Writing an Effective Resume

Writing an Effective Resume

The written documents you will utilize for your job search consist of a resume, cover letter and list of references.

The resume will be a presentation of all of your work experience, your education, and other information relevant to the job you are seeking. The cover letter will be a short letter expressing your interest in the position and will highlight your qualifications for the position. Your references are those people that can best talk about you and your ability to perform the job.

Composing a Resume

Composing a resume can seem overwhelming. We have tools available to assist with creating a great resume. Read through the following information, utilizing the steps and resources to write your resume.

A Good Resume Should

• Have action verbs
• Have clear and concise language
• Describe your work experience, accurately
• Be strong on skills and abilities
• Be short on words
• Be targeted to the job you want
• Use jargon appropriate to the industry

Steps to creating a resume

1. Develop a career objective or goal
2. List all of your jobs and tasks involved
3. Your education (high school is ok)
4. Activities, honors, special skills, accomplishments
5. List all skills you have that pertain to the job you seek to attain.

Five Simple Things to Improve Your Resume

1. White space
2. Summary of Qualifications Targeted to Job
3. Action Verbs
4. Quantify Your Accomplishments
5. Emphasize problem solving & achievements

A new resume should be created for every job application!!!

This is to ensure that you target your resume to the job.

Sending a general resume in response to a job posting will most likely ensure you NOT getting an interview. By targeting your resume, you tell the prospective employer that you are VERY interested in the job because you took the time to prepare an appropriate resume. This, however, will not get you the job – you do that in the interview!

Resume Formats

There are three kinds of resume formats: Chronological, Functional and Combination. Click on one of the resume types below to view an example.

The Chronological Resume

This type of resume is organized on your employment history. Actually it is a reverse chronological format because it contains a list of jobs held from the most recent backwards. This format is especially good if you have a strong work history that is related to the job for which you are applying. Employers tend to prefer the chronological resume.

The Functional Resume

This resume is organized on your skills and qualifications.

For example, if you are applying for a job that requires “supervisory experience”, under this heading you would enter your experience and accomplishments as a supervisor. This could be from a variety of employment or other situations, without reference to the organization where you gained the experience.

The functional resume is more difficult to prepare than a chronological resume. Also, some employers are not as comfortable with this format. It is not used as often as the chronological and employers cannot easily see where and when you gained your experience and accomplishments.

On the other hand, if you have limited work experience, are changing careers or have considerable gaps in your employment, the functional resume may be the appropriate approach.

The Combination Resume

This resume contains elements of both the chronological and functional resume. It is useful if you have work experience and are changing careers. To create a combination resume, you list your employers chronologically and within each job, show your skills by functional area.

The Electronic Resume

Many on-line databases and resume posting services utilize keyword recognition criteria for selecting resumes. If you are applying to positions on-line or posting an electronic resume on a service such as Monster.com, then make sure you consider these rules:

• If you are posting your resume for the sake of having it on the internet, then make sure it is a general resume, i.e. don’t be too specific with what you want for a job as you might eliminate yourself from a prospective job.
• Make sure your resume has keywords in it so that it will be selected during a keyword search (to identify keywords that might be used, read job descriptions of your desired position and then make sure you include those words in your document).
• Make sure you update your resume every few months or whenever you acquire a new skill that might be relevant.
• Employers look for people that can do the job. Make sure your resume says that about you.
• Instead of having an objective at the top of your resume, you might have a list of keywords that describe your skills, abilities and strengths.
• When you post your resume, make sure that you have considered the option of relocating to another city. Employers want to know whether you are willing to move or not.

Do's and Don'ts for Resume Writers

DO

• Use action verbs
• Spelling, punctuation and grammar are correct
• Your information is correct and accurate
• Quantify your accomplishments
• List your skills as they relate to the job you want
• Emphasize problem solving and achievements
• Keep it to one page
• Type written, not hand written
• Be specific and detailed without being too wordy

DON'T

• Don't use the word "I" or "my"
• Don't misspell words
• Don't overstate your accomplishments
• Don't lie about anything
• Don't make salary demands
• Don't use too many words to say something that might be said in fewer words

Resume Writing Resources

• Career Journal - Resumes, career guides, and how-to information.
• JobFind.com - Resumes, easy-to-design web resume with graphics.
• Resume Dictionary - This is a dictionary based on KSA (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities) that you can use to write a resume.