You may have heard the expression that it is not what you say but how you say it. In resume writing it is what you say and how you say it. Employers glance at a resume and make a judgment call in 15 seconds. Your resume is like an advertisement. You are not just listing the duties you performed at a job but you are actually selling yourself. The resume should contain specifics and position you as someone that meets the needs of the employer. Your resume should use a good mixture of action verbs, power words relating to your work experience, key words relating to the job due to the initial screening process of selecting candidates to interview, and it should align with the position you are seeking. It should be content that effectively sells the benefit of your skills.
It is important to identify accomplishments from your previous work experience and quantify them. If you are in sales instead of saying increased sales by 20% on your resume you can say responsible for the marketing campaign of Product X on a team of 5 sales representatives and increased sales revenue by 20% in a five month period. It is also necessary to prioritize the most important tasks first in each job description and make sure there is not one spelling error.
There are various styles of resumes to use such as a chronological or functional resume and various templates to use if one decides to use one. The dates on a resume should be in a year to year format such as 2010 – 2010 and not 3/2010 – 9/2010. This will help to cover gaps in work history. The gaps can be explained later to the employer during the interview. The goal is to get the interview and land the job so you have to identify weaknesses in your resume and prepare to put your best foot forward and make your first impression count.
Sometimes an older age could be an issue with an employer when you are seeking employment. You can limit your past experience to date back to 15 years if you feel that this is something that could be a detriment to you. When you are applying for positions in different fields such as Financial Analyst and Retail Sales Associate you can have one general resume that incorporates all of these skills or you can tailor each resume to specifically target each position.
A person can list their hobbies, organizations they are in, or use their experience from businesses that they started to effectively create a dynamic resume. It is important to always use a cover letter when applying for each position.
