Resume Writing Tips
Writing a resume is essential for just about any job opening you will find on the internet. Free-wheeling a resume might work, but with a tiny bit of planning, you can create a resume that you can use over and over .... with minor changes perhaps in your goal and work experience.
Detail, detail, detail
The first step is to get organized. Assemble all of the basic information for the training experiences you have had ... all the way back to high school or GED date. The more information you provide about the name, location, mailing address, telephone numbers and even the name of a contact person will promote the image of being detail oriented. ALL employers want employees who pay attention to detail...
Unrelated Work Experience
If work experience is minimal and the bulk of your experience is training related... then itemize coursework taken that you performed well in... as long as it pertains to the job you are applying for. Work experiences that are not related to the job you are applying for can emphasize reliability, dependability, work skills that have a minor relationship to what you are applying for, even special commendations.
Limit the size of your resume to two pages.... better if you can make it one page. Have printed versions of your resume handy in case you need to fax a resume and your computer doesn't have a faxing function. Public libraries, state employment offices and job placement departments of training schools are good resources for creating nice looking printed resumes.
When listing your work experiences, try to use action verbs to describe what you did... in behavioral terms. Sometimes the use of "working knowledge of" works well when it isn't accurate to say "skilled in." A popular concept in Human Resources is "Knowledge, Skills and Abilities." Try to frame your resume with these concepts in mind.
The Right Career Goal
Provide a sentence or two about your career goals. Pay close attention to the words you use... employers will respond favorably if they sense their investment in hiring you will be a good one. Regardless of how well you are trained or experienced.. an employer still invests time and energy in training a new employee to do things a certain way.
Proofreading
Make sure you have someone proofread your resume... never rely upon a computerized spell checker or yourself. Having one or two other people read your material will catch spelling, punctuation and grammar errors... but more importantly will eliminate goofy sounding statements. One serious error can kill your candidacy for a job.
Phrases replace sentences
When describing your work skills and experiences, it is common to write in phrases, rather than complete sentences. Get help if you have difficulty in crunching down a 15 word sentence into 4 or 5 words.
Things like photos or date of birth can be avoided, although many employment related websites enable people to upload pictures. Having a photo of yourself functioning in the position you are applying for could have its rewards, however.
Resume Types
There are 2 basic types of resumes. One that stresses a solid work history (Chronological) and a resume that stresses skills and experience (Functional) which is good for recent graduates with little work experience.
The object is to select the resume style that best highlights your strongest assets.
Chronological Resume: lists most recent job duties and employment dates first; fact based; easily skimmed (notice how phrases instead of sentences are used here).
Functional Resume: focuses on skills, training courses (if newly trained), experience, accomplishments; allows emphasis on unpaid work experience and volunteer experiences. Volunteer experiences, if related to the job opening, can be critical for a person who is a recent trainee. In simple terms, evidence of a person working for free can be quite impressive, especially if the competition is between you and one other candidate.
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