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Resume Writing Tip: How to Write the
"Summary of Qualifications"
Wednesday, September 05,
2007
The "Summary
of Qualifications" is often found on most
professionally written
resumes for a good reason. It is one of the first points of
focus of recruiters when they look at your resume as it is at the
top of the page. Also, as the name indicates, it provides a good
overview of what you can bring to your prospective employer, which,
in the eyes of the recruiter, is a time saver.
A good trick when people want to make their point go across is to
provide an overview of the facts/ arguments and subsequently narrow
in with more details. This is exactly what the "Summary
of Qualifications" does.
Resume Writing Tip: Keep It Short and
Simple
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International Inc.,
gives us a good reminder that less is better when writing a resume,
meaning that you should keep your resume simple and to the
point. Don't detract the reader's attention with unecessary
pictures or colors.
Why is less better? Because it means that you are:
- more selective,
- more focused,
- more concise, and
- clearer.
The goal of a resume is not to give an exhaustive recap of your
background. It is to make a statement: "this candidate looks
interesting... let's give him/her an interview and see how it goes..."
There you go, here's your chance.
Less Is More When Crafting a Resume, ColumbiaTribune.com
Unwritten Rules of Effective Resume
Writing
Monday, July 09, 2007
David Perry, managing director of Perry-Martel International (an
executive search, recruiting, and placement firm), recommends nine
unwritten resume writing rules to follow in order to make an
impression on recruiters during the short lapse of time they take to
scan your application:
- Give them what they want. Make sure the reader can find what he
or she is looking for easily.
- Be relevant.
- Target your reader. Depending on whether the reader is a
recruiter, and HR folk, or a hiring manager, you may have to use
different approaches.
- Use bullets.
- Highlight your strengths.
- Demonstrate results. Use numbers, %, and $.
- Be concise.
- Don't save the best for last. Highlight your accomplishments
upfront.
- Connect the dots. Make it easy for the reader to see how your
qualifications fit what he or she is looking for.
Your
Resume Has Just 15 Seconds to Make a Good Impression, California Job
Journal
Resume Writing Tip: Passive Versus
Active
Sunday, February 25, 2007
As for most things, there are good resumes, normal resumes, and bad
resumes. Many job seekers fall into the trap of writing a normal
resume and hope that it will get them the job. That is wishful
thinking.
One aspect of resume writing that is not emphasized enough is the
research aspect. Most career articles emphasize research as a
preparation for the interview stage. Yet, before you reach that
stage, you must first pass the preliminary round of screening.
A passive resume is one in which you simply describe what you did.
Most employers are interested in what you did in the past only to
the extent that it can help them decide of your future performance.
In other words, a good resume is one that is forward looking.
Before writing your resume, you should research the industry, the
position, and the employer. As you gather information, you will
know what skills or experience to emphasize to make your
qualifications stand out.
An average salesperson will describe a product and hope that the
customer will buy it. A good salesperson will meet the customer's
needs or even create a need in the customer.
Resume Writing: Narrowing in from the
General to the Specific
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Mary Ann Benson, a career counsellor who spent the past 31 years
assisting college students with career and job search issues,
reminded us that writing a resume is more than simply
"writing down what you've done." It is an opportunity to step back
and reflect on our life and what we have achieved so far.
In that regard, she suggests that before "synthesizing" your work
experience and accomplishments, you should develop a longer version
(a "source document") in which you write down "all of the
information about each job you have held, every educational
opportunity, volunteer situation and meaningful experience with
detailed description of your activities, types of interactions,
responsibilities, successes, failures, recognitions and rewards."
Indeed, there are no shortcuts to writing a good and effective
resume.
Refresher: 5 Resume Writing Tips
Tuesday,
December 05, 2006
A competitive job market requires a resume that can stand strong
alongside others. Instead of listing a "series of actions" that job
seekers should take, Nimish Thakkar from WebProNews.com suggested 5
tips that go to the essence of how to write a better and improved
resume:
- "Adopt a different mindset;" that of a marketer.
- "Research the employer's needs" and try to meet those needs.
- "Make compelling arguments" to convince the employer that you
are the best person for the job ("best" means "better" than others).
- "Provide examples of your past successes" in order to support
your claims. Specificity is key in lending credibility.
- "Tell a convincing story." It's all about telling your story
and if the employer wants to see the next episode, he'll have to
hire you.
Tips for Writing a Compelling Resume, WebProNews.com
Advice on Resume Writing
Sunday, September 10,
2006
As now is recruitment time for many university students, we thought
it necessary to review some resume writing basics.
Resume tips
can be found in our career resources section and it is not our
intention to review them in this blog.
When writing a resume, it is important to realize that its purpose
is not to provide a detailed background of one's experience. The
purpose of a resume is simple: to get to the interview stage. How
to get there? By being selective in what to include in the resume
and focusing on one's strengths relative to what is required for the
specific position.
Once that is done, the next step is to ensure that the "packaging"
is right. There should be no typos and the resume has to be
visually attractive.
Instead of looking at a series of specific resume-writing rules,
looking at it from a broader perspective, as per the above, can be
more helpful!
How to Approach Your Resume
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
We often read
resume advice
on the Web to the effect that resumes should "show off"
accomplishments and tell employers "how good we are" by stating
improvements we've helped implement, etc.
Although that is important, let's not lose sight of what employers
are looking for. The only way to know that is to carefully read job
postings and do our own research. Employers are not always looking
for "super heroes" out there... They may just need a simple, yet
hardworking employee.
For instance, if you are junior and are applying for your first job,
don't boast your accomplishments to the point of looking
presumptuous... especially if you hardly know about the industry.
As such, a junior employee may be better off describing in his or
her resume the specific tasks he or she is good at since all the
employer is really looking for is a person to do that kind of work.
As for the rest, once that person is hired, he or she will have all
the time to prove himself or herself.
All the above was to say one simple thing: there is no rigid formula
in writing resumes; only general principles. One of the most
important principles being that one must never lose sight of what
employers want.
The Art of Writing "Resume Objectives"
Tuesday,
May 30, 2006
Before going into the issue of how to write resume objectives, you
should know that, if possible, you should always include an
objective section in your resume, except for particular
circumstances.
A major mistake that job seekers do when they write their
"objective" is to put the focus at the wrong place. The objective
part of your resume, as well as the rest of your resume, should
target the employer's needs, not reflect what you want in the job.
Since most resumes start with the "objective," it is crucial that
you get that one liner right. Following are few tips to keep in
mind:
- make sure to state the correct title of the position as it is
stated in the job posting;
- show the employer that you will be an asset by telling him or
her what you can bring to the job;
- keep your objective short to allow more "punch" (preferably,
only one sentence).
More
resume tips can be
found in WorkBloom's Career Resources Section.
Don't Leave Recruiters Guessing
Sunday, April 23, 2006
One of the most important tips in resume writing is clarity.
Recruiters or hiring managers have no time to waste trying to guess
what a candidate's qualifications are. At the pace that they go
when "browsing" through applications and by the number of
applications they look at, if they have to second guess what you
mean, the odds are that you won't make it to the interview stage.
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