When you are actively looking for new opportunities, a resume is essential. A resume is your sales tool. You will use it to introduce yourself to strangers and to help your own contacts help in your new endeavor. Your resume must capture someone’s attention and interest.
(The resume is so important that you may want to have some extra tools to help you make it the best it can be. One tool is a book that you can download onto your computer and begin using immediately. It is available from the website: Right Job Right Now.)
The resume, from the French word, “summary” is the primary written tool of the job seeker. It is a written summary of your career history and your marketable strengths and skills. A resume may serve several functions:
With this in mind, give serious consideration to its content.
The main task of this process is to market yourself. Once you have identified your career objective, you are ready to communicate very effectively with prospective employers. The resume is a communication tool, which will support you in your marketing effort.
So, preparing your resume is a very important component in your search; it is the foundation of your marketing campaign and efforts. Your resume is a marketing tool, which often goes before you (when used for an ad response, to contact search firms, or in a cold contact) and therefore, may create a first impression of you. It sometimes is a supplement to your face-to-face meeting or interview, functioning as an addition to your verbal presentation. A resume also may serve to help the interviewer remember you after you have left a meeting or interview, as it is a summary of your background and qualifications. The individual who keeps your resume as a reminder of you may use it to present you to someone else, so once again, it can create a first impression of you.
Acting in this highly visible capacity, your resume, therefore, must concisely and effectively summarize the following information:
People who read resumes judge them on your personal information, or the content, and how you present that information, or the format. Your goal is to sell yourself on paper, quickly and precisely, and to obtain the face-to-face interview. The rule of thumb for the length of a resume is no more than two pages. When received by the hiring department, the reader may have to filter through a large number of resumes (sometimes totaling 100 or more). The content of your resume is not intended to tell your life story, but should provide the reader with the information he needs in order to determine whether or not you may be a good fit for the job or position. You must make your points quickly and clearly to the reader. Tell him about who you are, what you have accomplished, and what skills you possess that will enable you to succeed in the position.
Reading sample resumes is a good way to see how yours stacks up and to get ideas for formatting or design. Sample resumes are available on the internet; one good place to find recommended resumes and a complete “how-to” guide for your entire job search process is the Right Job Right Now website.
Components of a resume…
A resume is divided into anywhere from five to twelve sections, each of which conveys a particular aspect of your background. They include: Objective (optional); Summary or Profile; Accomplishments; Employment History; Education; Technical/Work Content, Special Skills (optional) [I strongly suggest including]; Publications (optional); Presentations (optional); Licenses; and Military History.
Types of Resumes
Before assembling the resume components into a cohesive document, you will need to choose the appropriate format. Format refers to your plan for organizing the material or how you arrange the information on your resume page. There are two basic formats or types of resumes: the chronological and the functional.
Chronological Format:
The chronological format is the most common resume format. This type is indexed by date, and information is presented in reverse chronological order. It lists your most recent job with accomplishment statements at the top of the page, then continues down the page to your earlier jobs, concluding with your first job. This format is effective when you have a continuous employment history with your most recent experiences relating directly to the positions you are currently applying for. The chronological formatted resume becomes more meaningful when you list specific accomplishments under each job.
Functional Format:
The functional format resume emphasizes the kinds of work you have done, the kinds of skills you have, and your accomplishments in various functions. The functional resume organizes work experience by function, such as marketing and finance, or by skill categories, such as analytical, negotiation and organizational. The functional format can work well for recent college graduates, those reentering the workforce and career changers. It is also a good tool to use if you have moved around a lot, and/or changed jobs frequently.
You can find more details on the different types of resumes as well as tips on how to write a resume that stands out at the Right Job Right Now website. If you want a complete guide to the entire process from cover letter through final job offer, you will be delighted with the resources at Right Job.
Remember that your resume is your potential employer’s first look at you. Design it, along with your cover letter, so you will stand out from the crowd, reflect your individuality, and get the interview. This is your entry point to that new job or new career!