Sell Yourself with a Top-Notch Resume
If you would rather have a root canal than write your resume, you are not alone! Crafting a job-winning resume is not as daunting as it may seem, even if you have been out of the workforce for a few years or longer. The keys to a powerful resume are layout and examples. In other words, make sure you organize your resume right and use strong examples! Show, don't tell. Let's just assume you have been out of the workforce for a few years. You don't want your resume to point out your employment gap in big, bold type. On-rampers can use a simple format called the "functional" resume to highlight your skills and accomplishments. This differs from the classic chronological resume in that it does not start out listing job duties and dates of employment first. The functional resume focuses attention on skills and accomplishments, then at or near the bottom, lists dates of employment and titles.
A typical functional resume goes like this:
Name, address, contact info
Career Objective/Profile: one or two sentences that sum up what you want in a career
Qualifications and Skills: Don't be modest! Lay it all out. Support your claims with concrete accomplishments, "increased sales by 50%" This section may take up the majority of the page as it is the meat of the resume.
Education: List not only degrees but specialized training and certificates. If you went to a prestigious Ivy League school you may want to move this section up above "Qualifications and Skills"
Relevant Experience: Here is where you list the jobs you held. Don't forget to list volunteer jobs as well. Include titles, dates of employment and a brief description of job.
Now you can move the sections around, they are not set in stone. The point is not to make your resume read like an obituary of your career. You want to sell your skills, highlight results and prove you are the right person for job. Don't forget to polish it, check for spelling errors and use dynamic words. You only have one chance to make a first impression.
See Sample Functional Resume for more ideas.
For a list of action verbs see Action Verbs for a Dynamic Resume
