Careers & Employment Information

Ten Resume Writing Tips You Can't Live Without


For some job opening, employers receive hundreds and even thousands of resumes. When you are looking for a job, how can you best promote yourself? How can you convince a prospective employer to pick-up the phone and call you for an interview?

Sought-after career coach and author of the critically-acclaimed book, The Dark Before the Dawn: 70 Secrets to Self-discovery, Theresa Castro states that you should take into consideration that your resume is the first exposure a potential employer will have of you. Given this, you shouldn't take your resume lightly. Castro offers a list of ten tips that will assist you in creating a winning resume and increasing your chances of getting called for an interview.

1. Do address employment gaps briefly in the cover letter only if the gaps are a significant amount of time such as maternity leave. Use a functional resume to address gaps in employment or changes in field of interest.

2. Think from the perspective of your future employer. What's in it for them? Why should this company call you? Keep in mind that your resume is not the only resume that will be considered.

3. Recognize that your resume is your "sales person". This "sales person" must convince the prospective employer to pick up the phone and schedule an interview with you. If your "sales person" isn't convincing enough then guess what ? there won't be any phone calls. Thus, take the time to make your resume sell, sell, sell...yourself.

4. Ask a friend or co-worker about your accomplishments. Some times, we don't readily recognize or recall the many things that we have done.

5. Make certain that your contact information is correct. It would dreadful to think that an employer wanted to reach you but you mistakenly listed the wrong information.

6. Take advantage of internet technology and place your resume on various websites. There are numerous websites such as Monster, Career Builder and HotJobs that allow you to find a job based on your particular interests. In addition, there are websites that will list jobs that are specific to a particular industry. For example, Medzilla is a website that has job listings exclusively for the medical industry.

7. Demonstrate the key traits in your resume: leadership, communication, teamwork, decision making and problem solving. For leadership, how are you an innovator? For communication, are you approachable? Are you open-minded? Can you communicate effectively orally? In a written format? In regard to teamwork, can you work with others? What examples of teamwork could you illustrate from the past? As far as decision making is concerned, what have you done to play into the success of the companies for whom you have worked? In regard to problem solving, when have you seen the big picture and created a change that had a positive and quantifiable outcome?

8. Each job listing has a particular list of required experiences. If you possess these experiences, then make sure that you express this in your resume. You can't make any assumptions about what the potential employer knows about you or your work history.

9. Read your resume out loud. By doing this, you will find missing words, grammatical errors or content that just doesn't make sense.

10. Have at least three friends review your resume. You are utilizing their assistance to ensure that you haven't missed something or made an easy to fix mistake.

(c) 2005, Theresa Castro

Theresa Castro, MBA is an executive career coach and author of The Dark Before the Dawn: 70 Secrets to Self-discovery. Go to http://www.DiscoverYourDreamJob.com to sign-up for a free 3 day mini-course.


MORE RESOURCES:
Google

New York Times

Number of Those Unemployed For at Least 6 Months Rises
Wall Street Journal - 15 hours ago
With downward revisions for employment in previous months, the economy has lost 438000 jobs since January. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.5% last ...
Little doubt that US is in recession; rest of the world can't ... The Age
Six Months of Job Loss Push Economy Toward Recession ABC News
Jobs continue to fade Chicago Tribune
Amerisurv (press release) - BusinessWeek
all 916 news articles


International Business Times

Treasurys rise ahead of employment report
The Associated Press - Jul 2, 2008
The ADP National Employment Report said private sector employment fell by 79000 jobs last month. The dim job market outlook added to worries about the ...
Treasurys advance after ADP jobs report MarketWatch
US ADP Employment foresees larger than expected decline in June's ... International Business Times
Pink Slips Abound In June Forbes
guardian.co.uk - Globe and Mail
all 190 news articles


Employment figures mixed
Bonner County Daily Bee, ID - 4 hours ago
By CONOR CHRISTOFFERSON SANDPOINT - Bonner County's June unemployment numbers are higher than state averages but lower than national averages, according to ...
State unemployment rate increases South Idaho Press
all 4 news articles


Earthtimes (press release)

ADP National Employment Report Shows US Employment Decreased by ...
CNNMoney.com - Jul 2, 2008
According to today's ADP National Employment Report®, private sector employment decreased by 79000 in June. The ADP National Employment Report, ...
DJ: ADP Sees June US Private Sector Jobs Down 79000 Onet.pl
ECONOMY: Little to Cheer on US Independence Day Inter Press Service (subscription)
Small - Business Job Growth Eases New York Times
TheStreet.com - Bizjournals.com
all 81 news articles


Bush Economy Sheds 62K Jobs in June; Sixth Straight Monthly Decline
AlterNet, CA - 2 hours ago
The employment to population ratio (EPOP) fell to 62.4 percent in June, its lowest level in more than three years, as the economy lost another 62000 jobs in ...


Business Letters: How to revive the property market; employment ...
Times Online, UK - 1 hour ago
THE government has not talked about what might be done to revive the property market. Here?s what it should do. Reverse all the stamp-duty increases. ...


Voice of America

Amid ugly job picture, tech related employment holds up
ZDNet - Jul 3, 2008
The US economy lost 62000 jobs in June for the sixth straight month of employment losses with an unemployment rate of 5.5 percent, but underneath the ...
Payrolls Shrank Again in June; Wall Street Journal
Job losses spur gloom on economy; June figure is 62000 Toledo Blade
US Jobs Decline for 6th Consecutive Month Data The Market Oracle
nwitimes.com - International Business Times
all 193 news articles


AFP

US stocks advance as employment report comes as expected
MarketWatch - Jul 3, 2008
By MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- US stocks end mostly higher, offering a benign reaction to the government's report on employment, which fell only ...
MARKET SNAPSHOT: US Stocks Advance As Employment Report Comes As ... CNNMoney.com
US stocks advance as employment report comes as expected MarketWatch
Dollar loses ground after weak jobs report MarketWatch
all 32 news articles


Sainik Welfare department to supervise employment in Himachal
myHimachal, India - 6 hours ago
He further said that employment and self-employment would be an important activity to be monitored by the department. Other issues concerning ex-servicemen ...


Cape Breton Post

Student employment centres busy
Cape Breton Post, Canada - 6 hours ago
SYDNEY ? School?s out and many young students are now feeling the crunch to get some kind of summer employment. Ready to help them in that job search are ...

Employment - Google News

home | site map
© 2006