Developing A Resume That Will Knock Their Socks Off
According to some studies, companies that are hiring usually only call in one person for an interview after reviewing 200 resumes. Moreover, employers usually spend little time reviewing resumes, usually between 10 to 20 seconds. As a result, companies usually determine who they will interview from positive first impressions. This is one reason why it is vital to place key information near the top of a resume. In many regards, job seekers should view their resume as an advertisement.
To prepare an eye-catching resume, jobseekers must learn how to effectively market their job skills. Since many people do not have marketing experience, this can be a difficult task. Those who develop effective resumes learn how to market their skills and educational background as they would any commodity.
It is not necessary to make outlandish claims or exaggerate skills or work experience while preparing an effective resume. However, jobseekers do not need to be overly humble since they are trying to set themselves apart from the competition. Even those lacking experience or skills can set themselves apart from better qualified applicants by effectively selling their skills in their resumes.
Focus on The Employers Needs
In many cases, managers responsible for hiring are also in charge of entire divisions. Therefore, their careers are linked to the productivity of the division they supervise. Individuals preparing resumes should prepare their resumes to convince these supervisors that they would add to a division’s productivity.
Individuals unsure of what companies they are interested in working for are seeking in employees should take some time to network with professionals already working in the industry. It can also be beneficial to contact a company directly to find out what it is looking for in prospective employees. Companies are more likely to schedule interviews with jobseekers that are productive.
Start by Developing a Plan
Before preparing a resume, make sure you have determined what you want it to emphasize. This should be related to what the company you want to work for is seeking in prospective employees. Relate your current job skills to the skills sought after by the company you want to work for.
If you are unsure of what skills you possess that could benefit a prospective employer, spend some time brainstorming. Ask yourself some of the following questions: What skills will enable me to contribute to a company’s productivity? What sets me apart from other people working in this industry? What is this company specifically seeking in employees?
Individuals entering the job market, such as college graduates, or those in the middle of career transition, often have to be very creative when determining what skills they possess that are sought after in the industry they want to work in. Once this is done, it is important to select a resume style that either highlights job skills or prior work experience.
An Effective Resume Has Two Main Sections
The first section of your resume should highlight your qualifications, job skills, and personal accomplishments. Make your resume appealing, so managers will spend some time reviewing it but do not embellish achievements.
After you have detailed your skills, you need to support your assertions in the second section. You can provide information about previous work experience or your educational background to support your claims.
While preparing these two sections, do not inundate the resume with too much information. By providing just enough information to spark interest, a prospective employer can schedule an interview with you to learn more about your skills and qualifications.
It is not a bad idea to consider inserting a summary or objective statement in your resume. This statement is a short description of your current career goals. This is a good idea for people in the middle of a career transition or recent college graduates.
Your Objective
Resumes are intended to briefly summarize the background and skills a potential employee can bring to an organization. Therefore, a resume should be very focused.
While determining the focus of your resume, make sure to clearly communicate your career goals in it. If a company gets the impression that you are not committed to pursue a career in their industry, it may not schedule an interview with you.
One strategy to clearly communicate your goals is to have an objective statement in your resume. This one sentence statement is a description of your short-term career goals.
An objective statement can be extremely helpful to employers who receive large quantities of resumes. An objective statement can show them who is truly interested in the positions they are filling.
The following is a very generic example of an objective statement:
OBJECTIVE – Seeking employment in an entry-level position to learn the necessary skills to pursue a career in a (specific) industry.
Here's how to write your objective. It is a good idea to list a specific job in your objective statement. This will help you stand out and demonstrate your interest in the position.
Also, make your objective statement as clear and direct as possible. Do not try to impress employers with unique vocabulary or wordy phrases. Your resume will more than likely only be glanced at for a few seconds so make the objective statement easy to read.
Jobseekers interested in several different jobs should prepare separate resumes each with objective statements reflecting the individual positions. It is also useful to make minor changes in each resume to highlight specific skills or experience applicable to each job you’re interested in.
Occasionally, jobseekers place their objective statement within the summary section of the resume.
Individuals in the middle of a career transition or those with little or no work experience need to emphasize what skills they plan to acquire and develop in the future. Those seeking a job in an industry they have experience in should emphasize their qualifications and other accomplishments before anything else.
The Summary
The summary section provides individuals preparing resumes opportunities to provide brief statements detailing specific skills and previous job experience. These brief descriptions should adequately present your experience and skills to potential employers. In other words, it provides you with an opportunity to present information about yourself that will interest potential employers and set you apart from the competition.
