If you’ve ever sat down and attempted to write your own resume, it can be extremely intimidating. Sure, can talk about what you do and describe your job to your friends, but clearly articulating what you do every day in a resume can be a difficult task.
Here are some tips to get you started. First, what type of job are you seeking? Much like your summary, the rest of your resume should be written with the job you want in mind. Consider your current and past experience and how it relates to the job for which you’re applying. Focus on the duties and responsibilities that show you are qualified to take a step up in your career.
Remember to use relevant key words, including active verbs to effectively describe your skills. Rather than starting job description sentences with “Responsible for” use powerful verbs like:
- Designed
- Managed
- Led
- Developed
- Realized
- Achieved
See the difference between responsible for and managed or led? You take a much more active part in the process and you show you are an achiever. You don’t just do – you actually take ownership for the work.
A caveat: Don’t be long winded in your description and don’t be dishonest. If you only managed part of a project, then you didn’t manage the whole product.
If you are currently working, the description under this job is in present tense. The jobs you held previously are in past tense. Just like if you were talking to someone about your current job.
Some Things To Keep In Mind
Be sure that your duties are relevant to your career objective. You don’t need to include every last detail and you want to make sure that what you do include actually supports your case. Here’s what I mean – if you’re looking for a job managing a team of people then you want your focus to be on your leadership abilities, your ability to develop people and your ability to drive employees to meet goals.
Format the resume so your duties are in paragraphs and your accomplishments are in bullets. That way your prospective employer can easily see your job descriptions.
Remember that in most cases, less is more in a resume. When an employer has more than 30 or 40 resumes to read, looking at huge blocks of print and long lists of bullets can get to be too much. A high impact job description is one that is clear and to the point
Your goal is for prospective employers to be able to simply scan your resume in search of key words. If the resume is filled to the brim it will look like a daunting task. You want to get an interview – keep it simple and your resume will end up on top.
Resume writing does not have to be intimidating. Career Management Expert, Patricia Erickson writes high impact resumes for job seekers and career changers. Patricia is the author of Get Interviews, Get Hired Now! the complete guide to job winning interviews.