The ABC's of Resume Writing | "W" is for WRITE

W: The Best way to WRITE Your References.

At some point in the interviewing process, you may be asked for a copy of your references. You probably know that you never include references on your resume. You also should know that you want to include references that can speak to your professional ability and thus personal references should not be included. You should prepare your references on a separate sheet and have it handy, should you be asked for it during the interview process. But what format should you use? Should you simply list the name and phone number of each reference? Not exactly. Here is the best way to write your references.

The ABC's of Resume Writing | "V" is for Volunteer.

V: Highlight VOLUNTEER Activities to Showcase Your Leadership Skills.

We all know that employers focus on career experience and skills when trying to decide if a candidate should be considered for an interview and ultimately employment. However, there is another area of your professional career that you should give consideration to when writing your resume: volunteer activities. Volunteer activities can be an important aspect of your professional career and there are three reasons why you should definitely list volunteer activities on your resume.

The ABC's of Resume Writing | "U" is for UNDERSTAND

U: The One Thing You Must UNDERSTAND About Resume Writing.

As I get closer to completing this series, it is getting harder and harder to come up with new and interesting subjects that are worth writing more than 300 words about. I have to admit, I struggled with today’s post. There are just not enough “good” words starting with the letter “u” that I could tie to resume writing. So I chose to go with the word understand.

In today’s career search, so much emphasis is placed on resume writing, because let’s face it, more times than not, you are going to need a resume at some point in the career search process. Even if you do not need a resume to get an interview, which happens to be the real purpose of a resume, you will need a resume during the interview so that you and the interviewer can have an intelligent discussion as it relates to your skills and accomplishments.

The ABC's of Resume Writing | "T" is for TIME

T: Use the Element of TIME to Make Your Accomplishments Stand Out.

If you have not figured it out by now, a lot of my writing in this blog deals with accomplishments.  I believe that accomplishments can make or break a resume. Accomplishments showcase your value and help the employer understand what you have done well for other employers. When I give resume writing seminars, I always encourage the audience to pay special attention to their accomplishment statements. I mention that their accomplishments should be relevant to the position they are applying for and that they should consider placing the results of the accomplishment up front, or at the beginning of the sentence, to make the accomplishment really stand out. There is one additional tip that I offer as well and this has to do with the element of time.