Resumes For Todays Job Market

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Resumes For Todays Job Market

• Secrets to Creating a Successful Resume

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What Recruiters Are Saying About Resumes
You may be losing opportunities by violating
these simple rules

• 20 Not Including, or Burying Important
  Information in the Resume.
• 19 Gaps in Employment definite red flag.
• 18 Resumes Written in 1st I was responsible
  for or 3rd person Mr. Rogers was.
• 17 No Easy to Follow Summary should be very
  brief and to the point.
• 16 Pictures, Graphics, or URL Links.

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What Recruiters Are Saying About Resumes
You may be losing opportunities by violating
these simple rules, contd

• 15 Resumes Not Sent as a Word Attachment.
• 14 Poor Font Choice.
• 13 Objectives or Meaningless Introductions.
• 12 Lying or Misleading Information.
• 11 Employer or Industry Information Not
  Included.

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What Recruiters Are Saying About Resumes
You may be losing opportunities by violating
these simple rules, contd

• 10 Personal Info Not Relevant to the Job.
• 9 Candidates Who Apply for positions they are
  Unqualified For.
• 8 Long Paragraphs.
• 7 Long Resumes.
• 6 Functional Resumes.

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What Recruiters Are Saying About Resumes
You may be losing opportunities by violating
these simple rules, contd

• 5 Poor Formatting.
• 4 Incomplete contact info.
• 3 Dates not included or inaccurate dates.
• 2 Too duty/task oriented.
• 1 Spelling errors, typos, and poor grammar.

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Tips for Creating a Concise Resume

• Your Resume Is Not an Autobiography.
• Dont confuse telling your story with creating
  your autobiography.
• Dust off your resume and ask yourself
• Can a hiring manager see my main credentials
  within 10 to 15 seconds?
• Does critical information jump off the page?
• Do I effectively sell myself on the top quarter
  of the first page?

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Tips for Creating a Concise Resume

• The Sales Pitch.
• Because resumes are quickly skimmed during the
  first pass, it is crucial your resume gets right
  to work selling your credentials.
• Key selling points should be displayed at the top
  of the first page.
• An effective way to showcase your key
  qualifications is to include a Career Summary
  statement at the top of the first page.
• The remainder of the resume should back up the
  statements made in your summary.

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Eight Tips to Keep Your Resume Concise

• Avoid Repeating Information.
• Eliminate Old Experience.
• Dont Include Irrelevant Information.
• Cut Down on Job Duties and Highlight
  accomplishments.
• Remove References Available Upon Request.
• Use a Telegraphic Writing Style.
• Edit Unnecessary Words.
• Customize Your Resume For Your Job Target.

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Top Secrets of a Great Resume
An effective job hunt means having a complete,
professional job search strategy, and your resume
must be a key part of that strategy.

• First and Foremost Tell Employers What They
  Really Want To Know!
• What can you do for me?
• How can you fill this job effectively?
• Why should I talk to you?
• Why should I hire you?

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Top Secrets of a Great Resume

• Consistently Market Your Skills and Abilities.
• Take a moment and really think about what this
  means. Does your current resume really market
  your most applicable skills and abilities, or is
  it a listing of your past?
• A resume must be clear and tell the reader what
  you really want to do. Lead the interviewer in
  the direction you want to go.

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Top Secrets of a Great Resume

• Consistently Market Your Skills and Abilities,
  contd..
• An objective on your resume can be very useful
  when targeted and concise, but leave it out if
  youre afraid it may block you from certain
  positions.
• Make sure the objective quickly defines what
  youre looking for in one or two sentences.

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Top Secrets of a Great Resume

• Consistently Market Your Skills and Abilities,
  contd..
• Consider utilizing a Combination resume format.
  It combines a modified Functional (ability/skill)
  resume with a Chronological (job listing) resume.
  This gives you a two-pronged approach, and the
  best of both worlds.

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Top Secrets of a Great Resume

• Predigest Your Information.
• Why trust an employer to study your entire work
  history and hope they find something interesting?
• Your resume must be a brief advertisement. How
  many resumes are actually written along these
  lines? Very few!

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Some Final Thoughts
Although personal networking is the best way to
get a job, having an excellent resume is another
way, often just by itself, to get an interview
which can lead to a job.
Of course, a brief cover letter should be
targeted to the hiring authority whenever
possible. Tell the reader what you know about
their operation, and why you want to work
specifically for his/her company. Make them feel
like theyre the only person getting your resume.
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Resumes For Todays Job Market

• Your resume should be your accomplishments and
  potential contributions on paper.
• Isnt it worth doing right?