Writing an Effective Resume
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Your Resume can be the best chance of getting an interview in today's competitive job market. Does your resume produce results? Mistakes in your resume could cost you the opportunity you can't afford to miss.
This article will help write a more effective resume. A resume that gets you an interview for an appropriate job.
Since 1987 I've worked as a professional recruiter and have benefited from the resume feedback of Hiring Managers and other recruiters. The conclusion is that Hiring Managers and Recruiters devote just a few seconds to scan a resume on initial read and then only if appropriate will read for greater understanding. You have to create a resume that gets initial attention and then unfolds to hold that attention.
It is one thing to produce a good resume and not be considered because you don’t have the appropriate experience and quite another to have the right experience and be passed over because you couldn’t communicate your experience properly.
TAILOR YOUR RESUME FOR SPECIFIC POSITIONS: Create a resume that is appropriate for the position you are seeking. If you find a position that you do want to pursue create a resume specific for that position.
First recognize that an effective resume will only help you get an interview for an opportunity that is appropriate for your experience and accomplishments. It will not help you get an interview for a non-appropriate position. If you create a resume for an Analyst’s position don’t use it to try to get an interview for a Project Manager or Developer’s position.
Remember too that your skills, experiences, and career accomplishments are most important. Even if your resume is not an exact fit for a specific position, the essence of what positions you’ve had should be in alignment with the essence of the position you are seeking. Show this clearly in your resume and you will get the interview AND if you win the job will most likely be successful in the new position.
Submitting your resume for every available position is not a good idea and is a waste of time. Stay focused in seeking only appropriate positions and go after them with your full force.
“But I need a job and can't seem to find any that are appropriate in my local area. I submit my resume to every job that comes open regardless if they are a clear fit for me. I need to work.”
Yes, people do need to earn a living but remember to also work at building your career. Good career decisions are not always easy to make because of the trade-offs in professional and personal life. Do you want to build your career or just have a job? A career oriented person will only pursue appropriate positions but may have to take temporary work to get by in tougher times.
GET STARTED
STEP 1: DEFINE YOUR IDEAL JOB AND DOCUMENT WHAT YOU ARE SEEKING AND HAVE ACCOMPLISHED.
This step is the foundation of writing an effective resume and will also help you make good career decisions. The Effective Resume Worksheet is a telling exercise and will focus your thinking about your career. It requires a couple of steps.
- Find a description of your ideal job
- Understand the essence of that ideal job
- Understand the essence of your past work
The information created from the worksheet will help you create an effective resume for any appropriate position you choose to pursue.
STEP 2: KNOW YOUR CAREER OBJECTIVES AND STATE THEM CLEARLY
Clearly stating your objectives early in your resume will help you get interviewed for appropriate positions. Failure to state objectives in the hope that a hiring manager or recruiter will figure out your resume and decide to interview you anyway may work for job matches that are marginal but why seek marginal jobs? If you believe the position is a fit for you then ask for consideration by having your OBJECTIVE align with the position. Doing so will almost always lead to a next step interview if your resume supports the objectives.
STEP 3: CREATE A CHRONOLOGICAL RESUME
From the Effective Resume Worksheet that you've completed start to make your chronological resume entries. Well written chronological resumes are best because they are so honest and show the development of a person throughout their career. If your career objectives have been stated clearly you should work to write your chronological resume to support your objectives. A chronological resume that has been well written for a specific position will almost always lead to an interview.
Be prepared to discuss any breaks in employment but it is not necessary to detail them in your resume. It is reasonable to have some downtime between contract assignments or permanent employment opportunities.
STEP 4: PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
Keep your résumé writing format clean and with simple fonts. If the resume is well written it will stand out. Stay away from special boxes, columns, images etc. that might draw attention away from your concise content. Most resumes today are scanned and saved to be used for future contacts. Extraordinary formatting causes problems with scanning and reading résumés so keep your simple. Microsoft Office offers some very simple and free resume formats that can be downloaded from their website or the Word program. I like the Chronological Resume Traditional Design which is sampled at the end of this article. Save and send it as a .doc or .rtf file for greatest compatibility and readability.
I recommend keeping your resume length to at most three pages. If you can't present yourself well within three pages you need to do more work on your resume. The Times New Roman or Ariel fonts are good choices and fairly common. You can BOLD or a use italics when necessary.
STEP 5: REVIEW AND WHY YOU MIGHT NEED HELP
Before you send off a resume always make sure that you spell check it or if possible have someone else read it. Your resume is the first impression that a hiring manager has of you. You only have one chance to make a good first impression.
The hardest thing about writing your own resume is staying objective, being just detailed enough, and writing the resume in a market oriented style. Candidates have the greatest difficulty in recognizing that everything they have done may not be valuable to others. Completing the Effective Resume Worksheet will help you identify market valued skills, experiences, and accomplishments and then present them in a way to support your objectives. Take advantage of free advice offered by your peers, recruiters, and friends.
SAMPLE RESUME FORMAT WITHOUT BOXES / COLUMNS ETC.
Address, City, State, Zip · phone · email
YOUR NAME
Objective
State your specific career objective that relates well position you are seeking. In two or three sentences clearly state your objective and a summary of how your past experience and accomplishments relate to this objective.
Experience
List your experience in a chronological fashion. If you have been with one organization for many years make sure that this stability is clearly indicated especially if you have had many different positions within that organization. If you are a contractor make sure you indicate the work will to be “contract work” otherwise you may come across as someone who cannot all the position. For each position indicate the accomplishments that support your objectives. If you have a manager’s title you should indicate staff size and your typical management responsibilities. Clearly stating accomplishments that support your objects will lead to an interview for jobs that have requirements that match your objectives.
Dates of Employment Company City, State
Job Title - Job responsibility/ accomplishment work to make these support your objectives
Job Title - Job responsibility/ accomplishment
Job Title - Job responsibility/ accomplishment
Dates of Employment Company City, State
Job Title - Job responsibility/ accomplishment
Job Title - Job responsibility/ accomplishment
Job Title - Job responsibility/ accomplishment
Dates of Employment Company City, State
Job Title - Job responsibility/ accomplishment
Job Title - Job responsibility/ accomplishment
Job Title - Job responsibility/ accomplishment
Education and Skills
Dates of attendance School Name City, State
Dates of attendance School Name City, State
Skills -
Be sure to add a KEY WORD: section at the bottom of your resume to make your resume more easily found by search engines.
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