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Is Your Resumé Current? Your resumé has to provide only enough information to make contacts and intrigue interviewers to know more about you. The details and subtleties of your career should come out in an interview. The average length of time someone takes to read a resumé is 4 seconds. If there is something that catches the reader they may spend one minute to look over your credentials. So...make it interesting. You need to find a way to hook the employer into spending that extra minute on your resumé. There are some points to remember in designing a resumé. Gear the resumé to the job. You may have three or four differently styled resumés depending on the type of job for which you are applying. It should be clear, concise, and give the reader a strong sense of your skills and potential for doing a specific job. Use action words in your job descriptions. You want to give the employer the idea that you are a person who gets results. A person who will get the job done. Begin your job descriptions with words like managed, directed, designed. Include anything that relates to that job. Remember that skills are transferable, that is, if you know how to use a typewriter you can probably learn how to use a computer. Remember that the only person that knows exactly how to do the job for which you are applying is the person who just left that job. You need to make the employer see you as successful and willing to learn new skills. Concentrate on your strengths. List your achievements and accomplishments. Blow your own horn! Be accurate and honest. Applying for a job with a false resumé will quickly backfire. Employers check references and if you get hired based on false information, they have the right to let you go. Be clear and concise. Continue to pare down your resumé until it reads clearly to anyone. Be careful about repeating yourself. Employers sometimes read hundreds of resumés for one position. Check for errors. If you use a computer, use the spell-check function as well as have someone read your resumé to check for any spelling or grammatical mistakes and for an overall sense of clarity. Getting feedback from someone is the best way. Components of a Resumé A resumé should contain the following information:
There are many styles of resumés and you can vary the style according to the job. The resource list at the end of this chapter gives you some web sites and printed matter that can help you with design and presentation style. Checklist
A well designed resumé will emphasize strengths, minimize screen-out factors, and use vital keywords to rank high in both human and computerized screening. If you can answer "YES" to the following you are ready to write your resumé! Resumé Checklist:
Contents | Self-directed Career Planning Tools | Career Goals | Effective Communication and People Skills | Marketing Yourself | Interviews | Mentoring | Balancing Work and Leisure | Leadership | Career Planning Websites | Sponsors |
The resumé is a tool that you use in order to get an interview. It is an advertisement of you presented on paper. Print your resumé on high quality paper with a bit of texture. Employers have to touch all those resumés as well as read them. It's a subtle and effective way to get them to notice you. |