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The Art of the Resume Writing Tips
Step One: Targeting Your Career & Audience
In order to maximize the impact of your resume for your targeted audience — the hiring manager or admission officer — you must have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish.
Consider these resume writing tips:
Pinpoint Your Goal
Before you begin, ask yourself these questions. Are you:
Making a lateral move?
Seeking a promotion?
Career transitioning?
Pursuing admission into an academic program?
For numbers one through three above, the most effective way to begin targeting your resume is to search openings that appeal to you on job boards (Monster®, Yahoo! Hot Jobs®, CareerBuilderTM, etc.), internal company postings, or newspaper classifieds.
Match Yourself to the Job
When you look at a job listing, highlight the qualifications that are required and the duties that you would be expected to assume. Every match in terms of required qualifications and your experience should serve as a keyword in your resume.
Knowing how you match up to a potential position will provide focus, so that your resume can be tailored to your targeted audience. The more closely the content of your resume matches the content of these postings, the more likely you will be asked to interview. Be careful, though, not to simply repeat phrases found in a job listing. Your goal is to demonstrate your understanding of the role and your applicable experience.
A Note on Academic Resumes
Resumes provided to admission officers showcase your skills, professional experience, accomplishments, and academic history in much the same way as "job" resumes. The difference is that an admission resume will focus on what transitions well to the classroom, not to the workplace.
Keywords
Keywords can include industry-specific jargon or acronyms, such as the following:
Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), for accountants
Series 7 licensing, for brokers
Initial public offering (IPO), for investment bankers
At-risk child, for social workers
Level 2 Training, for physicians
Intellectual property law, for attorneys
Triage, for nurses
You should employ other nouns or phrases that indicate your qualifications and knowledge of required tasks. Such words might include:
General ledger, word processing, contract negotiations, benefits, payroll, closing (for sales people)
Catering services, new menu items, capacity planning (for chefs)
Logistics, quality assurance, advertising campaigns, product launches, staffing, training, orientations (for a marketing position)
Companies that employ scanners require a set number of hits on keywords before the hiring manager will personally review a resume. For that reason, it is always wise to incorporate as many keywords as possible into your resume. It is always important to remember these resume writing tips to best target your career and audience.
ResumeEdge.com is a leading resume writing and editing service specializing in 40 different industries to provide job-winning resumes and cover letters. ResumeEdge is a proud member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and the National Resume Writers Association.
Step Two: Formatting for Maximum Impact
When your resume is reviewed, it must be appealing, while accurately reflecting your industry or career goal. If it’s not — no matter how brilliantly it is written — it will likely be added to the rejection stack.
To ensure that your resume receives the attention it deserves, it’s important to adhere to certain formatting guidelines, which address:
Template and font choice
Effective use of white space
Prioritization of data
Template and Font Choice
In all cases, templates and font choice should:
Be easy to follow
There is nothing worse than a resume where data is presented in a haphazard manner. That's why templates are used. An effective template will present company names, dates, job titles, academic information, and all other pertinent data in a clear manner, so that a quick glance will tell the contact person what they need to know.
Accurately reflect your career or goal
A banker, accountant, or administrative assistant would choose a more conservative format than a graphic artist. Nothing is more jarring than to receive a financial professional's resume written in italics with accompanying graphics.
Be easy to read
Resumes in bold text or italics are difficult to read and unprofessional. The same goes for fonts that resemble handwriting. It's a common misconception that "jazzing up a resume" will get it read. It's not the font that attracts attention, but rather the overall appearance and the words crafted within it.
When in doubt about font choice, always err on the conservative side. Two good choices are Times New Roman or Arial in 11 points — no smaller, or the text will be difficult to read.
Effective Use of White Space
There’s no quicker way to get your resume ignored than to use narrow margins, or block after block of uninterrupted text. No one wants to read a text-heavy document with sentences that run on and on.
The goal is to get your point across quickly, with a minimum of words. Use bulleted sentences within special sections (Experience, Qualifications, etc.), separated by well-placed white space. Think of white spaces as necessary pauses — a chance for the reader to catch his or her breath and digest (and appreciate) the data you’ve presented.
Prioritization of Data
To highlight the importance of prioritization, consider the following scenario. Imagine you’re a hiring manager. It’s Monday, and an important position needs to be filled in your legal department. To date, 200 resumes have come in. Most are attractively formatted and use appropriate fonts. So far, so good. But on closer inspection:
Many candidates have relegated their willingness to relocate — a core qualification — to the end.
More than a few have buried accomplishments within the text, figuring this will force the hiring manager to search for that data and read the entire resume.
Some candidates have placed bar admission dead last, believing that where they can practice isn’t as important as the fact that they are attorneys.
A few simply list company names and dates of employment, assuming that the hiring manager should know what legal duties they performed.
It’s enough to drive a hiring manager to distraction — or another career.
