Your Feature - Accomplishment
- Benefit Presentation
(Provided by the trainer, Bob Marshall, CPC)
When we present your background and experience to an employer, we want to show how your employment will benefit both the organization and the employer as an individual. We want to demonstrate how you can help improve profits, reduce costs and just make things run better
Resume Content
Be factual. In many companies, inaccurate information on a resume or other application will be grounds for dismissal as soon as the inaccuracy is discovered. Protect yourself.
Be positive.
You are selling yours skills and accomplishments in your resume. If you achieved something, say so, and put it in the best possible light. Don’t hold back or be modest-no one else will. At the same time, however, don’t exaggerate to the point of misrepresentation.
Be brief.
Include the relevant and important accomplishments in as few words as possible. A vigorous, concise resume will be examined more carefully than a long-winded one.
Emphasize relevant experience.
Highlight continued experience in a particular type of function or continued interest in a particular industry. De-emphasize any irrelevant positions.
Stress your results.
Elaborate on how you contributed to your past employers. Did you increase sales, reduce costs, improve a product, implement a new program? Were you promoted?
Use action verbs.
Action verbs make a resume come alive. Which are right for your resume?
accelerated accomplished
achieved
administered
advised
analyzed
appointed
arranged
assisted
attained
balanced
budgeted
built
calculated
cataloged
chaired
collaborated
compiled
composed
computed
conducted
constructed
consulted
created
delegated demonstrated
designed
developed
devised
directed
edited
educated
encouraged
established
evaluated
examined
executed
expanded
expedited
extracted
facilitated
formulated
founded
generated
headed
helped
identified
illustrated
implemented
improved
increased
innovated
instructed
integrated
interpreted
launched
maintained
managed
marketed
mediated
monitored
negotiated
operated
organized
performed
persuaded
planned
prepared
presented
prioritized
processed
produced
programmed
promoted
proposed
provided
published
recruited
regulated
reorganized
represented
researched
resolved
restored
restructured
retrieved
revised
scheduled
shaped
sold
solved
streamlined
summarized
supervised
taught
trained
upgraded
utilized
worked
wrote
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and attach it to the e-mail.
Writing Your Resume
When filling a position in today’s competitive job market, a recruiter will often have one hundred or more applicants, but time to interview only the five or ten most promising ones. So the recruiter will have to reject most applicants after a brief skimming of their resumes. You could say that the resume is more the recruiter’s tool for eliminating candidates than the candidate’s tool for gaining consideration.
Unless you have phoned and talked to the recruiter-which you should do whenever you can-you will be chosen or rejected for an interview entirely on the basis of your resume and cover letter. Needless to say, each must be outstanding.
Resume Length
Unless you are applying for a top-level position, your resume should ideally fit onto 1-2 pages. If your resume is too long, you should consider trimming the content. Keep in mind that your resume is not meant to be a comprehensive, detailed history of your career, but a summary of your experience, qualifications and skills.
Paper Size
Use standard 8 ½" x 11" paper. Recruiters handle hundreds of resumes: if yours is on a smaller sheet, it is likely to be lost in the pile, and if it is oversized, it may get crumpled and have trouble fitting in a company’s files.
Paper Color
White and ivory are the only paper colors considered acceptable for resumes and cover letters.
Paper Quality
Standard, inexpensive office paper (20-pound bond) is generally acceptable for most positions. Executive and top-level positions may require more expensive stationery paper with a heavier weight or special grain.
Printing
Find the best quality offset printing process available. Do not make your copies on an office photocopier. Only the personnel office may see the resume you mail; everyone else may see only a copy of it. Copies of copies quickly become illegible. Some professionally maintained, very high-quality photocopiers are of adequate quality, if you are in a rush, but top-quality offset printing is best.
TypesettingModern photo-composition typesetting gives you the clearest, sharpest image, a wide variety of type styles and effects such as italics, boldfacing, and book-like justified margins. Although typesetting is considered by some to be the best resume preparation process, it is the most expensive and least flexible. A typeset resume needs to be reset with every change.
Computers, Word Processing and Desktop Publishing
The most flexible way to type your resume is on a computer or word processor. This allows you to make changes almost instantly, and to store different drafts on disk. Word processing and desktop publishing systems also give you many different options that a typewriter does not, such as boldfacing for emphasis, different "fonts" or typefaces and justified margins.
The end result, however, will be largely determined by the quality of the printer you use. A dot matrix printer is inappropriate for a resume because the type is much rougher than that of a typewriter. You need at least "letter quality" type. (Do not use a "near-letter quality" printer.) Laser printers provide the best quality lettering from a computer.
Typing
Household typewriters and office typewriters with nylon or other cloth ribbons are not acceptable for typing your resume you will have printed. If for some reason you decide against word processing or typesetting, hire a professional with a high-quality office typewriter with a plastic ribbon (usually called a "film ribbon").
Proofreading Is Essential
Whether you typed it yourself or paid to have it produced professionally, mistakes on resumes can be embarrassing, particularly when something critical (such as your name) is misspelled. No matter how much money you paid to have your resume written or typeset, you are the only one who will lose if there is a mistake. So proofread it as carefully as possible. Get a friend to help you read your draft aloud as your friend checks the proof copy. Then have your friend read aloud while you check. Next, read it word by word to check spelling and punctuation.
