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How to Write an Interview Winning Resume
Posted in: Blog by admin on December 23, 2010
A great resume can be produced by just about anyone with a computer equipped with a jet ink or other “quality” printer and a word processing program. This guide tells how to do it step-by-step.
If you feel uncomfortable doing it yourself, get a professional resume writer to do it. You can still use this guide to assure yourself that the writer is preparing a high quality resume for you.
The resume I will be discussing here is the general resume. If you have never done it yourself, I’d suggest you study this material but also go get a couple of other books devoted entirely to resume writing. Introduction
Writing a resume can be defined in simplest terms as “putting yourself on paper” and the only real objective is to get the interview.
Most resumes follow a simple format consisting of:
A header containing your full name, address, and phone number
Job objective
Highlights (optional)
Job history
Educational history
A section outlining outside hobbies and interests, and some standard statements such as I am willing to relocate.
REFERENCES WILL BE PROVIDED UPON REQUEST
*Note – If you are still in school and/or have only had part time jobs up to this point, you should put the educational history ahead of the job history since it is not pertinent to your situation. Also you may optionally want to add a highlights section if it would be helpful. In this section you should point out any special achievements such as a high GPA, Merit award, or other.
Keep your resume to only 1 page. Reason: in cases where the job has been advertised the busy personnel manager may receive hundreds of resumes for each opening. If he/she have 10 positions to fill, that multiplies to thousands of resumes. Because of time limitations, most managers use screening to eliminate as many resumes as can be done practically, and let them then narrow down to only a few candidates(3 or 4 in many cases). A one page resume will get past this first screening tool, while a multiage resume may not.
*Note – Keep focused on your objective “To Get the Interview”. Please don’t tell your life history. Think, instead of a newspaper headline flashing in their eyes that says “WE NEED TO SEE THIS GUY IN PERSON!”
Other negative screening tools that may get your resume thrown out abound, such as:
Unwilling to relocate, demand a high salary and/or benefit package, too old (or maybe even too young even something as innocent sounding as sending a picture of yourself may work against you. The screener may just not like your looks, so if you send him a picture, you may be out.
*Note – some refer to this inclusion of unnecessary information as “giving the screener a handle to beat you with.” You need to create a document that will pique the screeners curiosity enough that your resume stays on the pile.
**Note: Do not send a hand written resume. Yours may stand out but it is very “unprofessional” and will probably be discarded early in the process. Also your finished reusme’ should fill the page. If you don’t have enough material to fill a page, better do dig and come up with more material. Some “experts” have recommended a letter alone as a resume. The letter would contain your name and address, your job objective, and a paragraph of information about yourself and asking the employer to contact you if they are interested. My opinion is that if the employer already have a stack of resumes, they will not likely take the time to write back asking for a full resume.
A standard resume can be divided into the following parts:
1 – Name, street address, phone number, and Email address
2 – Job objective
3 – Education and Work Histories
4 – Awards & achievements
5 – Outside Interests
6 – A statement that references will be furnished upon request
Below is a more detailed explanation of the outline above.
1 – This is straightforward but you might want to put a horizontal line under this information
2 – Best advice here is to use the exact objective stated in the ad, i.e. – if the ad states they are looking for a laboratory manager, use this as your objective. The writer of the ad may have a certain mental image of a laboratory manager. If you write lab supervisor and this company’s organizational structure consists of a 3 laboratory supervisors who all report to a laboratory manager, he may think you are applying for a lesser position and use this to eliminate considering you for the job. Another point – keep it simple. I have seen resumes with a job objective like – To better the company’s profits by using my extensive training in this area. If you can indeed do this, that is great, but save this ammunition for the interview. The resume is not the place for it.
3 – Use the forms in the appendix of my book to organize the information before you start on the resume. The education and job histories should be complete with beginning and ending dates, degrees earned, job titles held, etc., pief summary of duties, and reasons for the changes. If you have just graduated, then obviously your educational history should be stated first and covered more extensively. Any part time jobs that relate directly to your field should certainly be included as work history. If you have had many years of experience on the job, the education history is likely less relevant and should be listed after the work history.
*Note – If you have any time gaps in your education or work history be prepared with answers to questions will almost certainly be asked about them.
4 – Awards and achievements could be anything from honorary societies to special awards to top grades, to patents for inventions, on the job safety awards, etc, etc.. Anything that will give you an advantage over your competitors should be mentioned. This is a time to toot your own horn but don’t toot it so loud that your are labeled as a braggart or phoney.
5 – Outside interests is the section where you can show you interests. Any that are related to your field are especially important. Also important are any that indicate an interest in performing civic service, volunteering at a hospital, etc.
6 – Statement about references. The standard statement: References will be furnished upon request is best here. I advise that you not list the references on your resume. First of all a one page resume doesn’t allow much room for lists, and second, the employer might call your references and decide not to grant the interview because of one negative comment by the reference. It is better that you tell your own story than to allow one of your references who may not know your whole background to do it for you. Remember that your objective at this point is to get the interview.
Form and format
Paper – use an off white or light pastel high quality paper. Most office supplies stores stock paper labeled as “resume” paper. Use matching envelopes if available.
Printing – Use black ink and a standard font if using a computer to prepare. Use a laser or ink jet printer, not dot matrix. If you use a typewriter, use a new ribbon. Use your own copier or a good copy shop for copies.
Use the same paper for your cover letter. The cover letter is like a letter of introcution telling the person receiving the resume why you are writing and the for which job you are applying. Keep it short and to the point and write it to a specific person if possible (rather than just addressing it to the human resources manager).
Other notes
The resume outlined above is the standard used by most. Other formats may be used and to find out more, buy a book specifically addressing resume writing. You may also want to look at computer programs available, as well as resume writing services on the internet.
Below is an example of a simple resume:
Arnold Everyman
100 Everybody St.
Everytown, PA 11111
Objective: Maintenance Supervisor
Highlights:
New home construction – 4 yrs.
22 yrs. residential and commercial remodeling including carpentry, plastering, drywall installation, electrical wiring, plumbing, and more.
Machine shop experience including setup and running a wide variety of machine tools and plant equipment
Small engine repair and rebuilding experience.
Work Experience
11/84 – Present Self employed residential remodeler, all phases
1/80 – 10/84 Pantoon Tool Co., Thistown, PA
Machine operator
7/76 – 11/80 Georges Homes, Georgestown, PA
New home construction
Educational History
1972 – 1976 Keystone High School
Thistown, PA
Graduated in 1976
1964 – 1972 Kerr Jr. High School
Georgestown, PA
Hobbies: Fishing and hunting
REFERENCES WILL BE FURNISHED UPON REQUEST