 The
Building Blocks of a Better Résumé
Your résumé is one of the
most important parts of your
personalized job search campaign.
Your résumé should say who you are,
what you do and what you are good
at! |
| You have
approximately 30 seconds to
capture the interest of the
résumé reader. If you don’t
succeed, your beloved résumé
will take a nose dive right
into the trash can! |
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| Your résumé
must be well organized, easy
to read, straightforward and
concise. Above all, it must
accurately portray your
skills and accomplishments
and how that experience
relates to your future
success with a prospective
employer. There are far too
many poorly written résumés
that are full of pompous and
verbose language that only
succeeds in putting the
résumé reader to sleep! |
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There has been much
debate over the résumé length. I
recommend a one page résumé if you
have 10 years or less experience. If
you have 10+ years of working
experience, your résumé should be 2
– 4 pages long, depending on your
particular achievements and
background. |
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What is a
"great" résumé? |
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A great résumé is
one that sticks to the facts and
carries itself by using accurate
content, complete with specific
dates, titles and specific
accomplishments. A reverse
chronological résumé is the easiest
to understand, with no room for
doubt, as to where and when you held
various positions throughout your
career. Another important factor is
the appearance and lay out of your
résumé. It should be visually
pleasing and relatively easy to
read. This is accomplished through
the use of wide margins, bolded
headings and bullets which help
guide the reader through the résumé
in a logical and relatively painless
manner.
See an example résumé here... |
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Simple Résumé Format – Simple is
Best - This is not Rocket Science! |
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Objective:
Objectives are optional. Be aware
that an objective can knock you out
of consideration if the job you are
applying for doesn’t fit your
objective. If you know the exact
position you are applying for then
you can tailor the objective to
directly fit the position. If you
are targeting several different
positions, you can have several
versions of your résumé, with
objectives that match the position
you are targeting. |
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Summary:
This can also be called Profile,
Career Summary, Summary of
qualifications, etc. This is the
most important part of your résumé –
This is your opening statement where
you tell who you are, what you do
and what you are good at! This
should be a short paragraph that
highlights your experience and
emphasizes your strengths and
character traits. |
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Accomplishments: Choose
3-5 major accomplishments and
highlight them as bulleted items.
Show action and results and how you
made a positive impact on your
employer. Be sure to give numbers or
percentages to show how you helped
grow sales or revenues. |
Experience
or Employment History:
Reverse chronological order is best.
Give specific dates( month and year)
and location. Be sure you list all
of the various positions you have
held within one company complete
with dates and locations. Your work
experience should emphasize your
accomplishments rather than simply
stating your responsibilities. You
can highlight your strengths by
selecting and expanding upon
specific achievements that reflect
your creativity, tenaciousness,
problem solving and management
skills. Always use action oriented
language to drive home your point.
Action verbs add excitement and
energy to your résumé. Here are a
few examples….. Designed, Directed,
Negotiated, Organized, Visualized,
Collaborated, Advised, Mentored,
Supervised, Presented, Analyzed,
Created, etc. |
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Specialized
Skills: List your
specialized skills, e.g., computer
hardware/software, operating
systems, programming languages,
methodologies, equipment used,
regions worked, etc. This could also
be categorized as technical skills
or technical competencies. Industry
certifications can be included here
or in a separate category depending
on how many you have and the
relevancy to your work. |
Education:
Education should be listed on the
last page unless the position you
are applying for requires certain
academic credentials or if you have
recently graduated.
List your degrees starting with the
most recent one first. You may also
list your non credit coursework or
training programs. |
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Professional Affiliations:
List your industry affiliations and
positions you have held, as well as
organizations you are involved with
outside of your profession. Also
include any honors or awards you
have received. Awards can also be
included under accomplishments. |
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Patents,
Presentations, Publications:
Patents, industry presentations
and publications can be listed as a
separate page or an addendum to your
résumé. |
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Hobbies and
Interests: Employers like
to know that you have outside
interests. This means you are a well
rounded person who enjoys activities
outside of work. Feel free to list
your hobbies, unless you happen to
have one that is dangerous or non
conventional. |
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References:
Please state that References Are
Available Upon Request at the end of
your résumé. Do not list references
on your résumé! It is not
appropriate to
give out names and contact
information of your references
before you have interviewed.
References are most typically
checked later in the process. |
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The Do’s and Don’ts of Résumé
Writing |
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Don’t |
Don’t write in the First
Person. Avoid using the
pronoun, “I” when listing
your accomplishments. The
résumé reader knows whose
résumé they are reading. |
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Don’t |
Don’t write in complete
sentences. You are not
writing a novel. |
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Don’t |
Don’t use an objective
unless you are applying for
a specific position. |
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Don’t |
Don’t list your marital
status, number of dependents
or religious affiliation. |
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Don’t |
Don’t lie about anything on
a résumé. Never claim you
have a degree if you don’t
have one. Many companies
perform criminal background
checks, drug tests and
verify university degrees. |
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Do
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Do accentuate the positive,
show how you helped your
employer make money, save
money and improve the work
flow. |
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Do
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Do quantify results with
numbers and percentages. |
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Do
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Do use action verbs to
create excitement in your
résumé. Try to relay who you
are and where you are coming
from. |
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Do
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Do use descriptive language
to best characterize your
own personal style. |
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Do
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Do target your résumé to a
specific opportunity. You
may need several different
versions of your résumé. |
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Do
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Suggested Reading:
The Wall Street Journal’s
National Business Weekly:
Résumés, 2nd Addition. |
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