Before you can get a job, you must usually get a job interview. And to get a job interview, you must usually submit a professional resumé.
Innumerable books and articles have been written about resume writing, but when all is said and done, the essentials of an effective resumé tend to boil down to these simple concepts:
* Your Resumé Should Appear Inviting. Before potential employers even read your resumé, they will notice how it looks—and this first impression will color their eventual reactions. Your resumé should be cleanly and evenly designed, neatly printed and have a lot of white space between sections. Information should be smartly organized and each section clearly titled. Despite what some so-called experts suggest, there’s no unwritten law that requires resumés be no more than a page long, but keeping your resumé short and sweet definitely has its advantages.
* The Resumé Should Fit the Job. Every resumé you submit needs to be tweaked to address the specific requirements of the position being offered. This means bringing forward and emphasizing any past employment, achievements, education and/or activities that are relevant to the job you’re applying for. Leave out everything else, however interesting you think it might be.
* Your Resumé Should Show a Clear Career Path. On a similar note, employers are looking for candidates who have defined ambitions and who know what they’re good at. Your resumé should therefore reflect a high degree of consistency in either a specific field or skill set.
* Your Resumé Should Emphasize Achievements and Results. A resumé needs to be more than simply a chronology of your professional who-what-when-and-where. You need to show off the value you’ve brought to previous employers (if any) by focusing on your most impressive achievements and the benefits that resulted. Granted, a direct cause-and-effect is sometimes difficult to see, but even a statement like, “Provided critical administrative support for three executives during a period when sales grew from $1 million to $3 million” says a whole lot more than, “Worked as a secretary for a year.”
* All Events Should be in Reverse Chronological Order. Listings of previous jobs as well as educational or volunteer experience should be listed with the most current ones first. Employers are most interested in what you’ve done lately.
* Your Resumé Should be Truthful and Accurate. Everybody “pads” or “spins” their resumé to make themselves look more attractive. (A good resumé writer can make even a disaster sound like a triumph.) However, it’s important that everything you’ve written be objectively true, that names, dates and numbers be verifiable, and that references (if any) be current and reachable. In other words, don’t say you had three years of astronaut training if you didn’t.
Need Professional Career Training? Everest is Forming Classes Now!
If you’re looking for an entry-level position in any of America’s top industries, a diploma or degree from Everest can be a major asset on your resumé. Everest offers a wide variety of diploma and degree programs in career fields, include medical assisting, dental assisting, massage therapy, criminal justice, accounting, business and IT. Programs and schedules vary by campus. Financial aid is available for those who qualify.
For information on professional career training education, campus locations, job placement services for graduates and financial aid information, contact Everest today!
