume is its format. It is essentially the first thing people will
notice, whether on paper or in electronic form.
There are a number of rules you should keep in mind when formatting your resume. Avoid using templates that are
already available in Microsoft Word. These templates are outdated, and they will make your resume appear generic and
uninviting. Additionally, these templates, while well formatted in Microsoft Word, will not translate well when emailed or
uploaded to job search engine web sites.
Ideally, as mentioned above, your resume should fit on one page; if you have extensive experience, limit the length of
the resume to two pages, but only list experiences and skills relevant to your career objective. Even if you are applying for a
job in a creative field, do not insert images or pictures into your resume. If you are looking to show off your creativity, you
can do so when you get the Job Interview.
The page should have one inch margins, top and bottom, right and left. Use left justification only – as a rule, do not center
the content of your resume. The font and font size should be consistent. Your name, and any headlines in your resume
should be displayed in the same manner. Typically, the headlines will be in all caps, and in bold. Do not to underline any
of the information in your resume. In the world of Internet driven job applications, underlining in a document implies a web
link. Thus, using underlining for emphasis is not appropriate. The font size for headlines should not exceed 14 points; the
remainder of the text in the resume should not exceed 12 points. When trying to align your resume, be ware of spacing and
tabbing. Stay consistent in the way that you are spacing out the information on the page. Use tabs, rather than spaces. You
always have to anticipate that the person you are sending your resume to may have a different version of the software than
you and thus may not see the exactly the same resume you are sending – it is possible that the margins will reset,
paragraphs will shift, bullet points will change shape, etc. This is why you must keep the spacing consistent, as well as try to
keep the font and the bullet points as basic as possible. As a last formatting check point, ask your friends or your family
for help in reviewing your resume. Send the resume file via email to a few of your friends – ask them to review the resume
and make sure nothing seems out of place. Print out the resume on paper and review to make sure that margins are
accurately set, and that the content doesn't appear crowded on the page. Keep in mind – when it comes to your resume,
sleek simple appearance, and great writing, will get you the job you are looking for. Good Luck In Your Job Search.
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