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12
Step Resume Writing
by
ResumeEdge.com - The Net's Premier
Resume Writing and Editing Service |
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Before
you can begin to design your resume on paper, you need to have
the words. Use the following twelve-step writing process to
help you clarify your experience, accomplishments, skills,
education, and other background information, which will make
the job of condensing your life onto a sheet of paper a little
easier. If you need more help, consider using a ResumeEdge
professional resume writer.
Step
One: Focus
Decide
what type of job you will be applying for and then write it at
the top of a piece of paper. This can become your objective
statement, should you decide to use one, or be used in the
first line of the profile section of your resume to give your
reader a general idea of your area of expertise.
Objectives
are not required on a resume, and often the cover letter is
the best place to personalize your objective for each job
opening. There is nothing wrong with using an objective
statement on a resume, however, provided it doesn't limit your
job choices. As an alternative, you can alter individual
resumes with personalized objectives that reflect the actual
job title for which you are applying. Just make sure that the
rest of your information is still relevant to the new
objective, though.
Never
write an objective statement that is not precise. You should
name the position you want so specifically that, if a janitor
came by and knocked over all the stacks of sorted resumes on a
hiring manager's desk, he could put yours back in its right
stack without even thinking about it. That means saying,
"A marketing management position with an aggressive
international consumer goods manufacturer" instead of
"A position which utilizes my education and experience to
mutual benefit."
Step
Two: Education
Under
the objective on the first piece of paper, list any education
or training that might relate. If you are a recent college
graduate and have little relevant experience, then your
education section will be placed at the top of your resume. As
you gain more experience, your education almost always
gravitates to the bottom.
If
you participated in college activities or received any honors
or completed any notable projects that relate directly to your
target job, this is the place to list them.
Showing
high school education and activities on a resume is only
appropriate when you are under 20 and have no education or
training beyond high school. Once you have completed either
college courses or specialized technical training, drop your
high school information altogether.
Continuing education shows that you care about life-long
learning and self-development, so think about any relevant
training since your formal education was completed. Relevant
is the key word here. Always look at your resume from the
perspective of a potential employer. Don't waste space by
listing training that is not directly or indirectly related to
your target job.
Step
Three: Job Descriptions
Get your hands on a written description of the job you wish to
obtain and for any jobs you have held in the past. If you are
presently employed, your human resource department is the
first place to look. If not, then go to your local library and
ask for a copy of The Dictionary of Occupational Titles
or the Occupational Outlook Handbook available online
at http://stats.bls.gov/oco/oco1002.htm.
These industry standard reference guides offer volumes of
occupational titles and job descriptions for everything from
Abalone Divers to Zoo Veterinarians (and thousands in
between).
Another
resource available at your local library or college career
center is Job Scribe, a computer software program with
more than 3,000 job descriptions. Other places to look for job
descriptions include your local government job service
agencies, professional and technical organizations,
headhunters (i.e., recruiters), associates who work in the
same field, newspaper advertisements for similar jobs, or
online job postings (which tend to have longer job
descriptions than print ads).
The
ResumeEdge Resume Center will provide you with hundreds of job
descriptions taken from all of the resume samples. Simply do a
keyword search for relevant job titles on the sample
resume pages.
Now,
make a copy of the applicable descriptions and then highlight
the sentences that describe anything you have done in your
past or present jobs. These job descriptions are important
sources of keywords, so pay particular attention to nouns and
phrases that you can incorporate into your own resume.
Step
Four: Keywords
In
today's world of e-mailed and scannable
resumes, make sure you know the buzzwords of your industry
and incorporate them into the sentences you are about to
write. Keywords are the nouns or short phrases that describe
your experience and education that might be used to find your
resume in a keyword search of a resume database. They are the
essential knowledge, abilities, and skills required to do your
job. They are concrete descriptions like: C++, UNIX, fiber
optic cable, network, project management, etc. Even well-known
company names (AT&T, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, MCI) and
universities (Harvard, Yale, SMU, SUNY, USC, Stanford, Tulane,
Thunderbird) are sometimes used as keywords, especially when
it is necessary to narrow down an initial search that calls up
hundreds of resumes from a resume database.