But then, at last, there are those few resumes that list the important data at the top. In less than five seconds the hiring manager knows that the first candidate is willing to relocate and assume the cost. This candidate also provides a section beneath the Qualifications Summary that indicates where she is licensed to practice law. The second candidate does the same, while also placing Career Accomplishments at the top of the first page. After all, why keep a 100 percent win rate at trial a secret, or the fact that one can practice before the state’s Supreme Court?
The Moral of the Story
In the above scenario, it’s clear which applicants will be called in for an interview. No hiring manager will read every single resume they receive. Nor will they search for data. It’s up to you to prioritize data so that a hiring manager knows at a glance what you have to offer in terms of achievement, experience, education, licensing, certifications, and special considerations, such as relocation.
ResumeEdge.com is a leading resume writing and editing service specializing in 40 different industries to provide job-winning resumes and cover letters. ResumeEdge is a proud member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and the National Resume Writers Association.
Step Three: Qualifications Summary & Skill Set
Picture yourself at the market after a long day at the office. You’re in a rush, and want only those items on your list, if they’re on sale. Hurrying into the store, you glance around for the weekly advertising piece that indicates what’s on sale. Trouble is, there’s no advertising piece, and no one to answer your questions. If you want to purchase the items you need at a discount, you’re forced to walk up and down each and every aisle until you find what’s available.
Doesn’t sound like an effective use of time, does it? And yet this is the same type of frustration hiring managers are exposed to every time an applicant submits a resume that fails to open with a well-written Qualifications Summary and/or Skill Set.
What is a Qualifications Summary?
It’s a brief paragraph that showcases your most effective skills and experience. More importantly, it’s your chance to convince a hiring manager of the skills you can bring to the position. This is essential — hiring managers generally afford no more than 10 seconds to your resume, unless they’re compelled to read further.
So, how do you compel them to keep reading?
Let’s use this example: You’re an accountant who has worked at XYZ Company for nine years and been promoted every time you’ve come up for review. Because of your organizational efforts, the company is saving $2,500 monthly. You’ve passed the CPA exam. You’re skilled in Profit & Loss (P&L), audits, taxation matters, and internal controls. Now, you want a Controller position.
Rather than including all of this in the body of the resume, where the hiring manager would be forced to look for it (but won’t), the wise candidate would write something like this:
Results-oriented, detailed professional with comprehensive accounting experience. Background includes consistent promotions to positions of increased responsibility. Skilled in P&L, audits, taxation, internal controls, and streamlining procedures, effecting a monthly savings of $2,500 at XYZ Company. Recently passed the CPA exam; currently seeking a controller position.
In five lines, you’ve given specific examples of what you can do, quantified an accomplishment, indicated past performance, provided data on certification, and provided your career path. And you’ve done all of that in a well-written paragraph that’s easy to read.
Note that personal pronouns are not used here. In business writing, which includes resumes, personal pronouns such as I, me, or my are never used.
Qualifications Summary vs. the Objective
Fine, you say, but what about an Objective? In the modern resume, an objective statement is no longer used. Why? In the outmoded Objective, the candidate told the hiring manager what he wanted, whether that was a job at the company, room for advancement, a chance to use a new college degree, or any other reason an applicant could think of. The problem is that this can come across as self-serving.
On the other hand, the Qualifications Summary proactively declares what you can do for the targeted company, which places the hiring manager’s needs first. A wise applicant always uses a Qualifications Summary, either by itself or combined with a Skill Set.
What is a Skill Set?
It's a list of your core competencies, as they relate to your career goal. Again, let’s take the example of the accountant who has just passed the CPA exam and wants to be a controller. Rather than presenting all of that data in the Qualifications Summary, a portion of it would be showcased as a tagline (professional title or title of job you’re targeting) and skill set.
ResumeEdge.com is a leading resume writing and editing service specializing in 40 different industries to provide job-winning resumes and cover letters. ResumeEdge is a proud member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and the National Resume Writers Association.
Step Four: Accomplishments & Special Skills
There is nothing on your resume more important than your Accomplishments. Why? Think of it this way: you’re a hiring manager with one position to fill and 10 qualified candidates. Each candidate has the same basic educational and professional background. So, who gets the job?
The Candidate that Wins has Accomplished Something
The candidate who gets the job is the one who contributed the most at past positions. Accomplishments are all that separate you from other equally qualified candidates, with one caveat. They must be quantified.
Here are some examples of Professional Accomplishments:
Increasing the company’s bottom line
Streamlining procedures
Promotions
Special projects successfully completed
Decreasing costs
Company- or industry-sponsored awards
Certifications and licensure
In contrast, the following would not be appropriate:
Daily responsibilities that are included in your job description
Regular attendance at work
Getting along with co-workers
Working full-time while going to college at night
Volunteer or community service, unless it has a direct bearing on your job search
An Accomplishment goes beyond your usual job description. But for it to have the most effect, it must be quantified.
