Resume Writing

As some of you may know, I am a professional in the field of recruiting. Two of my areas of expertise where I have had a demand from friends and business associates are in the area of resume writing and interviewing. I would like to spend some time on my blog helping others with this information. Please pass this information along to anyone you may know that is seeking to either become employed or further their career. I hope this helps you! I copied it from my website http://www.placementteam.com/. Next post will be about interviewing.

RESUME WRITING



UNLOCKING THE RIGHT DOOR


Your resume is the key to opening the doors to career opportunities. Many people get frustrated when they are sending out resumes because they do not get interviews for the positions they desire. Most likely, if the door is not opening, your key does not fit. Your resume should be a brief summary of your abilities, education, experience and skills which are specifically selected to highlight your qualifications for the position you desire.

There are many formats you can choose to highlight your qualifications. The main sections to a resume are typically the name, address, phone number, objective, summary or profile, experience or work history, skills and attributes, education, certifications and training, additional information and references.

Obviously it is extremely important that a prospective employer know who you are and how to reach you. Make sure you have a current name, address and phone number on your resume. If at all possible, include a work number since most employers will be calling during regular business hours. If you are applying for work in another city, try to find a local address and phone number where you can retrieve messages. Local candidates are typically selected first for interviews. Make sure you respond quickly to any calls regarding your resume.

An objective needs to be present on a resume. It may not be necessary to have an objective section, but the objective should at least be implied by the information included in the resume. If you are starting a new career or changing directions, an objective statement would be a good idea to communicate your desired goal.

The summary or profile should outline what you have to offer a prospective employer. This area is extremely helpful for professionals with extensive experience in well-defined areas. It needs to be direct and brief. A prospective employer should be able to glance at your summary and determine if you are qualified for their positions. Remember to use the buzz words that employers are seeking. Lists of skills and attributes are included below.

The experience or work history section should include all significant work experience in reverse chronological order. As a general rule, you should include only the last ten years of experience in this section. What is important to the employer is your skills and what you can do on the job. Do not go into details that do not apply to your objective. You should include the title of your position, name of organization, location of work and dates. You should describe your applicable work responsibilities with an emphasis on achievements using action words to communicate your skills. Stick to the basics and keep it brief. You are trying to get in the door where you can go into more details in person.

You may want a section that goes into your skills and attributes. This is a great section if you are light on experience. You may also want this section in order to highlight computer knowledge or accentuate skills and abilities that were not included in your work experience. These may be skills obtained outside the work place that are applicable to the position desired.

Education, certifications and training is an important section. Most positions include education as a requirement. The more experience you have the further down the resume the education should go. If you do not have a degree in the area where you desire a position, include as much information as possible about relevant course work. You may also want to include education or certifications in progress if they apply to your objective. If you attended several institutions before obtaining your degree, you may only want to list the institution where the degree was earned.

If you do decide to include additional information, make sure the information it is relevant. For example, if you have a hobby that relates to your career or are a member of a professional organization in your field, then you may want to include this information.

References should be in order when in a job search mode. You should have a typed sheet of professional references to take with you to an interview. If you are in need of resume 'filler' you can type "References furnished on request." This is not necessary to include if space is not available.

You want your resume to catch the employers attention and leave them asking for more. That is what opens doors.




SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES



BUZZ WORD LIST

Traits Sought By Employers

Self-knowledge
Interpersonal Skills
Intelligence
Ability to communicate
Flexibility
Teaching/Training
Negotiating
Dependable
Integrity
Enthusiastic
Direction
Managing
Interviewing
Writing
Ability to handle pressure
High energy level
Goal achievement
Vocation skills
Imagination
Speaking
Honest
Motivated
Judgment
Prompt
Compassionate
People oriented
Admirable
Self-directed
Hard Working
Competitiveness
Open Mind
Loyal
Ethical
Interested
Positive
Competent
Sincere
Creative
Humor
Fair
Willingness to accept responsibility
Initiative
Ability to handle conflict
Leadership

Action Words
achieved cultivated insured recruited acquired demonstrated interpreted reorganized adapted designed interviewed reported addressed developed launched researched administered devised maintained resolved analyzed discovered managed reviewed anticipated doubled marketed selected assembled drafted minimized separated assisted edited motivated set up audited eliminated negotiated simplified budgeted enforced obtained solved calculated established operated surveyed centralized evaluated organized staffed changed expanded originated supervised collaborated forecasted oversaw taught composed formed performed tested condensed founded planned trained conducted generated prevented utilized constructed guided produced contracted hired promoted converted implemented provided coordinated improved publicized created informed published

PROOFREADING CHECKLIST

Spelling Mistakes
To avoid spelling mistakes:
___Do not use words with which you are not familiar.
___Use a dictionary as you write.
___Perform a spell check on your finished resume.
___Carefully read every word in your resume. If you write "from" instead of "form," spell check will be unable to detect the mistake.
___Have a friend or two proofread your resume.

Punctuation Mistakes
Things to look for:
___Periods at the end of all full sentences.
___Be consistent in your use of punctuation.
___Always put periods and commas within quotation marks.
___Avoid using exclamation points.

Grammatical Mistakes
Grammar hang-ups to watch for:
___Do not switch tenses within your resume. The duties you currently perform should be in present tense, but ones you may have performed at past jobs should be in past tense.
___Capitalize all proper nouns.
___When expressing numbers, write out all numbers between one and nine, but use numerals for all numbers above 10.
___If you begin a sentence with a numeral, spell out that numeral.
___Make sure your date formats are consistent.

Choose Your Words Carefully
Phrase yourself well:
___Be on the lookout for the following easily confused words: accept (to receive), except (to exclude), all right (correct), alright (this is not a word), affect (to bring about change), effect (result), personal (private), personnel (staff members), role (a character assigned or a function), roll (to revolve).
___Use action words.

Other Potential Mistakes
Don't forget to check:
___Dates of all prior employment.
___Your address and phone number.
___Abbreviation of state names. All state abbreviations are two letters--no periods.

Design Is Important

Keep the following tips in mind:
___Don't overcrowd your resume; Allow for plenty of white space.
___Keep your resume to one page whenever possible.
___Keep the number of fonts you use to a minimum--two at the most.
___Use a font that is easy to read. Times Roman works well.
___Do not justify the lines of type on your resume. Allow the right side of the page to "rag."
___Do not over use capitalization, italics, underlines, or other emphasizing features.
___Make sure your name, address, and phone number appear on your resume and all correspondence, preferably at the top of the page.
___Print your resume on white or cream plain paper using a good quality printer. Second and third-generation photocopies are a no-no.
___Print on one side of the paper only.

What To Omit
Do not put any of the following on your resume:
___Salary history. (If requested do include in cover letter. This will allow you more room to explain what is important if you are flexible downwards or feel you deserve a significant raise.)
___Sex, age, race, marital status, or other similar personal information.