Acronyms
and abbreviations here can either hurt you or help you,
depending on how you use them. One example given to me by an
engineer at Resumix was the abbreviation "IN." Think
about it. "IN" could stand for intelligent
networks, Indiana, or the word in. It is
better to spell out the abbreviation if there could be any
possible confusion. However, if a series of initials is so
well known that it would be recognized by nearly everyone in
your industry and would not likely be confused with a real
word, then the keyword search will probably use those initials
(i.e., IBM, CPA, UNIX). When in doubt, always spell it out at
least one time on your resume. A computer only needs to see
the combination one time for it to be considered a
"hit" in a keyword search.
Soft
skills are often not included in search criteria, especially
for very technical positions, although I have interviewed some
companies that use them extensively for the initial selection
of resumes for management positions. For instance,
"communicate effectively,"
"self-motivated," "team player," and so
on, are great for describing your abilities and are fine to
include in your profile, but concentrate more on your hard
skills, especially if you are in a high-tech field.
At
the end of the chapter, you will find more examples of
keywords for specific industries, although there is no such
thing as a comprehensive listing of keywords for any single
job. The computerized applicant tracking programs used by most
companies allow the recruiter or hiring manager to personalize
his or her list for each job opening, so it is an evolving
process. You will never know whether you have listed
absolutely every keyword possible, so focus instead on getting
on paper as many related skills as possible.
The
job descriptions you found in step three are some of the most
important sources for keywords. You can also be certain that
nearly every noun and some adjectives in a job posting or
advertisement will be keywords, so make sure you use those
words somewhere in your resume, using synonyms wherever you
can. Make a list of the keywords you have determined are
important for your particular job search and then list
synonyms for those words. As you incorporate these words into
the sentences of your resume, check them off.
One
caution. Always tell the truth. The minute a hiring manager
speaks with you on the telephone or begins an interview, any
exaggeration of the truth will become immediately apparent. It
is a bad idea to say, "I don't have experience with MS
Word computer software" just to get the words MS Word
or computer software on paper so your resume will pop
up in a keyword search. In a cover letter, it might be
appropriate to say that you "don't have five years of
experience in marketing but can add two years of university
training in the subject to three years of in-depth experience
as a marketing assistant with Hewlett-Packard." That is
legitimate reasoning, but anything more manipulative can be
hazardous to your job search.
Step
Five: Your Jobs
Starting
with your present position, list the title of every job you
have held on a separate sheet of paper, along with the name of
the company, the city and state, and the years you worked
there. You don't need to list addresses and zip codes,
although you will need to know that information when it comes
time to fill out an application.
You can
list years only (1996-present) or months and years (May 1996-
present), depending on your personality. People who are detail
oriented are usually more comfortable with a full accounting
of their time. Listing years alone covers some gaps if you
have worked in a position for less than a full year while the
time period spans more than one calendar year. For instance,
if you worked from September 1996 through May 1997, saying
1996-1997 certainly looks better.
From the
perspective of recruiters and hiring managers, most don't care
whether you list the months and years or list the years only.
However, regardless of which method you choose, be consistent
throughout your resume, especially within sections. For
instance, don't use months some of the time and years alone
within the same section. Consistency of style is important on
a resume, since it is that consistency that makes your resume
neat, clean, and easy to read.
Step
Six: Duties
Under
each job, make a list of your duties, incorporating phrases
from the job descriptions wherever they apply. You don't have
to worry about making great sentences yet or narrowing down
your list.
Step
Seven: Accomplishments
When you
are finished, go back to each job and think about what you
might have done above and beyond the call of duty. What did
you contribute to each of your jobs?
- Did
you exceed sales quotas by 150 percent each month?
- Did
you save the company $100,000 by developing a new
procedure?
- Did
you generate new product publicity in trade press?
- Did
you control expenses or make work easier?
- Did
you expand business or attract/retain customers?
- Did
you improve the company's image or build new
relationships?
- Did
you improve the quality of a product?
- Did
you solve a problem?
- Did
you do something that made the company more competitive?
Write
down any accomplishments that show potential employers what
you have done in the past, which translates into what you
might be able to do for them. Quantify whenever possible.
Numbers are always impressive. Remember, you are trying to
motivate the potential employer to buy . . . you! Convince
your reader that you will be able to generate a significant
return on their investment in you.
