In the last article we looked at assessing your skills. Now we’ll look at revising your résumé or writing one. There are three notable challenges jobseekers are facing when revising or writing their résumé:

1. Many haven’t kept up with writing their accomplishments while working.
2. Some jobseekers are looking for work for the first time in 10, 20, even 30 years and now need to produce a résumé.
3. Many college grads are looking for full-time work for the first time in a turbulent economy.

In all cases, today’s résumés have changed, with a focus on industry keywords, accomplishments, short-easy-to-read text blocks, and targeted delivery of your résumés.

Most résumés these days have a keyword-rich Branding Headline that accurately describes your occupation and areas of strengths. Each strength should be intended for a specific position. Here is an example:

Marketing Specialist | Public Relations | Program Development | Increase Visibility & Revenue.

A Performance Profile can make or break you. You have to grab the employer’s attention with a no-fluff, fact-revealing statement that serves as a snapshot of you and what is to follow for the rest of the résumé. To simply write the word, Creative does not have an impact.

However something like the following carries more weight:

Demonstrate creativity through initiating programs that have contributed to financial success by 55% annually.

More specific information should be included in your work history.

This statement should be directly related to what skill/s the employer’s looking for. As it’s relevant to one particular position, it may not be relevant to others and, therefore, shouldn’t necessarily be included on every résumé you submit.

Your Competency Section is meant to show employers what skills you possess, as well as additional skills that may be a plus to the employer. They are key words that should also show up in your headline and professional profile.

The Work History is the most important part of your résumé, so it must contain high-impact information that demonstrates your accomplishments. Duties are simply…duties; however, accomplishments sell. If you have a boatload of duties on your résumé, do your best to see how they can be turned into statements that show positive impact on the companies for which you worked.

Duty statement: Spearheaded the first continuous improvement committee at the company.

This is an accomplishment statement with a quantified result. Spearheaded the first continuous improvement process that eliminated redundant, costly programs. This resulted in an overall savings of $200,000.

Shortened one-line version: Spearheaded continuous improvement process eliminating costly programs, saving $200,000.

The final piece is your education section. For college grads, I’m a big fan of putting your hard-earned degree beside your name at the top of your résumé. In your education section fully spell the degree. And proudly list your GPA if it is higher than a 3.5/4.0 (there’s some debate over this).

Masters of Business Administration
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
GPA: 3.94/4.00

Martin Yate says it best, “No one likes to write a résumé.” He also says that a résumé is our most important financial document. No one said writing  your résumé would be easy, but as time goes on it becomes easier. Remember that each résumé must be tailored to a specific job. Even in this turbulent economy, jobs are being had; so never give up on your job search.

Next Friday we’ll look at writing your cover letter.