101 Great Résumés

Ron Fry

• Publisher: Career Press
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781453254240
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Careers

In 101 Great Résumés, you will find the résumé format that will work wonders for you, one that can showcase your unique background, situation and career goals and help you land your dream job. It features résumés tailored to the individual situations, challenges, and aspirations of today's job seekers.

1

THE ELEMENTS OF YOUR RESUME

Resumes are dead, some will tell you. Don’t need one, shouldn’t make one, never send one.

Or you still need one, but not the one you’re used to. Has to be scannable. E-mailable. Online. Even better, a multi-media presentation on your own Website!

Well…no. Resumes are not dead. The process has changed in some very key ways—slapping together a quick list of your jobs and schools and, oh, yeah, some of that volunteer stuff and extracurricular clubs, is not going to fly anymore (presuming it ever did). Speaking of “key,” who ever heard of “key words” a decade ago? But then, we weren’t posting our resumes on Hotjobs.com, either.

There are more and more qualified people out there for most jobs than in recent memory. So what’s really changed is the level of competition and the need, more than ever, to set yourself apart from all those other contenders.

Nope, still need a resume. Just one that’s going to require more preparation, better writing, and a more professional, eye-catching presentation.

Exactly what is a resume?

Your resume is a written (or e-mailed, scannable, or electronic) document that is intended to convince an employer that his needs and your skills and qualifications are a perfect match. Which doesn’t mean you will immediately be offered the job, just that you will get in the door for an interview.

Your resume should describe you and show what you can do by highlighting what you have already done. It should include your professional and volunteer experience, special skills, education, and accomplishments.

What shouldn’t your resume be? Informal, lengthy, unfocused, lacking in pertinent detail, glib, highly personal, chatty, dishonest, or overblown. Oh, and it shouldn’t be a mix of 14 different type styles (with liberal use of boldface, italics, and underlines) printed on canary yellow or purple neon paper.

Who needs a resume? You do. Whatever your age, sex, marital status, religious persuasion, or hair color. Whether you’re graduating from high school, college, or grad school; moving in, up, or out of a career; “transitioning” from one career to another (or from the military to anything); or reentering the workforce after any substantial interruption.

Did I omit your situation? Sorry—but you need a resume, too.

Even if you’re a student just applying for a summer job, internship, or part-time work, a well-prepared, well-written, well-designed resume will set you apart, show prospective employers you’re serious, and present you in the manner you want to be perceived—professional, competent, and ready to work.

What will it do for me?

An excellent resume will not get you a job all on its own. But it does demonstrate that you take yourself and your career seriously—that you’ve put the necessary time and thought into communicating your qualifications, accomplishments, and goals.

A good resume helps you pique a prospective employer’s interest and prevents you from achieving circular-file status. Whether you’re making a “cold” call or have already developed a contact within the company, your resume is the personal calling card that will help you market your skills and experience…and perhaps land you an interview.

In today’s job market, networking is essential. Your friends, neighbors, relatives, and former co-workers are all significant contacts in the business world. Having a current resume comes in handy when Uncle James or Neighbor Nancy hears about a position right up your alley. Circulating your resume among your network increases your chances of landing gainful employment.

Your resume also serves as a self-assessment tool, an opportunity to complete a self-inventory and see where you’ve been and where you’d like to go. Creating your resume allows you to evaluate your career and set future goals.

What is an effective resume?

An effective resume must make a good first impression. Of course, appearance is important. Typos, grammatical mistakes, and dog-eared pages will not impress many prospective employers.

But content is even more crucial. The information in your resume needs to be well organized, easy to read, and results-oriented.

An effective resume should:

Address the employers’ needs. Employers hire people who can fill their specific needs. Communicate that you are that person. At this point, you shouldn’t even be thinking about your needs, wants, or desires…I guarantee you the employer isn’t!

Show employers how they will benefit. Stress your accomplishments and show employers you’re an excellent prospect with talents to spare. Provide results-oriented data that proves you’ve handled previous jobs well and have consistently contributed to the success of every company, group, or club with which you’ve associated.

Be clear and concise. Employers sort through piles of resumes daily and typically devote 30 seconds or less to each one. Make your presentation clear, concise, and easy to read.

Be targeted. Your resume should communicate a well-defined objective tied to a specific career (even if you don’t actually include a “Job Objective”).

Support your promises of performance with reasons why you are the best applicant. Clearly present your skills and qualifications.

Be realistic. It should describe a person qualified and suited for the particular career it has targeted. Shy introverts should not try to present themselves as killer salespeople; anal-retentive accountants should not be seeking creative jobs at the trendiest ad boutique.

Be honest. Many of you may be tempted to make that one short-term job—from which you were fired—effectively “disappear” from your resume by “adjusting” time spent at a previous and/or subsequent job. Or you will shamelessly inflate a low-level position into a fancier sounding title with greater responsibilities. The truth will out. Be careful.

Organize your job search. A good resume helps you focus on your accomplishments and career goals. It also helps organize your thoughts for potential job interviews. Once you’ve taken stock of yourself, and realized all you’ve achieved and what you have to contribute, you will enter the job interview and networking process with much more confidence.

When should I start preparing?

Many professionals who have prepared a variety of different resumes during their careers make it a habit to keep at least a generic resume up-to-date, so that it always reflects their current job title and responsibilities, educational level, job-related skills, key awards and honors, publications, memberships, and activities. At the very least, they make sure pertinent data is kept in appropriate files for inclusion on any updated resume. Whenever they need a “new” resume, it’s a relatively simple matter of updating an already existing format.

Students and those of you leaving the military or reentering the workforce after a substantial interruption need far more time to prepare, write, format, and proof (and proof and proof) the series of targeted resumes you will need.

Series? You mean, more than uno? Yes, sorry, but every specific position for which you’re applying requires a different resume. Maybe not radically different— a professional-looking format can often be utilized for a wide variety of job descriptions. But what you include and omit, what you emphasize and ignore, even some of the words you use will indeed be different.

So give yourself the time to really think about what you’re doing and make sure the result—a professional resume perfectly targeted to the job you seek— has been worth your expected effort. Allow a month to collec...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Chapter 1: The Elements of Your Resume
• Chapter 2: Making Order Out of Chaos
• Chapter 3: Designing and Editing Your Perfect Resume
• Chapter 4: Great Situational Resumes
• Chapter 5: Great Occupational Resumes
• Copyright