Distinguish Yourself With Your Resume

With today's highly mobile workforce a strong and up-to-date resume is vital. Let's review some of the significant highlights of a strong resume.

First, do not write your own. Certainly, you may put a rough copy together, then let someone who knows how to write resumes complete it for you. The reason? We never see ourselves as capable and qualified as others do. Get feedback from your present seniors and colleagues as to your performance in your most recent positions. The major thing to consider is, what did you accomplish on the job? We have all accomplished many things; we may not see them as such.

Some years ago I had a seminar participant state: "I've never done anything, I'm just a secretary." What a wonderful challenge, and after spending just a few minutes in conversation with her we extracted some of the things she had contributed to so many. She ended up seeing that she was the key player for her boss in the 18 month closing of a major US plant.

Fill your resume with accomplishment statements, things you have done, not what you have been responsible for. There is a difference. You may not have completed some of the things you were responsible for. A future employer wants to know what you can do for him/her. By reading what you have done, s/he will get a picture of what you can do for another company. Begin your statements with strong action words such as: Created, Developed, Managed, Lead, etc. Leave off the, "I accomplished; I created, etc." Categorize your accomplishments by either job title or function.

Bullet your accomplishment statements and quantify your work; refer to numbers as much as possible for your completed work. The eye picks up numbers quicker than words. Enumerate in dollars, time, people, sq. ft., number of accounts/items, etc. Most everything can be quantified in some way. Also, make sure you include the results of your specific work. An example of a strong accomplishment statement might be, "Created and managed a new work-flow process for 12 new products. Increased process efficiency by 20% and revenue by 15%." Notice what you remember after reading this statement.

Most people scan resumes; therefore the use of verbs and numbers. Use a 12 point san-serif font as it is easier to scan. Use an attractive white or off-white bond paper, not regular copy paper.

Other cosmetic considerations: do not overuse bold or capitals, use only years for dates (months are not necessary); include the companies and their locations you worked for in reverse chronological order; spell out acronyms, and leave lots of white space (pleasing to the eye). Make sure to include your title. Leave off any wording about references; it uses up unnecessary space. You will surrender references when asked. Put your education and training last unless you are applying to an educational institution.

Have someone else carefully proof your resume. It must have absolutely no mistakes. You can't afford even a typo. It is a way to immediately cull you out. This is perhaps one of the most important points, no misspelling or other errors.

Keep your resume up to date. Maintain a file of what you have accomplished over the months. It can be a very good refresher to your boss come performance review time. It will help you remember what you have done, lest you rely only on, "I only did my job." You were asked to accomplish things/tasks as a part of your job.

Lastly, the idea of only one page is a myth. Two pages is very permissible and always has been, more especially in today's world of multiple careers.

The major thing to keep in mind is that you want to distinguish yourself from everyone else. You must put your best foot forward on paper. Attention to detail is imperative. A strong and attractive resume will put you head and shoulders above most others.