Just write the resume, submit it to the job sites, and sit back for the cell phone to ring till the battery’s dead, right?  Probably not gonna happen no matter how good of a candidate you are.

Instead, its time to start thinking of how to take your personal marketing to the next level.

Another piece to this puzzle is a personal web site.  Start boning up on how to set one up as well as what you would want to put on your’s.  All that extra stuff you wish you could have crammed into your resume?  Now’s your chance.  Mind you, you do not want to build this site to talk about your favorite music, politics, or anything else that isn’t dead set on getting you job interviews.  This is strictly business - the business of getting you the type of position you are seeking.

Check back here soon.  I will be exploring this concept in depth.

Unless you learn how to make a resume, it will cost you lots of money for a skill that you really need to know first-hand.  With the right reference materials, the essentials of resume writing can be learned in an hour or two.  I offer an excellent book on this topic at my website, if I may say so myself.  Of course, as you know, you can also visit almost any bookstore to find several other books that will bring you up to speed.

You will wind up paying anywhere from just over $100 to a few hundred dollars for an experienced professional to prepare a resume for you.  You may see teaser ads for less, but as always, you get what you pay for.  After all, the professional resume writer wants to make a good living, too.  If the cost to you is exceptionally low, chances are it will be farmed out to a less experienced writer.

Reason 2: It Will Cost You Even More Money Later

Let’s say that you pay someone to prepare your resume for you.  A bit painful to your pocketbook, but maybe not so bad depending on your budget.  The problem is, in today’s highly competitive job market, you will need to do everything you can to increase your odds at landing a job favorable to your career.  That includes tweaking and tuning your resume as the situation dictates.

As an example, let’s say at your current job you have been called on to handle a wide range of tasks - and you have carried them out exceptionally well.  The problem is, you may not want to list all of those responsibilities in a single resume.  That might give the impression that you are not focused on any particular expertise and that may put you at a disadvantage.  Better to research what skill sets and what role the company you are interested in is looking to fill.  Then, tune your resume accordingly.  Takes more time?  Yes. Gets better results? Absolutely.

Since you paid someone to write the resume the first time, you probably will not have the confidence to restructure it to suite each specific need.  Sometimes you may just need a tweak - and you will handle that.  Other times, it may take some serious changes to put your background and capabilities in the most favorable light.  Going back to the professional writer to get this done each time is going to cost you!

Also, don’t forget cover letters.  This the single best way to showcase how you would fit each job opportunity.  Even if you decide to stick with one version of your resume, each cover letter must be customized to be effective.  Here again, you will start to feel pain in your bank account if you don’t master the skills to tailor your own resume and cover letters accordingly.

Reason 3: You Will Have To Do Most Of The Work Anyway

Even the best professional resume writer is not a mind reader.  He or she cannot assemble the raw materials - the details of your background - without significant input from you.  What you will soon discover is that this can be the most time consuming task of all.  In other words, you are going to be put to work by the resume writer.  And among the resume writing stages and tasks, this fact collection process can be the most time consuming.

So, let’s see…you are going to do the heavy lifting of assembling all the raw materials for your resume.  Then, you are going to pay someone else the big bucks to turn it into a concise summary.  Not that great of a trade-off, if you ask me.

Reason 4: You Know Yourself - The Resume Write Does Not

Speaking of mind readers, who knows you better than you know yourself?  You will have to convey your career asperations, your likes and dislikes, your motivations, etc.  This may take some deep thinking and reflection on your part.  So here again, the burden is on you to shape this into your career objectives…all so the resume writer can simply summarize this critical information in a few bullet points.

Reason 5: You Need To Know Exactly What Is On Your Resume And Why

Obviously, you know what is on your resume, right?  Not necessarily if you had someone else write it and you don’t review it very carefully.  Keep in mind that many facts large and small went into the shaping of your winning resume.  When the time comes to sit in front of a hiring manager for a face-to-face interview, you should not be hesitant about which facts made it onto your resume and which ones did not.  Chances are your words will not be in sync with your written resume if you are not thoroughly familiar with exactly what your resume says.  The best way to be on top of those details is to write your resume for yourself.

Understandably, there is an impulse to add endless details to your resume since you don’t want to miss any opportunity.  After all, while you have your reader’s attention - there is the urge to get everything out on the table.  The problem is that too much information - “TMI” as my kids tell me - will tend to loose rather than keep the attention of the hiring manager.  To prove this point, get a long resume of, say, a colleague and read through it. If it is longer than two pages, unless this person has quite an exotic work history, you will almost certainly be skimming, once you are more than two pages into the resume.

