Two-Approach Job Search Guide. Best Job Search Engines, Million Positions, Career Development.

1. Overview

Consider that Human Resource Manager weed through anywhere from 30 - 300 resumes or curriculum vitae (CVs) for a single job opening and that your resume gets only about 10 to 20 seconds to be accepted or to end up in the reject pile. Hence, consider your resume as your very own 15-second advertisement with the principal goal of securing an interview. Resumes should ideally be a one to two page document depending entirely on each candidates level of experience, expertise and profession. Professional resumes are long on facts but short on words! Imagine a three or four page resume coming on the desk of a recruiter who needs to read hundreds of other resumes – it holds no attraction at all. Put yourself in the shoes of the recruiter and only include information that is really relevant to the job opportunity. 

Your resume should provide potential employers with a brief description of who you are, what you've done, and why you are the right person for the job.  It should formulate a clear picture of your career goals and competencies in an easy-to-read style. Simplicity is here the key in order to get attention and to capture interest of the potential employer. Make sure that your resume is well organized so that the reader can identify your strong points at a glance. An effective resume markets your skills rather than simply listing responsibilities, with the goal of securing an interview.

The general format we advise is as follows:

1. Identifying Information,

2. Job Objective (optional),

3. Summary of Qualifications,

4. Professional Experience with Accomplishments,

5. Education and Skills,

6. Additional Headings (optional)

Put your accomplishments right up at the top of the resume so managers can easily find them. Always include a cover letter when mailing, faxing, or e-mailing a resume. You should keep in mind that your resume serves as a guide for you and the interviewer in an interview while deliberating your background and acts a reminder of your professional identity in the ensuing discussions.

Here are some quick tips to get you started¹⁾:

• Get someone who knows absolutely nothing about your prior experience to review your resume to see if it makes sense to them. Most people fail to realize that they use "industry-speak" that makes sense only to those with a similar background. The simpler and clearer the resume, the better your chances are of getting an interview.

• Emphasize teamwork, leadership, passion, and creativity. Many marketing firms believe that if you worked on a team before and you were in previous leadership roles, it is likely that you will continue to grow these attributes. Having a passion for anything translates well in an environment where you must believe in your brand. You may not have been in a "creative field," but if you can prove that you are capable of "out-of-the-box" thinking, then your chances at a marketing career are improved.

• Scatter marketing terminology throughout your resume regardless of your background. Words like "cross-functional teams," "customer needs," "strategic direction," "portfolio management," and "communications platform" make you look like a marketer even if you were a banker.

• Focus on results. If you lead a cross-functional team through a budgetary process, quantify your results. (For example, "I saved the firm $25,000.") This shows that you can succeed when given a task, and that you are action-oriented.

• Illustrate your love for consumer behavior. Maybe you majored in psychology or cultural anthropology at your undergrad university. Maybe you were a manufacturer, but your favorite part of the job was understanding how to make things easier for consumers to use. Maybe you were a banker, but really enjoyed understanding why people invested the way they did. Whatever angle you take, make sure that consumer understanding is clearly demonstrated in your resume.

• Spelling and Punctuation.  It really goes without saying that orthographic errors are the faux pas of all faux pas when writing a resume! It does not matter that you created the almost perfect resume if your text contains poor punctuation or spelling mistakes. The reviewer will think that your are a careless person and with a lack of education, neither of which are attributes that will endear you as an appropriate candidate. Use in first place the spell-checking option of your word processor and then get your document proofread by several people. 

Below we present some helpful tips on writing effective resumes that will grab attention and land you the required interview. If you want to improve your chances of getting positive response to your resume, we  recommend the service of Professional Resume Writers or the use of Professional Resume Software.

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2. Identifying Information

Put in the heading of your resume your name and contact information. List name, address, zip code, area code, phone number, and e-mail address where you can be reached during the day.

Place your name in the top middle or the upper-right corner of the page as you want it to be seen quickly and easily, even in a pile of hundreds of resumes. 

List two phone numbers if no answering machine is available or if you can accept personal phone calls at work. Be careful if you list your work number on your resume! You only should do that if you can talk freely from that phone and messages can be left without jeopardizing your job. You never can assume a caller to be discreet on your behalf.

 

3. Job Objective

It is highly recommendable to prepare a brief, clearly-defined statement of the type of position for which you wish to be considered. Envelopes usually are opened by a clerk in Human Resources and if your resume has no objective statement you leave it up to the clerk to decide which department will consider your application.

The objective may be stated:

• by job title

• by level or type of responsibility, or

• in terms of skills you wish to apply or develop

The career objective tells the reader the theme of your resume with the remaining information supporting your goal. Usually you will need several different resumes that target your experience and educational background to specific employers and positions. Defining clear career objectives is difficult for many job seekers and if you have problems you should consult a family member, a friend or a Career Services professional for assistance. Never define unrealistic or vague nor over-specific objectives as this tend to do more harm than good and might result in a rejection of your resume.

When responding to an advertisement, your potential employer has helped you with the hardest part of composing a resume - the job description. Most entry-level job descriptions will list desirable qualities such as: “top notch organizational skills”, excellent team player”, “excellent communication skills”, 'ability to work under pressure”, or 'computer skills'. Plug these descriptions straight into your resume and you improve your resume tenfold.

An example of an effective objective statement that  gives a brief overview of the candidates experience and immediately generates interest on behalf of the recruiter is as follows:

“A highly experienced sales and marketing professional with comprehensive skills in strategic planning and implementation seeking a position as a Sales Manager where these skills will add value”.

4.  Summary of Qualifications

With three to four brief statements about your key qualifications you show that you are the ideal candidate for the open position. In this section you can write about your experience, background, expertise, personal values, credentials, work ethics, or anything that makes you qualified for the job opening.

As an example, an IT specialist  wishing to make a move into technical marketing might write: "Many different clients have told me that my explanations were very helpful in selecting the right software package for their company". The Summary Statement could be: Reputation for high quality technical support of clients and very good communicational skills. 

Or someone staying in the field of technical management might write, "I've worked as a technical manager for a mid-sized company for the last 10 years." This person could use a summary statement as follows: 10 years as the technical manager of a company with current sales of $105 million.

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¹⁾ modified from an article published by Vault .com