FOUR SIMPLE STEPS TO BETTER RESULTS WITH YOUR RESUME

Is every job description you read the same? No.

Is every job you submit your resume to the same? Of course they aren’t.

If all these job descriptions are different, why do you submit the same resume?

Every day, people send the same generic resume out as though each position was identical and each employer was attempting to hire identical skills and attributes. Too often, the results they receive are like the broken watch that is right twice a day—hit or miss success.

They list their name, address, phone numbers and email address, list an objective, education, and chronology of experience with dates of employment. The resume includes some successes or accomplishments. This is their resume.

In the days prior to computers when changing a resume required you to re-type different versions, this made sense. Today, when computers allow you to customize, spell and grammar check documents so easily, you are missing out on opportunities and costing yourself money by being lazy and not tailoring your resume for each opportunity you are interested in.

Here are several steps that you can do to improve your resume and get better results.

1. Each employer will be interested in different attributes of your experience. They often indicate it by the items they describe in their job ad. Emphasize the experiences that you have that relate to the skills being sought and the functions you will perform in the job they will ask you to perform. If you are applying for a staff position, emphasize your staff experience and minimize your management experience. If you are being hired to be a leader, write about your recent leadership.
2. Employers are more interested in recent work, rather than work you did many years ago. Use more space in your resume to highlight recent experience, rather than things you did before George W. Bush became President.
3. Like setting a goal where you make them specific, measurable, achievable within a specific period of time, describe your successes or achievements concretely. Reducing costs is a nice start but it is more powerful to describe something as reducing operational costs globally by 2%. Increased departmental sales by 27% resulting in . . . You get the idea. Use action verbs wherever possible (For more on this, read my article, Preparing an Effective Resume” on www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.com).
4. Ask someone you trust to critique what you’ve written. Too often, people believe that they can do everything by themselves without asking for help. Ask a friend in your industry to critique what you’ve written to insure you’re on target and aren’t missing the mark.

When you go to a restaurant and order a meal, you have the expectation that it will be prepared in a way that will please you and be presented on the plate beautifully. Writing a great resume requires that you be the chef and prepare a meal that is both visually appealing and tastes great too!

Resume Outline - Add Structure and Flow to Your Resume

Building your resume, based on a resume outline will give it structure and flow... it provides an outline of all the things you should include in your resume.

A resume is one of the most important documents you will ever create

First you have to decide on a particular format for your resume. The two main formats in use today are chronological and functional format. Which one is best to use will depend greatly on your situation.

To build your resume you can use free resume forms located on the web. This can provide you with directions if you are having trouble building your resume. A sample resume outline would include the following sections:

The Heading

Your resume should start with the heading. You can list your basic details so the employer can contact you. You can include your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.

NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE NUMBER
EMAIL ADDRESS

Job Objective

This is an optional section of your resume outline. Here you can tell readers what the objective of your resume is and what you are looking for.

Example:

Entry-level accounting position with medium to large public accounting firm.

The "Body" is the largest section of your resume outline
This is where you can enter details about your education, work experience and additional information. The body contains:

Education

Here you can list your educational background.
Educational Background Format: College, Degree, Major, Honors, Relevant Courses
Sample Education Section: Drexel University
BA Educational Leadership, May 2000

If you have a college education, do not list your high school information. You can also list any honors for academic excellence in this section of your resume outline.

If you are a graduating senior or looking for an internship, you can add a relevant courses section to your resume outline.

Employment History

This is an important part of the resume. Here you can list your previous employment history. If you are using a chronological resume format, you should list the most recent job positions first on your resume outline.

Example:

Drug Emporium, Wayne, PA
Cashier, June to September, 2001
Supervised customer check out
Handled the cash register
Managed and stocked merchandise

You can also list relevant volunteer activities or work experience programs if you do not have much job experience.

Achievements

If you have any special achievements you would like to announce, you can use this section. Maybe you made a suggestion that saved your previous boss a ton of money. You can list it in this section of your resume outline.

Special Skills

The remaining sections of the resume can include additional skills such as fluency in a foreign language.

References

You should leave this section out altogether. References are not required at this stage and stating that 'References are available upon request' is assumed anyway... so you just end up wasting valuable space!

Additional Optional Sections

You can add additional sections to your resume outline such as volunteer work, community involvement or honors.

You also have to decide on the layout of your resume. Choose a common font and medium range font-size, such as 12. Decide how you want to highlight the headings of the different sections. You can use bold, italics or underline to highlight section headings. Some people use bold and a larger font size to highlight their name on the resume.

The last part of your resume will probably receive little focus, so if you have a marketable skill or outstanding honor you should try to incorporate them in earlier sections of your resume.

You can find a lot of resources on the web that can provide you with free outlines and sample resume layouts. Usually an outline will differ if the resume is for a recent college graduate or a long time professional. Choose a resume outline that is specific to your career field and you can build your resume around that outline.


About the author:
Roger Clark (BSc) has over 25 years experience in career development & recruitment at a senior level through top management positions he has held with major international companies.

You can visit his "Top Career Resumes" website for a wealth of top quality information relating to the employment market.

http://www.top-career-resumes.com

http://www.top-career-resumes.com/resume-outline

Resume Writing and Preparation is Free Online

Creating a strong resume is a very important part of applying for a job, either online or off line. There are many resume writing services that will help you build an impressive resume for job interviews.

You can also learn how to write a resume for free by surfing the Internet for resume writing help. Many sites will show you tips and advice on choosing a resume style that works best for you.

You can also find samples of resumes, resume templates, resume software, and examples of resume cover sheets or letters.

Whether you’re looking to create a business resume, marketing resume, military resume, electronic resume, accounting resume, nursing resume, acting resume, sales resume, teacher resume, executive resume, student resume or a customer service resume, you can find great advice online with a little research.

When preparing your resume, keep in mind that employers use resumes for several purposes:

** Screen Applicants – Most employers will only look at a resume for about 30 seconds to determine whether or not an applicant is a good fit for their organization.

** Develop Interview Questions – Statements on your resume can be used to formulate questions they may ask during an interview.

** Communication Skills – Employers want to see how well you express yourself.

** Qualifications – Employers will reference your resume when making hiring decisions based on how closely your qualifications match their needs.

Writing a resume isn’t easy, but by studying various tips and advice, you can learn to create a type of resume that will get you one step closer to your ultimate goal of finding a great job.