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March 27, 2010

Resume Writing Tips

A winning resume is what it takes to get your name on the interview shortlist. It is the first thing that catches the employer’s eye, and it has to, therefore, stand apart from the hundreds of other resumes the HR personnel may be sitting with.

Writing the winning resume is subject to some ‘rules’. Although it is true that the resume speaks a lot for you, don’t overload it with information – what is important is relevant information. Here are some tips to help you draft the perfect resume.

To begin with:

It is often said that you have only five seconds to catch the employer’s eye and not more than two minutes to persuade him/her to give you a call. This means that at a glance (that is within five seconds), the employers should ‘want’ to read your resume for which he/she will not spare more than two minutes. So, all the important information should be ‘visible’.

Be clear and concise

Make sure you have mentioned every one of your accomplishments. Nevertheless, it is not necessary to go into complete details. Strive to be clear and concise: Remember, the employer is not looking at only one resume. They do not have the time or patience to go through long winding stories. Therefore, keep your resume short. A resume covering all the relevant information within two pages is a good one.

Put relevant information

Relevant information is information that will convince the employer that you are a good choice for the job. For example, if you are applying for a Sales job, stating that you have good communication and interpersonal skills may be an asset.

Use Bulleted Sentences

Resumes are read quickly; therefore make key phrases stand out. Bulleting information will help the reader view your accomplishments at a glance. Again, don’t worry about the specifics; you will go into the details during the interview.

Use Action Words

Use action words – words like prepared, managed, developed, championed, monitored, and presented will make your resume to stand out.

Match the need they have

Review job postings online and in the newspapers for positions that interest you. Each ad will usually have a brief description about the company and the position available. Use the keywords listed in these ads, and match them to the bullet points in your resume. Using a custom resume instead of a generic one will greatly increase your chances of an interview.

Leave off irrelevant details

Focus on the details that do support your objective, and leave off irrelevant personal information like your race, weight, and height.

Formatting Guidelines

The length of your resume should be 1-2 pages. The font size should be no smaller than 10 point. Don’t use intricate fonts that are hard to read.

Look and Lingo

Ensure that there are no spelling mistakes whatsoever. Read your resume over and again and ensure that the language used is interesting and grabs attention. It is advisable to have a friend or resume critique service review your resume. Take their comments into consideration, and revise your resume accordingly.

The look of your resume is also going to play a key role in hooking the employer. So choose a selling design. You are writing for someone to read, and it has to be pleasing to the eye. Do not use decorative fonts and very big/small font sizes. Decorative fonts often strain the eye.

By: Manjusha Nambiar

About the Author:

The author is the editor of http://www.perfectyourenglish.com Her website provides free reference materials on English grammar and writing.

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March 28, 2010

Resume Writing Sample Gets Your Success Off the Ground

If you want to write a truly successful resume, you’re in luck. There are simply tons of tremendously helpful resources available to help get you started on the right path, and to help you learn what should and should not be included in your winning resume. Among these resources, one of the most helpful is a resume writing sample.

The fact is, resume writing can be very confusing, and quite daunting as well. With so many people and books and websites all telling you to do different things, it is hard to decide what to do. The trick is to find a resume writing sample that you really like, and apply it as a template to your own situation.

Of course, if you don’t know what you want in a resume, it’s hard to decide on a resume writing sample that you like best, right? Practice with a few, and then see how comfortable you are with that resume style and your own employment history. Use the following tips as well to help you to use the resume writing sample that best suits you.

Talk to professionals who have already got their foot in the door of the field you wish to join. The more successful the person, the more you may wish to make it a priority to speak to this person. Try to find someone specifically in your chosen career field, as well as someone from the human resources department. The people who have similar careers to what you want will tell you about their own personal experiences in obtaining and maintaining the job, while those in human resources will be able to discuss what the employers in that field are truly seeking.

Limit the advice that you take from those people who are closest to you. Certainly your friends and family are looking to help you as best they can, and they want to be able to contribute to your success. Also, it is always good to have someone you trust look over your resume for errors and typos. Remember, though that these people are not necessarily experts in what is correct and appealing to employers in your specific field or career path. Reserve any criticism from your support group to general impressions – unless, of course, they do happen to be experts in your desired field.

Look for a good resume writing sample from an actual person in your field. Either online or from a person you know, find out what they have included, in what order they have included it, how many pages, whether or not they added their references, and so on. This will also give you a good hint as to the most important keywords in your industry.

By: Jay Tokarz

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Sample Resume
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March 29, 2010

Resume Writing Tip

If you are in the process of writing your resume, you should be aware of some caveats in creating your own resume. Remember that your resume is the first impression you will make on your prospective employer. This could be the one shot you have to land the job of your dreams. An unprofessional resume may dash those hopes despite the fact that you may be the most qualified candidate for the job.

One important resume writing tip is to never put down anything negative about past employment experiences. This not only goes during the resume writing process, but also during your interview. Everyone has negative experiences during employment and, we may as well face it, if our current position was a paradise, chances are we would not be looking for a new job. Leave the negativity out of both your resume and your interview. This is perhaps the most important resume writing tip you can learn.

Another important resume writing tip is to leave out any insignificant details about your life that do not matter to the present job. It is not important that you are the president of the Knitting Club if you are applying for a position at a bank. The only way this would be relevant is if you were applying for a job at a knitting shop. Hobbies and personal information such as how many children you have, your marital status and age have no place on your resume.

Do not put anything about salary or wages in your resume. This is highly unprofessional and an important resume writing tip. Salary is often discussed during the interview process and is never acceptable to be presented on a resume. Past salary is also included. If you fill out a job application, you will often be asked your salary that you earned on previous jobs, but a resume is different than a job application. It is a professional introduction to a prospective employer. It is a faux pas to put a salary requirement on a resume and you should not be the first person to bring up salary during the interview process. Allow the employer to bring the matter up.

Another important resume writing tip is to not make your resume to flamboyant. There are many different templates out there for creating resumes and many different types of colored paper. While printing your resume on pink paper may certainly make it stand out among the others, it will also make your prospective employer think that you are unprofessional. Use traditional fonts and classic designs when printing your resume. If you are applying for a job in a creative field, you can get a bit creative with your resume, but not too much so. Remember, there is plenty of time to express your creativity after you have attained the job.

Do not list references on your resume. This is yet another important resume writing tip. You can either list references on a separate sheet of paper or you can put down that they are available upon request. And references should be people who can vouch for both your professionalism, abilities and character.

While you want to be certain that you list all of your skills and abilities on your resume, be careful not to embellish. Saying that you know certain computer programs when you have no idea about how to use Excel is not a good way to get a job. One very important tip is not to embellish your skills or accomplishments on your resume. This includes your grade point average or college degrees. It is relatively easy for an employer to check these things and it can prove embarrassing to be found out to be a liar. Also, if you get the job and do not know how to do the work, you may end up getting fired for being incompetent. This will not only be humiliating, but may destroy some chances of getting a job in the future as you will be hesitant to use the employer who fired you as a reference.

The last important resume writing tip is to be certain to include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address on your resume as well as your employment objective. Employers get hundreds of responses to ads all of the time and many people feel that if they put certain information in their cover letter, they do not have to reiterate on their resume. Oftentimes, the resume and cover letter are separated. Be sure to include all of your personal contact information as well as the job for which you are applying on your resume.

By: Mario G. Churchill

About the Author:

Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over 200 articles on various subjects. For more information on resume distribution or a job finder service checkout his recommended websites.

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