A well constructed resume is critical to any successful job search. However, if you are just starting your career or you are in career transition after years of employment, writing a resume can be painful. The good news is there are some simple guidelines to keep in mind that will make this formidable task easier.
Remember, your resume is a marketing tool. Its sole purpose is to help you land the interview. If your resume fails to open doors for you, it is not worth the paper it is printed on.
With this in mind, let’s look at the key parts of a well constructed, chronological resume.
Personal Contact Information, Career Summary, Professional Experience, Formal Education and Special Skills
I will discuss the first two sections, in this blog and will continue to outline the remaining sections in a future blog, “Anatomy of a Resume….the rest of the story”.
Personal Contact Information is the first information on the resume. It should include name, address, home or cell phone and email address. Make sure you can be reached. There is nothing more frustrating to a recruiter, than being unable to reach a candidate because they have provided inadequate or dated contact information. Remember, the more difficult you make it for the recruiter to consider your application, the greater the risk of being relegated to the bottom of the pile. Be sure your email address is “professional”. Humorous or entertaining email addresses are fine for personal use but they do not work on a resume.
Your Career Summary should introduce your professional background. It should consist of a well constructed, brief paragraph that describes who you are, professionally, what organizations you have worked for, key strengths and perhaps most important, how you do your job. This format works for new grads too, speak about your chosen field and some of the strengths you exhibited in school and during your internships which would be valued in the work world.
This paragraph is the “hook”. It must excite the reader to continue reading your resume and it must accomplish this quickly. Remember, recruiters are busy people with hundreds of resumes to read and demanding jobs to fill, you have literally seconds to capture their interest.
Once you have introduced yourself, it is time to provide some history…check out my next blog for some tips on how to present your experience and education.
Does your resume start with an “Objective” or a ” Career Summary”? Which do you think is more effective? I say drop the objective…do you agree? Let’s have a conversation.