It may help to always keep in mind the primary objective of a resume.    Actually, let’s first back up and review what the resume is not.  The objective is not to somehow get a job offer because you seem - based on your resume - like the answer to the hiring manager’s prayers. The primary objective is to get the interview!  Once you are in the interview, you have a far better chance of covering exactly the parts of your skills and work history that are relevant to the job opening.

Actually, when you think about it, too much information can have the opposite effect.  When a hiring manager is making decisions about a stack of candidates, all it takes is a “no” about some aspect of the candidate’s background and into the trash your resume will go.  After all, he or she has reams of resumes to choose from.  Best is to provide strong statements of capabilities, leaving the manager hungry for more details.

A good resume is one in which:

1. Your objectives are consistent with the company and the position being filled.
2. You a have solid track record as a competent employee who gets things done.
3. You have sufficient hands-on experience with the technical or procedural aspects of the job.

As you try your hand at being economical with words, emphasize what you accomplished over what was done day to day.  In other words, emphasize what you designed, managed, created, what the company gained by your talents, etc.  Feel free to slim down any other particulars, although you will need enough to load your resume with highly relevant keywords.  For example, if you used key software tools that every candidate is expected to know, work in a reference to those tools.  If you are at an expert level for a certain skill that sets you apart, work that in, too.

How long should your resume be?  If you are just starting out, or if you have worked for 10 years or less for one employer, then you should be able to keep it to one page.  If you are more “senior”, or if you a “fast track” employee with lots of accomplishments, then a two pager is fine.

Bottom line?  Concentrate on the benefit you bring to the company.  Do this on your “objectives” section.  Then, make the remainder of the resume concise, hard-hitting statements to back that up, based on past accomplishments and the set of skills you have to offer.

Let me explain…

You are going to spend the time to write a great resume.  You should probably also research the companies you want to work for.  Most definitely, you are going to join a few of the most appealing job sites - the major ones plus others that cater to your particular profession or industry.

Since you are targeting a particular industry, you are going to make sure you have the right keywords and phrases seeded in your resume. This will increase your odds of being found through database searches by potential employers.

So far, all just good resume writing practice.

So, here’s the risk.  It is a distinct possibility that the company that currently employs you will also obtain your resume as a result of their own employee search activities.  After all, you will be following the Resume Revelation way, so that you have a quality resume seeded with all of the key terms and phrases for your profession.

So, what do you do if you are confronted about this by your management?  This is where the excuse comes in handy - the excuse being a reasonable cause to have posted your resume.  A carefully planned excuse may just keep you out of hot water with your current employer until you do find that new position.

Here are a couple as illustrations:

“I don’t necessarily want to leave, but looking at our company’s recent financials made me nervous.”

“I don’t necessarily want to leave, but our industry seems to be tanking right now.  As a precaution, I thought I should at least have a resume in circulation.”

“I don’t necessarily want to leave, but [fill in with what ever best fits your situation].”

You get the idea…use your imagination and make it seem entirely plausible.

A good resume is one which sets you apart from the competition. This may not be as hard as it seems. After all, the majority of resumes are poorly written and do not represent the candidate well. Instead, your resume should showcase your background and qualifications in such a way that the hiring manager would seem incompetent if he or she did not invite you in for the interview. Here are a few tips from the professional resume writers to help you achieve that goal.

