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How To Write A Resume That Will Impress That Employer
By: Laura Adams
Your resume is the first impression that an employer has of you.
At the most basic level, a resume is simply a description of the
skills, experience, education, and professional achievements
that make you qualified for a position. A good resume will
accurately inform an employer about your background. A great
resume, however, can do much more. A great resume has the
ability to persuade an employer that you have the unique talent
and experience desired and that you deserve a personal interview
for the position.
So how do you write a great resume? There is no one right way to
write a resume, but common practice has developed a standard or
resumes that candidates would do well to observe. Keep in mind
that a resume is a marketing tool - you are marketing yourself
to prospective employers. Therefore, although you do not want to
significantly deviate from accepted standards, the content and
format of your resume should express your individuality.
The Format: The format you select for your resume should attract
attention and create interest, but not detract from your overall
presentation. Use of capitalization, bold lettering,
underlining, indentations, different fonts, and white space can
add variety to your resume and emphasize important information.
The format should be consistent throughout the individual
sections of the resume, be visually appealing, and be easy for
the reader to follow. A resume has several parts, which are
typically included in this order:
1 Name and Contact Information
2 Objective Statement
3 Education
4 Professional Experience
5 Skills
Additional parts may include a section for Summary of Skills,
Awards and Honors, or References.
Name and Contact Information
You should include your name, full address, telephone number
with area code, and email address (if applicable) at the very
top of your resume. If you are currently residing at a temporary
address, such as a student's college address, you may include it
in addition to your permanent address depending on the
circumstances.
Objective Statement
If you choose to include a professional objective statement, it
should be a concise and meaningful statement that describes your
career goals in detail. An objective can include your goals in
regards to your desired position title, industry, level of
responsibility, and desired utilized skills. The elements
included in your objective should be reinforced and supported
throughout your resume and your cover letter.
Education, Certifications, and Career Training
Your highest level of education achieved, whether you completed
the program or not, should be the first listed in this section.
All other schools you attended should follow.
For each individual school, list the following:
Name of the school
Dates you attended or graduated
Degrees earned (or degree program you were in, if not completed)
Major and minor subject areas
You may also list any honors, awards, Dean's list commendations,
and GPAs if they will enhance this section of your resume.
Next you should list any career specific certifications or
completed training courses that that support your objective
statement and enhance your resume. Be careful not to overdo this
section, though, since too much information in this section will
detract from the most important section of he resume, the
Professional Experience section.
You should only include high school information if you do not
have a college degree or if you achieved high commendation in
some area that reinforces your career objectives.
*** NOTE *** If you have a college degree, you should position
the Education section near the top of your resume before your
Professional Experience. If you do not have a degree, the
Education section should follow your Professional Experience.
Professional Experience
This is the most critical section of the resume. The
professional experience section should be tailored as much as
possible to the target position and should focus on those key
areas that relate to your desired career goals. If the bulk of
your experience can be directly correlated to your desired
position, then you can stick to a single Professional Experience
section. If your career path is divided, though, it may be
necessary to split your experience between a section detailing
your experience in the desired area (for example, "Professional
Teaching Experience" or "Professional Writing Experience") and a
section for "Other Experience".
To write an effective professional experience section, consider
the following tips:
Include your job title, the name of the employer, the location
of the position (city, state), and the dates you were employed.
If you want the emphasis to be on your title, list this first.
If where is worked is more important than what you did, you
should list the name of the employer first.
You can de-emphasize the dates of employment by omitting the
months if you feel that including them will detract from your
presentation.
This section is not strictly limited to full-time professional
positions only. Take advantage of this flexibility and include
any full-time or part-time positions, related volunteer work,
relevant campus, and internships that best reflect your skills.
For each position, use detailed actions words and adjectives to
describe your responsibilities, new abilities you developed, and
any skills you applied.
Include any specific accomplishments you achieved for each
position, as well as any accolades you received for your work.
For example, if you were Salesperson of the Year or achieved the
highest rating on a customer satisfaction survey, be sure to
include it. Remember, you are trying to market yourself!
Be details in your descriptions without exaggerating. DO NOT LIE
ON YOUR RESUME!
Skills
The Skills section of your resume should highlight any relevant
skills that might not otherwise be disclosed on your resume.
This section will be highly individualized to both the person
and the position they are seeking.
You should list those skills most relevant to the position you
are seeking at the top of this section.
Examples of some skills you may want to include are:
Computer skills: specific computer systems, applications, and
programs
Languages: your level of proficiency in reading, writing and
speaking various languages
Various functional skills: any functional skills not mentioned
elsewhere such as editing skills, interpersonal relationship
skills, negotiating skills, etc.
Industry experience: any industries in which you have worked
Other Optional Sections:
Summary of Skills: A quick 3-4 line summary of your relevant
qualifications for the position may be included at the top for
the resume under your contact information and objective
statement (if included). The key is to be as specific as
possible and tailor the summary to the position.
Honors and Awards: List any career, academic, leadership or
athletic honors you have received. Academic awards may
alternatively be listed under the Education section of the
resume.
References: You may include a statement declaring "References
Available upon Request" if you need to fill space on your
resume. Otherwise you should list references in a separate
document. References should typically only be provided when
requested or once it is clear that the competition for a
position is narrowing. Do not include specific reference names
or contact information on your resume.
Other Categories: If there is additional information that you
feel is important to include butt does not fit into any of these
categories, you can create custom categories. Examples of custom
categories may include Background, Professional Activities,
Recitals/Art Shows, Professional Memberships, Presentations,
Publications, and Special Skills.
About the author:
Laura Adams is a qualified careers advisor with 11 years
experience. Truck
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