Writing a Great Resume Made Easy
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Forgotten Keys to Writing a Resume That Works

Posted January 23rd, 2012 by | No Comments
Resume Tips |

By 

Writing a readable, effective resume is an important first step in getting your next job. Your resume is often the first impression you get to make with a new or prospective employer. The right impression gets you the chance to interview and prove you're right for the job. Give the wrong impression and all you'll get is a rejection letter.

While there are many resume examples, guidance, and advice available in the internet, we wanted to cover just a few of the more forgotten keys to writing an great resume that works.

Highlight What You Want: Instead of having just one resume, you'll likely need several. It's important to customize your resume and cover letter to highlight certain qualifications and experiences that are particularly important to each opening. Instead of cramming every technical acronym, project, and training class into your resume, pick the most important and topical for that job. Highlight the experience and knowledge you have that you want to stand out when your resume is reviewed. Be sure to keep track of each resume to send out to employers so you can bring copies of that particular one with you to your interview.

Have Someone Objective Review: It really is surprising how many resumes have spelling errors, bad grammar, or obvious layout or presentation issues. The problem is that since you're the one who's spent all the time on it and are so close to the work that it's hard to sometimes find and see these types of errors. The easy resolution is to ask someone objective to take some time to do a thorough job of reviewing and critiquing your resume. Having someone spend a few minutes really can make a difference. Remember, your resume is telling them something about you and something about what type of work you will do. Many experienced recruiters cite these type of easy mistakes as the one of the top issues they see with prospective candidates.

Be Honest: While plenty of people try it (as recent news stories have highlighted), falsifying information, facts, or qualifications on your resume is a big mistake. Even if you somehow manage to get past the original screening and gain an interview, it's nearly certain that the people you meet and speak with will see the truth. Remember that the individuals receiving resumes at a company are accustomed to reviewing and screening them, and they will likely check with your references. Resumes with obvious enhancements usually end up being rejected. You'll be glad you represented yourself truthfully when you int he interview room ready and qualified for the job.

Spend just a few minutes to review and utilize these tips when putting together your resume. Take the time to tailor your resume as that first step towards your next job. Good Luck!

Kurt Allan publishes the Minnesota Job Bank HQ, and Unemployment MN to help in your Minnesota job search.

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Doing the Best Resume Writing

Posted January 15th, 2012 by | No Comments
Resume Tips |

By 

Hiring organizations and human resources departments often receive hundreds of resumes before making any decision on who to hire. The time spent on the profile of a candidate could take less than 10 minutes or even seconds! The key to getting an employer's attention is through proper organization of information. Unorganized resumes tend to become a major mistake made by many job seekers.

On the internet, there are award-winning guides that teach how to write and format a resume and how to come up with one that would look like those written by a professional top-notch writer. It does not necessarily mean to follow every guideline out there such as sticking to one page only or abiding by a common and specific format.

The key to excellent resume writing is to create one that stands out and makes one look superior to other candidates. A well-written resume will eventually attract more prospective employers and invite a candidate to an actual Job Interview so that there is an actual chance to prove the skills written about in the resume. It goes without saying that an interesting job will attract hundreds or thousands of applicants, which translates into competition. A well-written resume will attract attention of the hiring organization or company within seconds. It is the key to get your foot into the door of any organization.

The right Resume will automatically be a 'winning' situation. The winning part is to get the actual interview. In other words, it is an Advertisement and nothing less or more. A candidate has to be convincing in the sense that he or she has everything it takes to be hired for the job when writing it. It should stimulate the reader's interest to want to meet with the candidate to learn more about him/her. The reader will become so interested about it that they might actually pick up the phone right away to ask the candidate for an Interview.

Make sure that it is interesting and attractive when it comes to personal qualifications such as the years of experience, level of education and past experiences. The Candidate has to present him or herself as the right candidate for the position as well as write well professionally, stay organized, show a good design and print on the best quality paper.

A resume is something that a candidate has to give to a potential employer; that can be used as additional information towards an application for a job or it can be an application as a College Graduate. Therefore, a candidate has to come to terms with the fact that a great Resume is the actual key to finding the right Job or Career Change.