Step
Eight: Delete
Now that
you have the words on paper, go back to each list and think
about which items are relevant to your target job. Cross out
those things that don't relate, including entire jobs (like
flipping hamburgers back in high school if you are now an
electrical engineer with ten years of experience). Remember,
your resume is just an enticer, a way to get your foot in the
door. It isn't intended to be all-inclusive. You can choose to
go back only as far as your jobs relate to your present
objective. Be careful not to delete sentences that contain the
keywords you identified in step four.
Step
Nine: Sentences
Make
sentences of the duties you have listed under each job,
combining related items to avoid short, choppy phrases. Never
use personal pronouns in your resume (I, my, me). Instead of
saying, "I planned, organized, and directed the timely
and accurate production of code products with estimated annual
revenues of $1 million," say, "Planned, organized,
and directed. . . ." Writing in the third person makes
your sentences more powerful and attention grabbing.
Make
your sentences positive, brief, and accurate. Since your
ultimate goal is to get a human being to read your resume,
remember to structure the sentences so they are interesting to
read. Use verbs at the beginning of each sentence (designed,
supervised, managed, developed, formulated, and so on) to make
them more powerful (see the power
verb list in the Resume Center).
Make
certain each word means something and contributes to the
quality of the sentence. If you find it difficult to write
clear, concise sentences, send your
resume to ResumeEdge.com to put a team of
Harvard-educated editors and professional resume writers to
work for you.
Step
Ten: Rearrange
You are
almost done! Now, go back to the sentences you have written
and think about their order of presentation. Put a number 1 by
the most important description of what you did for each job.
Then place a number 2 by the next most important duty or
accomplishment, and so on until you have numbered each
sentence. Again, think logically and from the perspective of a
potential employer. Keep related items together so the reader
doesn't jump from one concept to another. Make the thoughts
flow smoothly.
Step
Eleven: Related Qualifications
At the
bottom of your resume, think about anything else that might
qualify you for your job objective. This includes licenses,
certifications, affiliations, and sometimes even interests if
they truly relate. For instance, if you want a job in sports
marketing, stating on your resume that you play tennis or are
a triathlete would be an asset.
Step
Twelve: Profile
Last but
not least, write four or five sentences that give an overview
of your qualifications. This profile, or qualifications
summary, should be placed at the beginning of your resume. You
can include some of your personal traits or special skills
that might have been difficult to get across in your job
descriptions. Here is a sample profile section for a computer
systems technician:
- Experienced
systems/network technician with significant communications
and technical control experience.
- Focused
and hard working; willing to go the extra mile for the
customer.
- Skilled
in troubleshooting complex problems by thinking outside
the box.
- Possesses
a high degree of professionalism and dedication to
exceptional quality.
- Effective
team player with outstanding communication and
interpersonal skills.
- Current
Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmentalized Information
security clearance.
It is
also acceptable to use a keyword summary like the one below to
give a "quick and dirty" look at your
qualifications:
- Hardware:
IBM 360/370, S/390, 303X, 308X, ES-9000, Amdahl V6-II,
V7, V8, 3705/3725, Honeywell 6000, PDP II, NOVA, Eclipse,
Interdata 8/32, Wang OIS 115, 140, VS-80, VS-100, HP 3000,
9000, Vectra, IBM PC-AT, XT, and numerous other computers
and mainframes.
- Languages:
FORTRAN, PL/1, COBOL, BASIC, BAL (ALC), JCL, APL, DL/1,
SQL, DS-2, HP-UX, and various PC-oriented software and
support packages.
- Systems:
DOS, OS, CICS, VSI/II, MVS, SVS, VM/CMS, IMS, MVT-II, MFT,
POWER, TOTAL, DATANET-30, JES-2, JES-3, BTAM, QTAM, TCAM,
VTAM, TSO, ACF, NCP, SNA, SAA, ESCON, SDLC, X-25, TCP/IP,
UNIX, and TELNET.
This
type of "laundry list" isn't very interesting for a
human being to read, but a few recruiters in high-tech
industries like this list of terms because it gives them a
quick overview of an applicant's skills. You can use whichever
style you prefer.
Busy
recruiters spend as little as ten seconds deciding whether to
read a resume from top to bottom. You will be lucky if the
first third of your resume gets read, so make sure the
information at the top entices the reader to read it all.
This
profile section must be relevant to the type of job for which
you are applying. It might be true that you are
"compassionate," but will it help you get a job as a
high-pressure salesperson? Write this profile from the
perspective of a potential employer. What will convince this
person to call you instead of someone else?
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