The Art Of The Resume
tep One: Targeting Your qualifications and your
Career & Audience experience should serve as a
keyword in your resume.
In order to maximize the impact
of your resume for your targeted Knowing how you match up to a
audience — the hiring manager— potential position will provide
you must have a clear idea of focus, so that your resume can be
what you want to accomplish. tailored to your targeted
audience. The more closely the
Pinpoint Your Goal content of your resume matches
the content of these postings,
Before you begin, ask yourself the more likely you will be asked
these questions. Are you: to interview. Be careful, though,
not to simply repeat phrases
•Making a lateral move? found in a job listing. Your goal
is to demonstrate your
•Seeking a promotion? understanding of the role and
your applicable experience.
•Career transitioning?
Step Two: Formatting for Maximum
•Pursuing admission into an Impact
academic program?
When your resume is reviewed, it
Match Yourself to the Job must be appealing, while
accurately reflecting your
When you look at a job listing, industry or career goal. If it’s
highlight the qualifications that not — no matter how brilliantly
are required and the duties that it is written — it will likely be
you would be expected to assume. added to the rejection stack. To
Every match in terms of required ensure that your resume receives
the attention it deserves, it’s fonts that resemble handwriting.
important to adhere to certain It's a common misconception that
formatting guidelines, which "jazzing up a resume" will get it
address: read. It's not the font that
attracts attention, but rather
•Template and font choice the overall appearance and the
words crafted within it.
•Effective use of white space
When in doubt about font choice,
•Prioritization of data always err on the conservative
side. Two good choices are Times
Be easy to follow New Roman or Arial in 11 points —
no smaller, or the text will be
There is nothing worse than a difficult to read.
resume where data is presented in
a haphazard manner. That's why Step Three: Qualifications
templates are used. An effective Summary & Skill Set
template will present company
names, dates, job titles, Picture yourself at the market
academic information, and all after a long day at the office.
other pertinent data in a clear You’re in a rush, and want only
manner, so that a quick glance those items on your list, if
will tell the contact person what they’re on sale. Hurrying into
they need to know. the store, you glance around for
the weekly advertising piece that
Be easy to read indicates what’s on sale. Trouble
is, there’s no advertising piece,
Resumes in bold text or italics and no one to answer your
are difficult to read and questions. If you want to
unprofessional. The same goes for purchase the items you need at a
discount, you’re forced to walk
up and down each and every aisle Let’s use this example: You’re an
until you find what’s available. accountant who has worked at XYZ
Company for nine years and been
Doesn’t sound like an effective promoted every time you’ve come
use of time, does it? And yet up for review. Because of your
this is the same type of organizational efforts, the
frustration hiring managers are company is saving $2,500 monthly.
exposed to every time an You’ve passed the CPA exam.
applicant submits a resume that You’re skilled in Profit & Loss
fails to open with a well-written (P&L), audits, taxation matters,
Qualifications Summary and/or and internal controls. Now, you
Skill Set. want a Controller position.
What is a Qualifications Summary? Rather than including all of this
in the body of the resume, where
It’s a brief paragraph that the hiring manager would be
showcases your most effective forced to look for it (but
skills and experience. More won’t), the wise candidate would
importantly, it’s your chance to write something like this:
convince a hiring manager of the
skills you can bring to the Results-oriented, detailed
position. This is essential — professional with comprehensive
hiring managers generally afford accounting experience. Background
no more than 10 seconds to your includes consistent promotions to
resume, unless they’re compelled positions of increased
to read further. responsibility. Skilled in P&L,
audits, taxation, internal
So, how do you compel them to controls, and streamlining
keep reading? procedures, effecting a monthly
savings of $2,500 at XYZ Company. candidate has the same basic
Recently passed the CPA exam; educational and professional
currently seeking a controller background. So, who gets the job?
position.
What is a Quantified
In five lines, you’ve given Accomplishment?
specific examples of what you can
do, quantified an accomplishment, A quantified Accomplishment
indicated past performance, should include dollar figures,
provided data on certification, percentages, and time periods.
and provided your career path. For example: An accountant has
And you’ve done all of that in a streamlined procedures, realizing
well-written paragraph that’s a $2,500 monthly savings for his
easy to read. company. A dollar figure
quantifies the accomplishment,
Note that personal pronouns are while noting "streamlined
not used here. In business procedures" explains how he did
writing, which includes resumes, it. If he achieved those savings
personal pronouns such as I, me, within three months of hire, it
or my are never used. might be written this way:
Step Four: Accomplishments & Achieved a $2,500 monthly savings
Special Skills for XYZ Company within three
months of hire by streamlining
There is nothing on your resume procedures.
more important than your
Accomplishments. Why? Think of it Imagine the hiring manager’s
this way: you’re a hiring manager reaction to the above, as opposed
with one position to fill and 10 to this entry: “Streamlined
qualified candidates. Each procedures for XYZ Company.”
Doesn’t say much, does it? Generally speaking, hiring
managers prefer years of
Special Skills employment, rather than months
and years (i.e. 1999 - 2003 as
Special Skills should be opposed to May 1999 - April
presented up front so that a 2003). However, some college
hiring manager knows what you can admission programs want specifics
do. In some instances, a special when it comes to dates, so it’s
section (i.e. Computer Skills, best to use precise dates when
Languages, Office Procedures, applying to graduate school.
etc.) should be created to
showcase these Special Skills. In the Professional Experience
section, you will also include
Step Five: Professional daily tasks and responsibilities
Experience beneath the appropriate employer
listing. If you’ve included a
In the Professional Experience Career Accomplishments section in
section of your resume, you will your resume, you should not
list your employers, job titles, repeat that data here. Once data
and dates of employment in a is presented in a resume, it must
reverse-chronological order; that not be repeated.
is, your most recent job comes
first, followed by your next most To ensure that your daily tasks
recent job, and so on. This are presented in an interesting
format is standard and is and easy-to-read manner, you
expected by all hiring managers should do the following:
and admission directors.
Use a bulleted format
Employment Dates
This breaks up large blocks of
text that could prove daunting to If you’re an entry-level
a hiring manager. candidate with little or no
professional experience, your
Begin each sentence with an education should be presented
action verb immediately after the
Qualifications Summary and/or
This quickens the pace of your skills area. The reasoning for
writing and makes the text more this is that education is
enjoyable to read. currently your most marketable
asset. Here, you would include:
Step Six: Education & Training
•GPA (if 3.5 or above)
Data provided in the Education
section of your resume should be •Awards/scholarships
prioritized (and included)
according to: •Dean’s list
•Your current career level •Coursework relevant to job
(entry-level, as opposed to search
professional)
If you’re a professional with
•The purpose of your resume five or more years of experience,
Education should be listed last
•The country in which your resume on your resume. GPAs, awards or
will be distributed scholarships, and mention of
dean’s lists are not generally
•Your current career level provided in a professional or
executive resume, except for
The Impact of Experience those used for entrance into
graduate school programs.
highlights important information
Conclusion which differentiates you from
other candidates. By doing so,
Give hiring managers what they’re your resume will stand out from
looking for- a complete, the crowd and get you an
easy-to-read resume that interview.
About the Author:
http://ResumeEdge.com is one of the nations leading resume writing service providers, offering professional resume writing, editing, and guidance. For additional resume writing resources, including free sample resumes, visit http://www.resumeedge.com today!
Read more articles by: Michael Fleischner
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