This Domain For Sale. Contact us for more information.

Resurrecting the Perfect Resume, Part One

Is your resume dead? Don't be so quick to say, "No way!" Of the hundreds of resumes I've seen written by job seekers of all backgrounds and educational levels, easily 95% qualify to be labelled as dead-but-not-yet-buried.

A dead resume lacks a clear structure or chronology, does not present or quantify achievements, fails to offer a "big picture" of what you would bring to the employer and is impersonal rather than expressive. Worse yet, a dead resume fails to win you the response you're hoping for from the employer: an invitation for a job interview.

To win more job interviews and dramatically increase the quality of opportunities your resume can help you attract, strip your resume down to bare bones and resurrect it using the same techniques professional resume writers use to reposition job seekers whose own job search campaigns have failed to yield the results they need.

Problem #1: Resume Lacks Structure


You cannot create a resume without first creating a structure for it. Resumes are complicated documents that include different types of information which they communicate to different types of readers. If your resume has a poor structure it will make no sense to the reader; he or she will simply discard your resume and move on the next one in the pile, and you will count yourself lucky to even get a rejection letter.

Solution #1: Create A Strong Skeleton For Your Resume

  • Be as specific as possible in the content you want to communicate.
  • Match your content to the job you are applying for and the industry you seek to enter.
  • Avoid jargon yet be sure to use industry-specific key words.
  • Organize and sequence all of your dates and details. You didn't edit, then write and then initiate; you initiated, then wrote and then edited.
  • List dates chronologically but in reverse order.
  • Combine like skills together.
  • Choose a resume style (chronological, functional, skills-based combination) that highlights your accomplishments.
  • List resume sections with most important section first, least important section last and all other sections in their appropriate place in between those two poles. Education should rarely be listed first unless you seek work either in academia or in a field where education is paramount, such as in medicine.
  • Be consistent in how you record information. Begin bulleted sentences and phrases with the same parts of speech. Give the same level of detail in all resume sections. Use first person for verbs, not second. It is inappropriate to refer to yourself in the second person as if you are someone else: "Resolves customer complaints promptly," really means, "Mary resolves customer complaints promptly." To imply, "I resolve customer complaints promptly," say, "Resolve customer complaints promptly."
  • Double check all your details. Edit your resume at least three times yourself, then invite knowledgeable others to edit it as well. Then edit it again yourself, this time reading the whole document backwards, word by word. Do not rely on spell checkers to do this for you - they are only as thorough as you are!

Problem #2: Resume Contains No Substance

Many job seekers write a resume with structure but no substance, with a skeleton but no muscles. Remember that your resume is your brochure; its job is to highlight your best qualities and credentials, downplay your weaknesses and sell the reader on the idea of interviewing you. To accomplish this you must layer details and specific examples into your key resume sections.

Solution #2: Layer Achievement Muscles Onto Your Resume Skeleton

  • Highlight the most vital points.
  • Add deeper levels of detail; articulate clearly and succinctly.
  • Tell success stories with brevity and power.
  • Make each word count.
  • Use graphics and bold, underline, or italics to draw your reader's eyes to what you most want them to read.
  • Describe results and outcomes to sell your highest level of achievement.
  • Apply a journalism technique to craft powerful success stories. What did you do? How did you do it? Why? With and for whom? Where? When? What results did you achieve? Answer these questions fully on separate paper, then edit your story until it fits into 1-2 sentences and insert it in your resume. Use the original expanded version of your story to share verbally with employers in interviews.
  • Characterize all numbers in their most powerful and realistic form. Let's say you cashiered at a grocery store and closed out your register with an average of $1000 daily. Let's also say that you worked five days a week. Multiply that $1000 times five days per week and it becomes $5000 weekly; or $20,000 monthly, if your prefer.
  • Put yourself in your reader's shoes and anticipate their questions, concerns and objections. Be honest in your assessment of your weaknesses and proactive in your defense against questions about them. If you know you lack specific experience, then go out of your way to translate your background into language and skill sets a potential employer will want to hear.
  • What assumptions do you fear an employer will make about you? That you're too old? Too young? Inexperienced? Overqualified? Build resume muscles on these specific issues by challenging assumptions before they can be raised.
  • Use action verbs and concrete, quantifiable nouns. Avoid passive verbs. Use verbs that communicate to your reader's senses and create the impression of action.
  • Avoid vague terms like "several", "many" and "some"; try specific numbers or number ranges instead.
  • Choose verbs and nouns that demonstrate the highest level of skill you have achieved.