What is a Quantified Accomplishment?
A quantified Accomplishment should include dollar figures, percentages, and time periods.
For example: An accountant has streamlined procedures, realizing a $2,500 monthly savings for his company. A dollar figure quantifies the accomplishment, while noting "streamlined procedures" explains how he did it. If he achieved those savings within three months of hire, it might be written this way:
Achieved a $2,500 monthly savings for XYZ Company within three months of hire by streamlining procedures.
Imagine the hiring manager’s reaction to the above, as opposed to this entry: “Streamlined procedures for XYZ Company.” Doesn’t say much, does it?
Special Skills
Special Skills should be presented up front so that a hiring manager knows what you can do. In some instances, a special section (i.e. Computer Skills, Languages, Office Procedures, etc.) should be created to showcase these Special Skills.
Special Skills include:
Computer proficiencies
Office procedures such as answering multi-lined phone systems, taking dictation (include speed), transcription, typing (include speed), 10-key, etc.
Linguistic capabilities (fluency in a foreign language, ability to translate, etc.)
Any skill that’s industry-specific
Here is an example of a resume with outstanding Accomplishments and Special Skills, showcased effectively for hiring managers:
Supply Chain Director
ResumeEdge.com is a leading resume writing and editing service specializing in 40 different industries to provide job-winning resumes and cover letters. ResumeEdge is a proud member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and the National Resume Writers Association.
Step Five: Professional Experience
In the Professional Experience section of your resume, you will list your employers, job titles, and dates of employment in a reverse-chronological order; that is, your most recent job comes first, followed by your next most recent job, and so on. This format is standard and is expected by all hiring managers and admission directors.
Employment Dates
Generally speaking, hiring managers prefer years of employment, rather than months and years (i.e. 1999 - 2003 as opposed to May 1999 - April 2003). However, some college admission programs want specifics when it comes to dates, so it’s best to use precise dates when applying to graduate school.
In the Professional Experience section, you will also include daily tasks and responsibilities beneath the appropriate employer listing. If you’ve included a Career Accomplishments section in your resume, you should not repeat that data here. Once data is presented in a resume, it must not be repeated.
To ensure that your daily tasks are presented in an interesting and easy-to-read manner, you should do the following:
Use a bulleted format
This breaks up large blocks of text that could prove daunting to a hiring manager.
Delete unnecessary articles and adjectives
Your sentences should be short and snappy.
Begin each sentence with an action verb
This quickens the pace of your writing and makes the text more enjoyable to read.
Verb Tense
For those jobs where you are still currently employed, write your job duties in the present tense. For those jobs in the past, write the responsibilities you held in the past tense. Additionally, Professional Experience can be captured and showcased in three formats:
Functional
Chronological
Combination
In the functional format, you are stressing what you know over where you gained your experience. This works for those who have strong skills, but a weak employment record.
In the chronological format, you are providing a work history dating back from the present. This is the most common format and is generally preferred by hiring managers.
In the combination format, you are stressing what you know in one section, while also providing work history dating back from the present in another. This is a highly popular modern format.
ResumeEdge.com is a leading resume writing and editing service specializing in 40 different industries to provide job-winning resumes and cover letters. ResumeEdge is a proud member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and the National Resume Writers Association.
Step Six: Education & Training
Data provided in the Education section of your resume should be prioritized (and included) according to:
Your current career level (entry-level, as opposed to professional)
The purpose of your resume
The country in which your resume will be distributed
The Impact of Experience
If you’re an entry-level candidate with little or no professional experience, your education should be presented immediately after the Qualifications Summary and/or skills area. The reasoning for this is that education is currently your most marketable asset. Here, you would include:
GPA (if 3.5 or above)
Awards/scholarships
Dean’s list
Coursework relevant to job search
If you’re a professional with five or more years of experience, Education should be listed last on your resume. GPAs, awards or scholarships, and mention of dean’s lists are not generally provided in a professional or executive resume, except for those used for entrance into graduate school programs.
Resumes for Graduate Admission
Resumes sent to admission directors for graduate school can list Education before Professional Experience or after, depending upon these factors:
If you have just recently completed your bachelor’s degree, it should be listed before Professional Experience.
If you have real-world experience related to the graduate degree you are seeking, the Professional Experience should be listed first.
Resumes Submitted in and out of the U.S.
If you are distributing your resume within the U.S., high school education is not included. The only exception to this rule would be if you’re applying for a job with the federal government. In that case, you would include high school data.
When distributing a resume outside the U.S., high school education is included.
Training
Include all specialized training that is transferable to your new job target. If you have not attended college, definitely include all specialized training in your target field. Hiring managers generally prefer to see some post-secondary education.
ResumeEdge.com is a leading resume writing and editing service specializing in 40 different industries to provide job-winning resumes and cover letters. ResumeEdge is a proud member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and the National Resume Writers Association.
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