The ABC's of Resume Writing | "Q" is for QUESTION

Q: The one QUESTION your resume must answer.

Your resume should communicate to potential employers three main things: your skills, your education, and your experience as it relates to the position that you are applying for. Your goal? To get interviews that lead to job offers. Sounds simple, but just how do you go about writing your resume to communicate this information effectively? Sure, there are different resume formats to choose from, with chronological, functional, and hybrid being the most popular and there are general rules of thumb, such as omitting personal information, not using personal pronouns, and targeting the resume to the position. However, once you understand all of this what is next? To generate interviews, your resume must answer one central question.

The ABC's of Resume Writing | "K" is for KEYS

K: KEYS to formatting your resume.

It’s no secret that the content of your resume is very important. After all, including good content, i.e., information that markets you as a viable candidate, can definitely help you win more interviews.   Conversely, including bad content, i.e., personal information, dated technical skills, or reasons for leaving past employers (see earlier post for the letter “I”) can hinder your job search and keep your resume from making it to the top of the stack. Just as including the right content is important to writing an effective resume, the formatting of this content is equally important. A visually appealing resume is easier to read and a well formatted resume helps make information on your resume easier to locate. Keep these five keys in mind when arranging the information on your resume. 

The ABC's of Resume Writing | "H" is for HIGHLIGHT

H: When writing your resume, HIGHLIGHT these three areas to land more interviews.

In resume writing, accomplishments are king. Accomplishments are what set you apart from the competition. They tell what you did, why you did it, and what results were obtained. By far, well-written accomplishments play a key role to getting the interviews you want. However, accomplishments alone will not do the job. When writing your resume, there are three sections that you should focus on to ensure that your resume rises to the top of the stack.

The ABC's of Resume Writing | "G" is for GARBAGE

G: How to keep your resume out of the GARBAGE.

Are you frustrated because you have been sending out tons of resumes without any response? Do you realize that there are a few things that you can do when applying to jobs to essentially guarantee a response? Follow these five steps to keep your resume out of the garbage:

The ABC's of Resume Writing | "F" is for FUNCTIONAL

F: The Functional resume…the kiss of death in today’s job market.

In resume writing, there are three standard formats that you can use to highlight your professional experience, the chronological resume, the functional resume, and the combination resume, which, as the name implies, is a combination between the functional and chronological resume. Each resume format has its merits as well as its limitations and in this job market, where the “buyer” or employer clearly has the upper hand due to the surplus of job applicants, the functional resume is a definite loser in most cases. If you are currently using this format or plan to create a resume using this format, think again, because it could cost you interviews.

The ABC's of Resume Writing | "B" is for BUYING

B: Focus on BUYING motivators when detailing accomplishments.

In this week’s earlier post, I talked about the fact that resume writing is an art, not a science. There is not only one way to write a resume. There are strategies for each individual situation and there are three standard resume formats. In this post, I talk about employer buying motivators.

When writing your resume, keep in mind that your goal is to create desire. You must create desire for the employer to want to select you for an interview and ultimately for employment. This desire must be greater than the desire created by your competition. You may be asking “But what can I do to create desire and influence an employer to select me for an interview?”

The ABC's of Resume Writing | "A" is for ART

A: Resume writing is an Art, not a science.

Surprise! There is not just one way to write a resume. Resume writing has long been considered an art not a science. If resume writing was in fact a science, then there would not be thousands of books on the subject of resume writing and the resume writing profession would not be as prolific. If resume writing was a science, then you could just follow the prescribed steps and be guaranteed positive results. Resume writing is an art and there are numerous ways to write a resume that highlights your unique career history and defines your personal and professional brand. In fact, if you chose to have your resume professionally written by three different professional resume writers, you would certainly get three different resumes. They would be different in content and maybe even in the choice of format.