 

Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online (http://www.sixsigmaonline.org) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

 

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Power Verbs…

Posted January 4th, 2012 by | No Comments
Resume Tips, Words & Wordplay, Writing a Resume |

By D. Lawton of  http://www.CareerConnected.com

When it’s time to assemble your resume or spruce up a cover letter to a potential employer consider adding a few words that will help to create an exciting image of your work experiences in the mind of a potential hiring manager. Don’t just become a needle in the hay stack enhance your presentation with a few the power verbs from the listings below.

A-B

accelerated acclimated accompanied accomplished achieved acquired acted activated actuated adapted added addressed adhered adjusted administered admitted adopted advanced advertised advised advocated aided aired affected allocated altered amended amplified analyzed answered anticipated appointed appraised approached approved arbitrated arranged ascertained asked assembled assigned assumed assessed assisted attained attracted audited augmented authored authorized automated awarded avail balanced bargained borrowed bought broadened budgeted built C

calculated canvassed capitalized captured carried out cast cataloged centralized challenged chaired changed channeled charted checked chose circulated clarified classified cleared closed co-authored cold called collaborated collected combined commissioned committed communicated compared compiled complied completed composed computed conceived conceptualized concluded condensed conducted conferred consolidated constructed consulted contracted contrasted contributed contrived controlled converted convinced coordinated corrected corresponded counseled counted created critiqued cultivated cut

D

debugged decided decentralized decreased deferred defined delegated delivered demonstrated depreciated described designated designed determined developed devised devoted diagrammed directed disclosed discounted discovered dispatched displayed dissembled distinguished distributed diversified divested documented doubled drafted

E

earned eased edited effected elected eliminated employed enabled encouraged endorsed enforced engaged engineered enhanced enlarged enriched entered entertained established estimated evaluated examined exceeded exchanged executed exempted exercised expanded expedited explained exposed extended extracted extrapolated

F-H

facilitated familiarized fashioned fielded figured financed fit focused forecasted formalized formed formulated fortified found founded framed fulfilled functioned furnished gained gathered gauged gave generated governed graded granted greeted grouped guided handled headed hired hosted

I

identified illustrated illuminated implemented improved improvised inaugurated indoctrinated increased incurred induced influenced informed initiated innovated inquired inspected inspired installed instigated instilled instituted instructed insured interfaced interpreted interviewed introduced invented inventoried invested investigated invited involved isolated issued

J-M

joined judged launched lectured led lightened liquidated litigated lobbied localized located maintained managed mapped marketed maximized measured mediated merchandised merged met minimized modeled moderated modernized modified monitored motivated moved multiplied

N-O

named narrated negotiated noticed nurtured observed obtained offered offset opened operated operationalized orchestrated ordered organized oriented originated overhauled oversaw

P

paid participated passed patterned penalized perceived performed permitted persuaded phased out pinpointed pioneered placed planned polled prepared presented preserved presided prevented priced printed prioritized probed processed procured produced profiled programmed projected promoted promoted prompted proposed proved provided publicized published purchased pursued

Q-R

quantified quoted raised ranked rated reacted read received recommended reconciled recorded recovered recruited rectified redesigned reduced referred refined regained regulated rehabilitated reinforced reinstated rejected related remedied remodeled renegotiated reorganized replaced repaired reported represented requested researched resolved responded restored restructured resulted retained retrieved revamped revealed reversed reviewed revised revitalized rewarded routed

S

safeguarded salvaged saved scheduled screened secured segmented selected sent separated served serviced settled shaped shortened showed shrank signed simplified sold solved spearheaded specified speculated spoke spread stabilized staffed staged standardized steered stimulated strategized streamlined strengthened stressed structured studied submitted substantiated substituted suggested summarized superseded supervised supplied supported surpassed surveyed synchronized synthesized systematized

T-W

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for a college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

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So … What Did You Actually Do?