Cheryl Lynch Simpson is a Spiritual Director and Solutions Coach who helps women discover and create the life they've always wanted to live. Cheryl is the author of over 30 print/Internet articles and the founder of Coaching Solutions For Women, a coaching website that produces and showcases career, business, and life solutions that improve the life balance of today's busy women. For a complimentary copy of her latest e-book, Ten-Minute Stress Zappers for Women Service Business Owners, visit http://www.coachingsolutionsforwomen.com.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Careers & Employment Information:


Related Articles

Independent RN Contractors Are Taking The Nursing Profession
Nurses wake up and take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity. Are you tired of having no input in your career, little money in the bank, lack of respect for your profession and little compensation for the long hours and years of dedication? Independent RN Contractor is a great way to renew your interest and rejuvenate your nursing career.
Whiners Need Not Apply
Sometime last summer I decided to host a pity party and invite all my friends. Well, not all my friends, exactly.
Skilled Mechanic Wage Study Review
Well what is a good mechanic worth these days? You cannot place a value on them simply as labor units as they teach in management school, they are worth more than money. So why not treat them with respect and dignity and pay them what they are worth, we believe that the national averages are too low.
Phone Interviews: Prepare to Ace Them!
More companies are saving time and effort by doing initial telephone interviews before committing themselves to hours of time assessing and evaluating applicants. They are doing this because, frankly, it's a good way to save a team's time from interviewing obviously unqualified people.
Job Dissatisfaction
Job dissatisfaction is a driving force behind individuals seeking employment elsewhere. When evaluating your employment it is important to distinguish between the work you do and your workplace.
Does Your Resume Have What It Takes To Survive The First Cut?
Qualifications" or "Personal Profile") uses bullets and succinct wording to highlight what is likely to most intrigue the employer. Before writing this section, make a list of the 5 to 10 criteria that are most likely to guide the employer's choice - then summarize your qualifications in a way that speaks directly to the employer's interests.
How to Be Prepared for a Layoff
If you are concerned that your company might be planning a layoff, your best course of action is to be prepared. Employees often see warning signs that their jobs may be at risk.
Career in the Toilet?
Individuals not within their target career field may feel insecure, doubtful, or maybe even ashamed of their current job title. Career changers make up a large portion of the job-searching population.
Preventing The Runaway Candidate
Municipal and law enforcement officials in Georgia are still calculating the final costs associated with the "runaway bride". Much like the runaway bride, the "runaway candidate" can have a devastating effect upon a potential employer.
How to Ask For a Salary Increase and Get Your Raise
Feeling overworked and underpaid? If you're starting to feellike you deserve a raise, here are eight DO's and DON'Ts to buildyour confidence and tact (and what to avoid!) in asking for thesalary you feel you deserve.DO1.
Getting A Leg Up
Legging Up Your CompetitionLet's face it. When you graduate from college you need an edge over the competition, right? Every year thousands of college students just like you enter the job market looking for the same thing you are, a job / career.
About Your Work
I like Simon, one of three judges on American Idol. I find his feedback refreshingly honest.
Do You Work to Live or Live to Work?
Let's be realistic here - hands up all of you who bounce out of bed every single morning, raring to get to work and enjoying yourself every minute of the day?If you didn't put your hand up (even metaphorically), you're not alone. There have been so many articles published recently about working statistics in the UK - that Brits work the longest hours in the EU, that we have higher risks of heart disease than our continental friends due to stress and poor diet, there has been a rise in people "downshifting" and moving to the country to raise chickens and weave baskets.
Surviving The Technical Interview
Ah, the technical interview. Nothing like it.
Cover Letter Warning: Watch Out For the BIG BAD WORD!
Dear Job-Seeker:Just as Goldilocks was suspicious of the big bad wolf, be wary of the big bad word! You know the kind. Pursuant.
Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Career Opportunities for New Graduates
Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Career Opportunities for New GraduatesThis article relates to the Career Opportunities competency and explores issues such as internal growth opportunities, potential for advancement, career development importance, and the relationship between job performance and career advancement. Evaluating the Career Opportunities competency in your organization will determine whether your employees believe they have a chance to grow within the organization.
What is a Career Anyway?
A career is the sum total of all of your work-related contributions to society in a lifetime. This includes time and effort spent to provide goods, services, or benefit to others.
Tips for Terrific Telephone Interviews
Telephone interviews don't just happen; they are the result of action you have taken. For example, when you are networking and the company representative becomes interested in your skills; when a company representative calls you in response to a résumé you have sent; or when you have previously set up the telephone meeting.
Can Nurses Be Entrepreneurs?
Yes, Nurses can be entrepreneurs. In today's market place nursing has a unique service to offer not only to hospitals but nursing homes, private care and doctor offices.
Ten Careers For High School Seniors Who Hate School
Let's face it?not everybody likes going to school and high school can be a terrible experience for many students. Whether you're the hands on type who preferred Shop class to English class, or an athlete who liked working as a team more than studying alone, or even someone who liked schoolwork more than schoolmates; the idea of four more years of school is unbearable.



/html>