Writing a resume can be a daunting task. It's such a vital part of your toolkit in moving you up to the next level in your career. Here
are five essential resume writing tips.
Resume Tip 1
Your resume and cover letter are the first items that will reach an employer's desk. Therefore, you want them to best reflect you as an applicant
and you want them to best reflect you as an applicant. It's not just the words on the page, its the presentation of those
words too. Always print your resume on good quality paper with an easy to read font of at least size 10 and preferably size
12. Always use blank ink, even for headings. Spelling or grammatical errors show a future employer that you are willing to
send in sloppy work so keep it neat.
Include all your accomplishments no matter how small. Include the details of the relevant jobs you have done
in the past. You should present your work experience in a chronologically descending order i.e. the last company first. This
should include the name of the company, your designation and tenure followed by your job responsibilities and achievements.
Resume Tip 3
Employers want to know what you can do for them in language that they will understand and
appreciate. This is what the concept of transferability of skills is all about. Employers often receive more than 100 resumes
each day; they skim each of these in 7 to 15 seconds. If they see unrelated job titles or skills the likelihood is very high
that they will make an immediate assumption that you are not qualified for the job you want.
Resume Tip 4
Remember to see your resume as a marketing tool. Your resume is your personal testament that you are the right person for
the job. Remember that your resume is your way of selling yourself to your potential employer. Thus, your resume should have
enough substance about your educational attainment, your work skills, any work experience, and what you hope to achieve in
this job you are applying for to impress your employer that you are THE candidate for the job.
Resume Tip 5
Accomplishments are probably the most important things you can list on a resume. This is true regardless of how old
you are or how much experience you have. Accomplishments are a critical aspect of your resume. Your accomplishments distinguish
you from your competitors in the job-search process.
If you're all set to attend a career fair - or are looking to post your resume on an online job bank - and are concerned about how to create a resume for companies you have yet to meet, you are not alone.
Fortunately,
there are ways to create great resumes capable of catching the eyes of potential recruiters no matter what venue you're
working with. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Conduct Research to Gauge Recruiters
Whether you're looking to leave your resumes with recruiters at a career fair, or post them on online job banks, it helps to research the companies you're interested in working with so that you can better tailor your accomplishments.
Many career fairs spend a good amount of time advertising their arrival weeks in advance. This means that you
have time to research all of the companies attending so that you can create one or more resumes for each one you're interested
in working for.
As for online job banks, while you won't know who is out there recruiting, you can still gain
a slight edge on your competition by researching job specifications at the companies in which you're interested. This
way, you can proactively tailor your resume to focus on skills and achievements that will appeal to those recruiters.
Make Your Career Fair Resume Brief and Scannable
At a career fair, it is likely that you will
be the fifth, sixth, or even sixtieth person that recruiters have seen that day. Since they might be overwhelmed by the number
of resumes they've received, it is a good idea to keep yours brief - one or two pages is fine.
Also, it is
becoming a common practice for many companies to scan resumes into a computer after they leave the fair. So to be safe, try
making yours scannable by using fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Tahoma and Courier in font sizes anywhere
from 9 to 12 points.
Use Plenty of Keywords When Posting Online
As you have probably
guessed, recruiters are busy people with tons of resumes to look through everyday - especially when searching through job
banks where there may be thousands of resumes posted. So as a benefit to these recruiters, most job banks offer an on-site,
customizable search engine. While this feature makes searching easier for the recruiter, if you don't include specific
keywords in your resume before posting it, it is likely that yours will never be found.
A good way to combat this
issue is by saturating your resume with keywords related to your desired job. If you don't know which words to use, try
conducting your own keyword search on the Internet until you begin finding field-related information. It may seem like an
unconventional way to create a resume, but it is actually a good strategy for ranking near the top of most keyword searches.
Anticipating the unknown when writing resumes can seem like a difficult task. But if you take the right steps, and
have a good attitude along the way, you will encounter your career success sooner than you think.