Similar to the objective statement, it is important to ask yourself what the companies you are interested in working for are seeking in employees. Once you have determined what they are seeking, evaluate the skills and experience you possess and apply it to the summary.
The following are suggestions for information to include within a summary:
- A concise statement detailing previous jobs
- Information about individual expertise usually stated in broad terms
- Also include two or three subsequent details pertaining to:
- The extent of job skills
- Details about a distinctive combination of skills
- Details about different work environments you have worked in
- An achievement that is provable
- Details about past achievements, recognitions, or promotions
- Information about one or numerous personal qualities applicable in a work setting
- A single sentence discussing your goals or objectives.
The following examples are intended to illustrate how to insert an objective statement within the summary. Individuals involved in a career transition or recent college graduates should detail past achievements within the summary. This way, potential employers can gauge how they will perform if they are hired.
A few examples of Summary sections:
- Very skilled, innovative, and motivated engineer with six years of experience planning and supervising municipal infrastructure projects. Extensive experience supervising employees and working within groups. Superb organization and communication skills. Desiring a supervisor position with a civil engineering firm that will enhance personal management skills.
- More than 8 years of experience working as a management consultant providing consulting services to many Fortune 500 Companies. A personal desire to assist companies seeking to improve management skills and efficiency. Self-motivated individual with superb communication, analytical, and organizational skills.
- Experienced defense attorney with more than 15 years of experience providing legal representation for individuals accused of committing criminal offenses. Skilled researcher with excellent communication and negotiation skills. DUI and fraud defense are areas of specialty.
Skills and Accomplishments
This section provides jobseekers an opportunity to provide more information about job skills and experience. This section is similar to other sections, but individuals can provide more detailed statements about their qualifications.
In other sections of the resume, specialized job skills and experience were emphasized. However, in this section, results are highlighted. For example, if management skills were detailed in the summary, jobseekers would show how their management skills led to increased productivity or other positive outcomes resulting from their management skills.
It is also advisable, as in other sections, not to flood this section with details, so potential employers will want to learn more about the applicant and schedule an interview.
There is not one single correct way to prepare the skills and accomplishment section of a resume. However, it is recommended to insert job skills and other vital information meant to be emphasized before less important details.
Here are a few recommendations for formatting your "Skills and Accomplishments" section:
1. Details about job skills and achievements set apart using bullet points
Example:
SELECTED SKILLS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Managed more than 20 employees in the human resources division.
- Collaborated with senior executives when revising new human resource policies.
- Organized training seminars and met individually with employees struggling with company policies.
2. Individual details listed under sub-headings about skills or achievements. This information can be listed under bullet points or written in individual paragraphs. Details should also be listed providing support for statements about skills and achievements.
Example:
SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Project manager responsible for supervising staff developing new personal use computer policy for company employees
Supervised employees within the human resource department as they revised the policy on personal computer usage among company employees. After the suggested changes were complete, was responsible to present and defend the new changes to senior management. Once the new policies were put into effect, employee efficiently increased by 25 percent.
3. Those preparing a chronological resume should list their achievements under a job title heading, setting each achievement apart with a bullet point.
Example:
Manger of Human Resources Department
Salt Lake Steel Corporation, Salt Lake City, UT
- Supervised 20 employees working within the human resources department at a large regional steel manufacturer. Responsible for instructing and training these employees to work directly with different divisions within the company. Also worked directly with senior management to determine new human resource policies.
- Recruited and interviewed prospective employees to work within the human resource division. Hired numerous individuals who were later promoted to management positions within the company.
- Met individually with employees with questions regarding company policies. Resolved a large dispute among employees within the shipping department.
- Oversaw the 10 million dollar budget set aside to provide employees with health insurance.
BASIC RESUME FORMATS
The three most common resumes are the functional, chronological, and combined resume, a resume mixing elements from both the functional and chronological resume together. You can learn more about each resume format below.
- Chronological Resume
- Functional Resume
- Combined Resume
As the name implies, a combined resume combines aspects of both functional and chronological resumes. It usually consists of job skill descriptions followed by details about former job responsibilities. Many combined resumes resemble functional resumes by placing job skills under headings detailing previous jobs.
These types of resumes are advantageous for job seekers wanting to utilize the positive aspects of both chronological and functional resumes. However, these resumes tend to be wordy and long. Also, important details are sometimes stated repeatedly in combined resumes.
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