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The resume is a great tool, an opportunity is there to sell your achievements creatively and aggressively, to effectively position yourself above the competing applicants, and get in the door for an interview. Just remember: the purpose of your resume is to get the interview. Resumes don't get jobs.
The key is to capture and hold an audience long enough to accomplish your specific purpose -- to get to the next step in the process, the interview. But don't ever believe that the resume alone will score the interview. Or the job.
In this highly competitive job market, your resume has to do more than provide a simple outline of your previous work experience. It needs to be strategically developed as a personal marketing tool.
Resume advice has been the subject of numerous books and articles. Debates about topics such
as the "one- versus two-page resume" have been spawned from this industry. The fact is there
are no fixed rules, but there are widely accepted guidelines to follow whenever you are writing
your own professional resume.
A few essentials to bear in mind are that:
- Resumes remain an image business.
- Your resume should focus on your future, not your past.
- It should emphasise your accomplishments, rather than be a mere listing of your past job duties or job descriptions, and
- A resume should document the skills you enjoy using, not those you used because you had to.
The first hurdle your resume has to pass is whether it ends up in the "to be considered" file
or is simply tossed into File 13, the bin. This superficial sorting process may take less than
thirty seconds, so that is all the time you have to make an impact.
The main objective of your resume is to sell yourself for the type of work you are pursuing. It
should state clearly the type of work you want and why you are qualified. The idea is to present
your credentials in a way that will make the reader want to read everything you have included.
The resume is a personal selling tool that outlines your skills and experiences so a potential
employer can see, at a glance, how you can contribute to the workplace. It has to sell you, so
view it as your primary personal public relations product. While you may have all the
requirements for a particular position, your resume is a failure if the employer does not
instantly come to the conclusion that you "have what it takes."
The most effective resumes are clearly focused on a specific job title and address the
employer's stated requirements for the position. The more you know about the duties and skills
required for the job--and organize your resume around these points--the more effective the
resume. So research into both the job and the company is essential.
Good resumes are based on sound information. Apart from the factual elements, you will need to
identify your most relevant accomplishments, skills and experience for the position you are
applying for.
The more you know about the employer and the position, the more you can tailor your resume to
fit the job. And customisation is the key. The idea of "one size fits all" does not apply to
resumes. These documents need to be carefully crafted to each position and company you apply to.
Take a look at our guide to resume content, and our tips on CV
Do's and Don'ts, and examine the five
different types of resumes to see which is best for you:
Functional |
Chronological |
Curriculum Vitae |
Combination |
Electronic
Be factual when writing down all of your information and lay out your credentials in a way that
is clear, concise and easy to read. A general standard is to cover the most recent ten years
when listing your employment history. While wordiness spells sure death, it is important that
you provide detailed information to substantiate not only your qualifications, but also your
ability to contribute to the company and effect positive change.
There are a number of elements which you should consider while putting pen to paper:
- Know your best and most enjoyable transferable skills.
- Know what kind of work you want to do, what field you would most enjoy working in.
- Talk to people who are doing the work you want to do, in that field. Find out how they like
the work, how they found their job.
- Do some research on organisations which interest you, to find what
they do and what kinds of problems/challenges they or their industry are wrestling with.
- Identify and seek out the person who actually has the power to hire you at each
organization, for the job you want.
In a nutshell, your resume should be a well-considered, well-organized personal "brochure" that
summarizes your experience and highlights your achievements. It should present your skills,
capabilities and strengths in the best possible light, but never exaggerate. Remember, you
resume provides your potential employers with their first impression of you.
Sources: JobSmart, What Color Is your Parachute? and Career Magazine.
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