1. Be honest. It should surprise no one that employers can and will verify key facts on your resume. It’s not that difficult for them to do. If they do find something significantly misleading or false, you could get terminated. Even if you simply over state your abilities, you will have a difficult time matching your performance with the expectations your resume has set.
2. Be concise. One page should do unless you have several years of experience. Assuming the latter, definitely keep it to two pages and learn to edit and prune information. Keep only the most necessary and impressive. Think in terms of using the interview rather than your resume to fill in details as needed. The reader should be able to skim or quickly read your resume to get all of the critical details.
3. This is basic, but it is surprising how many fail to use bold headings between sections. For example, use headings such as “Objectives” and “Employment History.” Put your contact information at the top. Make sure the phone number you provide has an answering machine or voice mail associated with it. Contact information goes at the very top of the page. Employers should never have to search to find out how to get in touch with you.
4. The career objectives seems to be a especially difficult for many. You should learn to feel comfortable asking for exactly what you want, so long as you do not over reach. It is not good form, for example, to be asking for the same position as the hiring manager who interviews you. Do make sure, however, that your objectives section shows that you are confident and quite capable of getting things done.
5. Summarize your work history with an emphasis on experience, skills, and accomplishments. Using bullet points allows for a clean, clutter-free layout for this type of information. The key here is to show that you are someone who is productive and gets things done.
6. Be selective when summarizing your work history. Certainly anything that, as mentioned above, proves that you can get things done should usually be included. However, give consideration to items that are not relevant to the type of position you are seeking and eliminate them. Instead, expand on things that would make a direct impact on the types of businesses you are applying to. Consider reducing or even leaving off information that is quite old. Keep in mind that a resume is a sales tool, not a tell-all autobiography.
7. Make sure your resume is highly readable. Use one font - one that is fairly standard. You never want to appear cute by using, for example, a cursive font. Don’t try to use extremely small fonts to get everything to fit on the page. This is an indication, instead, that you need to do more editing.
8. Use dynamic, action words to describe yourself and your accomplishments. This is often one of the more tricky resume writing skills to acquire. Try looking at good resume samples to get ideas. Overall, keep in mind that you want to appear that you are highly competent and that you accomplished things. Read your resume over to assure that it does not give the impression that you simply showed up for work each day.
9. In your education section don’t forget about courses, certifications, formal trainings, achievements, and awards. But, don’t go overboard with items such as trainings that are not pertinent to the job you are seeking. This section can also help if you need some critical experience with new technology, or experience in an area that you have not yet worked. By that I mean you can take night-school classes or training, for example, to show that you are seriously prepared for that particular type of work.
10. Don’t feel you have to write a “one size fits all” resume. The benefit of writing your own resume is that you have lots of backup materials that you can draw from if you are pursuing two or three slightly different opportunities. Also, if it fits your schedule, take some time to review a prospective company’s web site and “tune” your resume accordingly prior to sending it to them.

Here are some suggested careers that have more resilience in a recession: health care, security, education, environmental services, and government. You can read a bit more about these here.

Not a doctor but want to get into health care? Not an IT expert but want to work in the network security field?

An accountant can work in many industries. So can an office manager. So can a sales professional. You get the idea. You want to take inventory of your transferable skills and present them in the recession-proof industry of your choosing.

Just write a good resume as of course you will using tips and suggestions found here at Resume Revelation. But, as you do so, keep in mind there are three areas to focus on:

1. Your objectives section gives you a chance to highlight some of those transferable skills right up front.
2. In your employment history, be sure to turn up the volume on the transferable skills that you can use to move into the new segment. Of course, you will also minimize skills and experience that do not apply. Don’t get carried away and gut your resume, just turn up the volume on one set of skills/experience (the transferable stuff) and turn it down on the rest.
3. Lastly, the cover letter gives you a wide open shot at why and how you are suited for each specific companies your are interested in.

Since a hiring manager will expect your resume to represent you in the very best light, you had better make sure it represents you, well, in the very best light.

Make sure you can back up your words, but do find ways to shine on that page.  This is no time to be coy or to expect the reader to just “get it.”

So, follow the tips provided here and check out my free minicourse in resume writing.  Invest the time and effort to assure that your resume sparkles.  You have everything to loose.

Let’s take an example with a very common term - Masters of Business Administration. Seems simple enough that this term would show up frequently when searching for qualified candidates.

But, if your resume indicates that you have a “Masters of Business Administration” and the database search term is MBA, your resume will not turn up in the search.

The solution? Find a way to work both the abbreviation as well as the long version in your resume. For example somewhere in your employment history section, use the short version. Then, in the education section, use the long version. This way, you are covered and will get maximum exposure.

]]> http://www.resumerevelation.com/blog/12/5-things-your-resume-must-do/feed/ http://www.resumerevelation.com/blog/11/how-to-write-a-good-resume-the-resume-revelation-way/ http://www.resumerevelation.com/blog/11/how-to-write-a-good-resume-the-resume-revelation-way/#comments Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:36:32 +0000 admin http://www.resumerevelation.com/blog/?p=11 This site is named Resume Revelation for a reason. The revelation that I want you to consider is this: you should view your resume as one of the central pieces of sales literature in your campaign to sell yourself to your future employer. To put it simply, you are the product and your resume is the sales literature. The purpose of the sales literature is to arouse the interest of potential employers sufficiently to get you interviews.

Most will make the fatal error of treating their resume very casually…simply listing their job history plus a few details concerning education. Big mistake, as this puts an extra burden on potential employers to even notice you. They will have to sift through dozens, if not hundreds of resumes that pretty much look just like yours. Is it a suprise when mass distributing resumes rarely generates a callback?

You may indeed be the very best candidate for a job opening. But, the list of career sites keeps grows…along with services that distribute resumes to every conceivable opportunity. The result is a ream of resumes available to employers for any published openings.

So…keep in mind. The resume should be viewed as a finely honed piece of sales literature which represents you, the product.