Posted January 1st, 2012 by | No Comments
Resume Services, Resume Tips |

When I tell people that I’m a resume writer, some assume that I work with a lot of candidates who need assistance embellishing their resumes. In actuality, this is almost never the case. Many of our clients are highly educated professionals who have so much work experience that they can’t figure out where to start when it comes to writing their resumes. While this is definitely a good problem to have, I see experienced candidates make the same mistake again and again on their resumes. They get so caught up in describing all the facets of their jobs that they forget to explain one very important thing: What do they actually do?

No matter how far your career has progressed, you should be able to succinctly sum up what you do every day for anyone who asks. Furthermore, you should be able to summarize in a sentence or two every position you’ve ever held; and that information should be spelled out on your resume. The bullet points showing your achievements won’t impress anyone until they fundamentally understand the nature of the job you held.

For example, a CFO wouldn’t meet someone at a cocktail party and say, “I structure the overall budget for my company, oversee our compliance with SEC filings, manage the entire internal audit process, and ensure our stock continues to produce a profitable dividend for our shareholders.” He would simply say, “I manage all the financial operations for XYZ company.” Then, if it made sense in the context of the conversation, they would provide more details.

When writing your resume, diving right into the details without offering a summary is equally illogical. Therefore, as you’re outlining your previous history, make sure that you’re offering the reader a very broad summary of the nature and purpose of your position—before you start bombarding them with all your impressive accomplishments!

Jessica has a true passion for the job seeker, evidenced by her desire to share everything she can with everyone she can about resume writing and interviewing.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

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Job Search Resolutions

Posted December 26th, 2011 by | No Comments
Other - Careers & Employment, Writing a Resume |

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

Every year, people make New Year's resolutions like setting the intention to lose weight or stop smoking. They may join a gym but often by the end of the month, the resolution has been broken and another year passes with little to show for their wish.

I want you to make job search resolutions and goals for yourself whether you are actively looking for a job or not. These goals will not take a lot of time (no more than 15 minutes each) but can pay huge dividends now and for years to come.

1. Every three months, write down what you did during the previous 3 months.

Take 10 minutes to write down what you did that quarter. Doing so will make updating your resume a breeze. It will also make preparing for your performance review easy in case that recently hired manager you now report to questions your accomplishments during the preceeding year.

2. Update your LinkedIn profile

Too often, people only update their LinkedIn profile when they decide to look for a job. But you may miss out on an opportunity because your profile is not up-to-date. Using the information you wrote down from my first resolution; take a few minutes every three months to update your profile. Recruiters are looking for people on LinkedIn aggressively. Make sure you make your role, responsibilities and accomplishments apparent to them by keeping your profile up-to-date.

3. Be nice to recruiters when they contact you.

Are you really that happy with your job that if someone offered you an opportunity to earn more money and do more interesting and challenging work you would treat them like a pariah?

I find it ridiculous that job hunters treat corporate and third party recruiters as poorly as they do.

If one of them reaches you at a bad time, all you have to say is, "This isn't a convenient time; would you call me at . . . and then offer a date and time where you can be available to speak.

4. Do a little networking

Reconnect with someone you've lost touch with or do something to stay in contact with people you know professionally.

Attend a trade conference, a business networking meeting, a trade group, a special interest group meeting . . . something.

Do something to extend your professional reach!

5. Think!

Take time every three months to actually think about how things are actually going and where you want to take yo9ur career.

And, if you are really feeling ambitious.

Take the information that you wrote down about what you did that quarter to update your actual resume so that when an opportunity presents itself, you are ready to submit your resume.

Statistics show that 50% of all positions are filled by individuals whose resumes arrive within the first two weeks of a position being listed. 75% are filled by people whose resumes are submitted in the first month.

You might not even hear about a job right away meaning firms are alrady evaluating a lot of potential employees while you are updating your resume.

Why lose an opportunity through lack of preparedness?

As you can see, almost all of these items require little time from you. More than anything, they require you to schedule an appointment with yourself to do these things.

Put them in your calendar for 2012 today.

© 2012 all rights reserved, Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been hunting down leaders and staff for organizations for 40 years. His website, www.JeffAltman.com, offers a lot of information about job hunting, tips, articles written for "No B.S. Job Search Advice Ezine, podcasts of his online radio show, "No B.S. Job Search Advice Radio", places to post your resume and more.

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