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Designing Your Professional Résumé | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The resume is a promotional sales tool designed to sell YOU to a prospective employer. The résumé's primary purpose is to get you a foot in the door and secure job interviews. It must attract the attention of employers and interest them in what you have to offer as a potential candidate for employment. A resume should not be a full-fledged autobiography. Rather it is a written summary of personal qualifications, education, and experience intended to demonstrate capabilities for a particular position. It should contain enough information in a brief, detailed, and specific manner to inform the prospective employer about you. Your resume should reflect strengths and achievements in a well-arranged, attractive, easy-to-read format. Your resume should always be current and contain relevant information. When selecting a resume format, you should consider eye appeal, readability, and a total positive impression. Use of adequate "white space", (generous spacing and separation of components on your resume) will help achieve this effect. You may choose to bold, underline and/or capitalize key heading, job titles, education, special skills, accomplishments, etc. There are three types of resume formats from which to choose: Chronological Resume Potential employers find chronological resumes very easy to read. Chronological resumes are the simplest, most common type used in job search. This type of resume stresses your history, when and what you did during work and academic life. Education and job experience are listed in reverse order beginning with your current or most recent job and schooling. Emphasize skills and abilities you have to meet your career objectives and to perform the job you are seeking. Advantage: This traditional resume form is logical and easy to follow. This form emphasizes continuity and many employers prefer this resume form. Disadvantage: Emphasizes gaps in employment, limited experience, or other weak areas. Functional Resume Functional resumes are also called skills resumes. This resume form emphasizes your abilities and may help mask limited experiences or gaps in your employment record. A functional resume shows your skills and demonstrates how you can use them. The functional resume looks different from the more common chronological resume. Potential employers may find it more difficult to read and may assume that you are trying to hide something. Advantage: This form highlights what you are capable of and draws attention to accomplishments. The resume is organized according to your interests rather than past work experience, and it de-emphasizes short-term employment. Disadvantage: The functional form is not as universally welcome as the chronological form because it plays down direct experience. Potential employers may be suspicious that a candidate is trying to cover up something, such as a gap in employment. Combination Resume The combination resume combines the strengths of the functional and chronological resume formats. The combination resume provides an opportunity to present your skills and attributes up front. Data is organized according to skills as in the functional resume, but also includes a brief employment history. ORGANIZING YOUR RESUME INFORMATION... Most resumes have the following categories: Heading The heading should include your name, present address, and telephone number. If you are a college student or will be moving from your present address within a short time, the heading may also include permanent address and telephone number where you may be contacted. Objective When included, the job objective generally follows the heading. The objective is similar to a personal mission statement. It must be specific enough that the prospective employer knows you are focused, but general enough that it doesn't limit your options within an organization. It is best to tailor your objective to each organization or position targeted in your job search. Education/Training Beginning with your most recent education, work backward. Be certain to include your degree, certificates, licenses, dates of graduation, schools, and school locations. You may elect to include additional areas of study and specific coursework. Work Experience Listing your most recent experience, work backward. Cover full-time, part-time, summer, and volunteer work; military service; internships and self-employment. You should document job title, name and location of employer, major accomplishments and responsibilities, and dates of employment. Be sure to use action verbs in describing your duties, responsibilities, and accomplishments. For example:
Summary of Skills A summary of skills allows the prospective employer to see precisely what strengths you possess. Use this approach with a FUNCTIONAL resume format. Identify major skill areas and highlight them by using action verbs to give an in-depth description of your duties, responsibilities, and accomplishments. Activities/Honors Include honors and accomplishments; this category indicates leadership skills, motivation, initiative, and organizational skills. Your selected activities should be current and relevant to the position that you are seeking. Identify the organization(s) to which you belong and the role you play in each, and highlight any activities which are closely related to your career goals and/or the needs of the employer. Interests Identify some of your personal interests only if they are pertinent to your career goals and/or the needs of the employer. Do not include this section if it takes up space needed for more relevant job seeking information. References When identifying your references on a separate page, include the name, title, organization address (including city, state, and zip code), and business telephone number of your references. YOU MUST ALWAYS acquire permission from individuals before LISTING them as a reference. Whether describing a paid position, volunteer work, or involvement in an organization, the "language" of your resume is important in lending clarity and strength to your job search message. The following tips will give "power to your resume." Be Results Oriented Employers are looking for accomplishments; include relevant skills and accomplishments applicable to your career. You may have been president of an organization, but an employer is more interested in what you did as president. For example: Write: President, ..................................................., January 1998 - December 1998 -Raised membership 50 percent, from 30 to 60 members -Motivated officers' group to accomplish all goals and objectives Use Active Verbs Passive verb constructions, as well as phrases such as "responsible for" and "duties included"--tend to be boring. Start each sentence with an action verb. For example: Write: Prepared monthly financial report for administration Write: While teaching 25 fifth graders, developed and implemented a unit of instruction that utilized contextual learning. Easy Reading, Short Phrases Make the writing flow easily and quickly. Complete sentences, cannot be read as quickly as fragments. Short phrases with strong verbs are easy to scan, conveying your message clearly and dynamically. I was... I did... I have... I am... I made... I... Sentence fragments allow you to skip over the repetitive personal pronoun and get directly to the important part-time activity or accomplishment. For example:
Quantify Achievements Use concise phrasing rather than complete sentences. Quantify as much as possible. For example: "Supervises others" can be made more specific and impressive by stating "supervised fifteen teachers." Incorporate Brief Explanation of Activities Whenever Necessary Write: Recipient of John Doe Scholarship for Exemplary Leadership Skills Write: President of 30-member Lions Club International, which is dedicated to undertaking public service projects Use Professional, Work-Oriented Language Showcase work-related skills. For example: If you worked as a file clerk in a fast-paced, highly visible office, it's easy to surmise that you mastered the art of alphabetizing! A prospective employer, however, is probably not as interested in that as he/she would be that you were promoted from file clerk to receptionist in only two weeks. For example: Occupation: Shoe Salesperson Instead of: Took inventory Write: Took charge of purchase and receipt of merchandise and inventory control Use Specific Vocabulary of the Industry Acquaint yourself with the acronyms, accepted abbreviations, and buzzwords that will help to give your resume a familiar feel to the employer. Read trade magazines specific to your industry and make note of words that come up during informational interviews. Demonstrate that you are prepared to work in your career field. BE GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT AND CHECK YOUR SPELLING!
Job Search Tip! Make it easy for an employer to contact you! If you don't currently own an answering machine, consider investing in one. Many jobs have been lost because someone could not be reached; you don't want to add your name to that list. Your message should be brief and professional. Don't forget to advise roommates and/or family members that your job search has commenced - stress the importance of answering the phone professionally and taking accurate messages. Design an Attractive Layout Leave a 1" margin on all sides. Use capital letters, bolding, bullets, and indenting to emphasize important information. Keep paragraphs short, and double- or triple-space between them. Type or Print Your Resume Each resume should be individually typed or professionally printed on quality resume paper. Use a word processor or a typewriter that produces neat, clean type (or hire a professional) Choose a typeface that is simple. Use high-quality bond paper (at least 20-pound weight). Generally, employers are conservative and a resume prepared on white, off-white, light tan, or light gray will receive a more positive response. Don't use a photocopier to make copies. Proofread Carefully Check spelling, punctuation, grammar, and word usage. Have someone
else with good language skills proofread your resume too. |
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