Your resume is nothing but a tool with one specific purpose: to win an interview or a chance at doing a job. Think of it as an elaborate calling card! It should convince employers that you can generate results for their business.

Presentation is everything! Resumes are rarely read in detail; rather, they're quickly scanned by employers, who look for key qualifications, a sound job history and your track record that describes briefly the results you've produced in the past. Subsequently, the top half of the first page of your resume should rivet their attention, so they'll read on.

When you put yourself in the employer's shoes, what do you think their needs are? Will they want a seasoned veteran, or someone to train from the bottom up? Someone who'll hit the ground running or someone who'll learn on the job with a company training process to support them? Ask someone who's in the field you're applying in. The more you know the better you'll be able to craft your resume.

There's no single way to write a resume. However, there are key elements you will need to include in your pitch - if you're serious about getting the job. For example, your resume should contain descriptions of your:

• Abilities
• Qualities
• Achievements
• Previous employment
• Education
• Civic involvement

If you are not really sure what job you are after, you should adapt your resume to each job you apply for. There is nothing wrong with having several different resumes with a different objective, each specifically crafted for a different type of position.

Depending on the industry, some resumes should not exceed 1-2 pages. In other sectors, resumes or vitae can exceed 20 or more pages and contain inventories of all the projects an individual may have had a major part in. Before you apply, call and find out what the standard length is. You generally can't go wrong with 1-3 pages. The following descriptions highlight each section that should be provided in your resume:

1. Identification

Your name, address, phone, email, pager # on top of the first page. It's important for folks to know where and when they can reach you during standard working hours.

2. Professional Highlights

The flagship portion of your resume is an inventory of your skills and accomplishments. This can also be titled: career highlights, area of expertise, professional highlights or summary of accomplishments. This brief section will give an employer a quick glimpse of your capability.

3. Experience

   Inventory your past jobs in reverse chronological order. List your job title and employer in bold face. Don't describe your duties, rather, describe results generated in each position i.e. what was positively different after you left.

4. Education

   List educational degrees in reverse chronological order, degrees or licenses first, followed by certificates and advanced training. Set degrees apart so they are easily seen. Put in boldface. List selected course work if this will help convince the reader of your qualifications for the targeted job. If you're still working on your degree, include it with your expected graduation date.

5. Awards

   List anything you've received for an outstanding accomplishment. If the only awards received were in school, put these under the Education section.

6. Professional Affiliations

   Include only those, which are current and relevant. If you are or were in a leadership position, such as serving as committee chair or on an executive body, include it!

7. Civic Involvement

   List the volunteer jobs you've performed in the community and to what degree. You may even want to list your accomplishments as a volunteer board member.

8. Personal Interests

   List those that relate to your prospective job and those that display you as a well-rounded, healthy person. If you're athletic, you may want to list your sport of choice, such as golf, tennis etc.

9. References

   If you have some that you believe are from recognized industry leaders, include them! Otherwise promise in writing that you'll furnish them upon request.

• Make it simple and leave plenty of blank space. A dense or crowded resume will be frustrating to the employer.
• Maximum use of italics, capital letters, bullets, boldface, and underlining, with uniformity and consistency.
• Absolutely no errors. No typographical errors. No spelling errors. No grammar, syntax, or punctuation errors. No errors of fact. It should look totally perfect!

• Fluffy rambling "employment objectives" statements
• Salary information
• Full addresses and zip codes of former employers
• Reasons for leaving jobs
• References

Since there are hundreds of resume writing firms on the web, you may want to scan their sites for samples. The best approach may be asking an experienced employee that you know to help you with yours.

For more information buy

Resume Writing Made Easy by Lola M. Coxford

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