If you are having your resume typed or typeset by a resume service or a printer, and you can’t bring a friend or take the time during the day to proof it, pay for it and take it home. Proof it there and bring it back later to have it corrected and printed.
If you wrote your resume on a word-processing program, use that program’s built in spelling checker to double-check for spelling errors. Most quality word processors include this convenient feature; however, a spelling checker is not a substitute for proofreading your resume. It must still be proofread to ensure that there are not errors. (Bear in mind that a spelling checker cannot flag errors such as "to" for "two," or "Bills" for "skills.")
Types of Resumes
There are three basic types of resumes. The chronological and functional resume formats are probably best known; the chrono-functional resume is a more recent innovation that combines the two basic resume formats.
The Chronological Resume
The chronological resume is actually a reverse chronological resume. Items are listed in reverse chronological order, with your most recent schooling or job first. Names, dates and places of employment are listed, and education and work experience are grouped separately.
This is the most common and readily accepted resume format. You should use a chronological resume if you have no large gaps in your work history and if your previous jobs relate to your current job objective. This format is a good choice for professionals moving up the career ladder.
The Functional Resume
Far less common is the functional resume. The functional resume focuses on the skills and talents you have developed and de-emphasizes job titles, employer names and dates. The main purpose of a functional resume is to better the chances of candidates whose qualifications might look weak on a chronological resume or who are in the midst of a career change and wish to deflect attention from recent employment experience. For example, an army officer, a teacher or a homemaker seeking a position at a large corporation might choose a functional resume.
The Chrono-functional Resume
The chrono-functional resume can be a powerful and flexible tool for the job seeker with a solid employment background and special skills he/she wants to emphasize. Like the chronological resume, it chronologically lists job history and education, while allowing the job seeker to highlight what makes his/her qualifications especially marketable.
This type of resume is a good choice for recent graduates with some job experience, career changers and at-home parents returning to the job market.
What Comes First?
If you are a recent college grad, your education should appear first and should be outlined in considerable detail. Experience should only be listed first when you have at least two years of full-time career experience. Job experience should be listed in reverse chronological order, with your most recent job emphasized most.
Show Dates and Locations
Unless you are using the functional resume format, your resume should clearly show the dates and locations of your employment. List the dates of your employment and education on the left of the page; put the names of the companies you worked for and the schools you attended a few spaces to the right of the dates. Lastly, align the city and state where you studied or worked in the right margin.
Education
If you have many years of professional experience related to your current job objective, listing your education is optional. For instance, the Chief Executive Officer of a major corporation with over 20 years’ experience may need not include his/her education on a resume.
However, if you are a recent college grad, your educational credentials should be the focal point of your resume. Be sure to mention degrees received and any honors or special awards. Note individual courses or research projects that might be relevant for employers. For instance, if you are a liberal arts major, be sure to mention any courses you may have taken in such areas as accounting, statistics, computer programming, or mathematics, even if these do not reflect your main interests at school.
Should You Include a Job Objective?
If written well, a job objective can give a resume focus and direction. If written poorly, it can immediately eliminate you from consideration. If you choose to use a job objective, the best advice is to keep it very general so as not to limit your opportunities. It should express a general interest in a particular field or industry ("an entry-level position in advertising"), but should not designate a particular job title ("a position as Senior Agency Recruitment Specialist").
Also, avoid writing an objective that focuses on your needs rather than the needs of the employer. Employers want to know what you can do for them, not what they can do for you. For example, a poor job objective might read, "A position where I can travel and use my foreign language skills that offer ample growth opportunities" whereas a strong job objective might read, "To contribute relevant experience and educational background to a challenging position in Human Services."
Highlight Relevant Skills and Responsibilities
Slant your past accomplishments toward the type of position that you hope to obtain. Do you hope to supervise people? If so, state how many people, performing what function, you have supervised.
Bear in mind that your resume is an advertisement for yourself, not an affidavit. Do not feel compelled to list every job you’ve ever had. Instead, focus on the positions you’ve had that relate to your current objective or that speak most positively of your experience.
Avoid Sentences and Large Blocks of Type
Your resume will be scanned, not read. Short, concise phrases are much more effective than long-winded sentences. Consider the difference between these two examples:
Long-winded
Over the course of the months of December 1993 and January 1994, I completely redid the inventory system at my place of employment, which ended up resulting in a final savings of a great deal of money, perhaps $10,000. It was also considerably easier to perform office tasks efficiently under the new arrangement, not only for myself, but also for others who worked with me at the store.
Clear and concise
Designed and implemented new inventory system, resulting in a cost savings of approximately $10,000 and increased employee efficiency.
Make sure that everything is easy to find. Avoid paragraphs longer than six lines and never go ten or more lines in a paragraph. If you have more than six lines of information about one job or school, rewrite the material into two or more paragraphs.
Personal Data
It is not imperative that you include personal data, but if you do, keep it very brief-two lines maximum. A concise reference to commonly practiced activities such as golf, skiing, sailing, chess, bridge, tennis, etc., can prove to be an interesting conversation piece during an interview. Do not include your age, weight, height, marital status or any similar item.
References
Stating that "References are available upon request" is optional. On the up side, doing so enables you to change your references and to know when they are going to be contacted. However, you should not feel obligated to sacrifice other, more important information to fit this on your resume.
