Writing a Resume

Writing a resume is easier said than done. There are many things you need to keep in mind while writing resume like what format should you use, how to frame the right object to suite new job's description. You need to create a resume that actually generates results.

What is a resume?

Resume is a self-promotional document that presents you in the best possible light, for the purpose of getting invited to a job interview. It's not an official personnel document. It's not a job application. It's not a "career obituary"! And it's not a confessional.

Why your resume is important?

It's the first meeting between you and a prospective employer. First impressions are lasting ones. Well, your resume is the first meeting between you and a prospective employer more often now than ever. So, how do you want to be remembered? Wrinkled and unorganized or Neat and structured. Long and boring or Precise and interesting.

Main purpose of resume writing

Your resume is a tool with one specific purpose: to win an interview. A resume is an advertisement, nothing more, nothing less. A great resume doesn't just tell them what you have done but makes the same assertion that all good ads do.

What resume writing isn't?

It is a mistake to think of your resume as a history of your past, as a personal statement or as some sort of self expression.

Focus on the employer's needs and not yours

Employer is not much interested in your needs but in company's. Ask yourself, what would make a perfect candidate for this job. What does the employer really want and need? What special abilities would this person have? What would set a truly exceptional candidate apart from a merely good one?

Great resumes has two sections

In the first, you make assertions about your abilities, qualities and achievements. You write powerful, but honest, advertising copy that makes the reader immediately perk up and realize that you are someone special.

The second section, the evidence section, is where you back up your assertions with evidence that you actually did what you said you did. This is where you list and describe the jobs you have held, your education, etc.

Objective of Resume Writing

Your resume should be pointed toward conveying why you are the perfect candidate for one specific objective or job title. Good advertising is directed toward a very specific objective.

Resume Tips

Free Resume Writing Tips
Following are the few professional and technical free resume writing tips.

1.     Use Titles or Headings That Match The Jobs You Want.

2.     Use resume designs that grabs attention.

3.     Analyze advertisement for job description and identify the key words. Use these keywords in your resume.

4.     Identify the employer's hidden needs. Solve these hidden needs in your resume.

5.     Create an image of yourself that matches with the salary you are expecting. For example, language used in a resume for an $6 an hour position is much different than the language used for a $16 an hour position.

6.     You can generate many more interviews by tweaking your resume and cover letter so that they address the specific skills each employer requests.

7.     List your technical knowledge first, in an organized way. Your technical strengths must stand out clearly at the beginning of your resume.

8.     List your qualifications in order of relevance, from most to least. Only list your degree and educational qualifications first if they are truly relevant to the job for which you are applying. If you've already done what you want to do in a new job, by all means, list it first, even if it wasn't your most recent job. Abandon any strict adherence to a chronological ordering of your experience.

9.     Quantify your experience wherever possible. Cite numerical figures, such as monetary budgets/funds saved, time periods/efficiency improved, lines of code written/debugged, numbers of machines administered/fixed, etc. which demonstrate progress or accomplishments due directly to your work.

10.   Begin sentences with action verbs. Portray yourself as someone who is active, uses their brain, and gets things done. Stick with the past tense, even for descriptions of currently held positions, to avoid confusion.

11.   Don't sell yourself short. Your experiences are worthy for review by hiring managers. Treat your resume as an advertisement for you.

12.   Keep your resume concise. Avoid lengthy descriptions of whole projects of which you were only a part.

13.   Minimize usage of articles (the, an, a) and never use "I" or other pronouns to identify yourself.

14.   Have a trusted friend review your resume.

15.   Proofread. Your resume should never go with errors, grammatical weaknesses, unusual punctuation, and inconsistent capitalizations.

16.   Sometimes you need to hide your age. If you're over 40 or 50 or 60, remember that you don't have to present your entire work history! You can simply label THAT part of your resume "Recent Work History" or "Relevant Work History" and then describe only the last 10 or 15 years of your experience.

17.   What if you never had any "real" paid jobs? Give yourself credit, and create an accurate, fair job-title for yourself. For example, A&S Hauling & Cleaning (Self-employed) or Household Repairman, Self-employed.

18.   Best way to impress your employer is, fill your resume with "PAR" statements. PAR stands for Problem-Action-Results; in other words, first you state the problem that existed in your workplace, then you describe what you did about it, and finally you point out the beneficial results.

19.   Don't go far back in your work history. About 10 or 15 years is usually enough - unless your "juiciest" work experience is from farther back.

Resume Format
How to Format Your Resume

Use the following information to format your resume. Generate a list of information to include on your resume, and then compile the details to format your resume into a customized resume to send to employers.

Resume Format

Your Contact Information
First Last Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone (Cell/Home)
Email Address

Objective (optional)
What do you want to do? If you include this section it should be a sentence or two about your employment goals. A customized objective that describes why you are the perfect candidate for the job can help your resume stand out from the competition.

Career Highlights / Qualifications (optional)
A customized section of your resume that lists key achievements, skills, traits, and experience relevant to the position for which you are applying can serve dual purposes.

Experience
This section of your resume includes your work history. List the companies you worked for, dates of employment, the positions you held and a bulleted list of responsibilities and achievements.

Company #1
City, State
Dates Worked

Job Title
Responsibilities / Achievements
Responsibilities / Achievements

Company #2
City, State
Dates Worked

Job Title
Responsibilities / Achievements
Responsibilities / Achievements

Education
In the education section of your resume, list the colleges you attended, the degrees you attained, and any special awards and honors you earned.

College, Degree
Awards, Honors

Skills
Include skills related to the position / career field that you are applying for i.e. computer skills, language skills.

References available upon request
There is no need to include references on your resume. Rather, have a separate list of references to give to employers upon request.

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