Tuesday 10 May 2011

What is a Resume - Why is My Resume So Important?

A resume is a short, one or two page document, that summarizes your career goals, experiences and achievements, and your educational background, publications and associations. At the top of your resume, you want to be sure to include your name, address, and how to reach you. This can include your home phone, your cell phone, and your email address. The body of your resume should be broken down into the following sections:
  • Career Objective
  • Profile
  • Professional Highlights
  • Achievements
  • Education
  • Publications, Associations, etc.
Your career objective should be fairly brief, not more than two sentences. The goal is to give your prospective employer an idea of how you want your career to progress, and what you want in your next job. Following this should be a concise profile, which should discuss who you are, and how your skills can apply to the job that you are interested in. Employers like to see a direct connection between your skills and their opening. In your profile, you should be sure not to include anything that talks about your ethnicity, gender, or anything that isn't relevant to the job. You want it to contain one to three, well written sentences that explain what you would bring to the position, if hired. You want to attract their attention here, but you don't want to go overboard, or say things that aren't true. Your career highlights should include information on the last few positions you've held, and talking about what you've done in them. You want your prospective employer to be aware of the successes you've had at past jobs.
Your resume should include the date range of your employment, the name of the companies that you worked for, where the job was located, such as the city and state, if appropriate, and the last title you held at that company. Don't list the full address of the company, city and state is plenty, if within the United States, region and country is fine, if not.
List your titles and areas of responsibility, and emphasize duties and roles that are the most applicable to the job you are trying to get. If you had experience in payroll, and you are seeking a payroll job, you should include that, instead of talking about how you led a 3 person team on a charity walk, no matter how successful the walk was. In your education section, you should list your college, graduate and post-grad work, if possible, as well as any continuing education or certificate courses you may have taken. Of course, only include them if they are relevant, don't include your cooking class here if you are seeking a management position.
Finally, if you have relevant volunteer work, courses, publications, or any other activities, you should list them at the bottom. Your prospective employer will probably be interested in talking about these things. Not only are they interesting, but they are also different from what other people have on their resume.
In the technologically drive world of job searching, your resume needs to represent you to potential employers. A great resume will help you stand out, but an average resume will still leave you with a good chance of landing a position. Think of your resume as your elevator speech, your 2 minute pitch about who you are and what you do. Make sure your resume properly displays who you are, and what you are all about, this means it should be clear of any mistakes, such as typos or other problems, no matter how minor. Remember, this page is all you get to make an impression.

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