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

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