You Say You Need Resume Writing Help? You've Come To The Right Place!
After spending years helping others as a career coach and resume developer, I understand the difficulty many people have in working on their resumes. In this brief "Resume Writing Help" page, I offer some of the basics to get you on your way to be more confident when developing your own resume (note I said some of the basics!). Be sure to visit my other Squidoo pages for more help, too (you'll find them at the bottom of this page)!
I'm also aware that many people can use a little more help than I can give here, and I enjoy using real marketing strategies (after all, we are marketing ourselves with our resumes!).
And after reviewing the information objectively (and from a career coach's perspective), I like "www.CreatingAResume.info" a lot! So, visit the site and start using their tools, as well as the ones I'm offering (Important Note: I do receive a commission from sales of the Career Jimmy products that you are seeing links for here in my Squidoo lenses. Besides the link above, I am also marketing www.CoverLetterWriting.net and www.JobInterviewTechnique.net.)
I'm also aware that many people can use a little more help than I can give here, and I enjoy using real marketing strategies (after all, we are marketing ourselves with our resumes!).
And after reviewing the information objectively (and from a career coach's perspective), I like "www.CreatingAResume.info" a lot! So, visit the site and start using their tools, as well as the ones I'm offering (Important Note: I do receive a commission from sales of the Career Jimmy products that you are seeing links for here in my Squidoo lenses. Besides the link above, I am also marketing www.CoverLetterWriting.net and www.JobInterviewTechnique.net.)
Resume Writing Help and Tips for You!
Writing a resume should be fun!
Did I just say writing your resume should be fun? Ok... Maybe that's a stretch! But, with any luck, I can offer a little resume writing help and tips right here that will at least make the task a little less painful. :)
Let's begin!
I think what most people seem to forget when they're looking for a job, or if they've just lost their job and are in a real worry mode, is that their resume is NOT supposed to "get the job" for them. There really is only ONE purpose to your resume - and if you visit my other lenses, I'll probably repeat myself on this point:
Heck, why not start by repeating myself right now?
The purpose of your resume is to GET YOU AN INTERVIEW.
Just like a newspaper advertisement is meant to get you into the store or the car dealership, your resume is an advertisement to get your readers to want to see what you have "in store."
That's it! Plain and simple.
Let's begin!
I think what most people seem to forget when they're looking for a job, or if they've just lost their job and are in a real worry mode, is that their resume is NOT supposed to "get the job" for them. There really is only ONE purpose to your resume - and if you visit my other lenses, I'll probably repeat myself on this point:
Heck, why not start by repeating myself right now?
The purpose of your resume is to GET YOU AN INTERVIEW.
Just like a newspaper advertisement is meant to get you into the store or the car dealership, your resume is an advertisement to get your readers to want to see what you have "in store."
That's it! Plain and simple.
Here We Go... Resume Writing Help Tip #1
This is important - Do not underestimate this!
You've probably heard people say that you should keep your resume to one page. I'm going to respectfully disagree here. Ok - if you are fairly new to the workforce and/or inexperienced, then I agree that a one-page resume is enough.But, for a lot of people these days - especially those who have been in the workforce for years - it is highly probable that you will need more than one page.
Having said that, whenever I am asked to give resume writing help and offer this opinion, I need to temper this advice by saying it would be best to keep it no more than three pages, if possible (there are a few exceptions, but for most people, 2 pages should suffice).
Here is why I believe most people will need a two-page resume:
If you try to cram all your accomplishments, experience and qualifications into one page, you are going to have a resume that is so cluttered and crowded that no one will read it.
Your resume MUST have a good balance of "white space."
What that means is you need to ensure that there is plenty of white background for ease of reading - nicely spaced out bullets and categories. Make it easy on the eyes of your reader.
So, once you begin to spread out, you'll probably find it necessary to go to two pages. Lots of white space - probably two pages. Ok?
Read on for Resume Writing Help Tip #2...
Resume Writing Help Tip #2
Bullets? Paragraphs? Perfect Grammar?
Please! Do not use a paragraph style resume. You are not writing a term paper. You are writing a brochure of sorts... a sales document... an advertisement.Look... You've got about 3 seconds to catch and keep your reader's attention. So, think "bullet points."
Let's say you're really proud of a specific accomplishment, and you really want to get this into your resume.
For example: "I sold more widgets than any other sales rep in 2008, and three-quarters of these customers have since reordered, blah blah blah..."
(Ha! I'll bet you got bored just trying to read that statement!)
You do NOT need to write in full sentences to get your thoughts across. A nice, concise bullet point under your "Accomplishments" category will be more than enough.
And NO, don't worry about the bullet point not sounding "grammatically correct." As long as it flows and your spelling is correct, and the entire resume is written in the same manner, you will be ok.
Remember... think "advertisement."
Your goal is to get your reader to read your "advertisement."
Which brings me to Resume Writing Help Tip #3...
Resume Writing Help Tip #3
It's about numbers, symbols, and other quantifiable and eye-catching stuff.
By the way, see that little picture just above this module? That's me with a few of the resumes I've helped others with... Sorry... Got carried away. :) Ok..ok... I'm not as hip as the folks at www.CreatingAResume.info.
But I digress... Let's go back to our example of the terrific sales rep who sold more widgets than the rest. We already know we need to put the info into a concise, bulleted format, right? Right.
But another thing to keep in mind is:
1) The bullet needs to also stand out, and the accomplishment needs to be easily and fully understood by the reader.
2) The accomplishment needs to be quantifiable. How many clients? How many widgets?
Also, on the resume, don't write out the numbers. For example, instead of "sold fifteen thousand widgets..." you "sold 15,000 widgets."
So, for the sake of simplicity with our brief Resume Writing Help Class here, I submit the following bullet point:
- Sold 15,000 widgets to 59 out of 64 corporate accounts in 2008, with 75% of these accounts already re-ordering as of April 2009.
Hopefully this makes sense to you! These are fairly basic ideas, but I have more at my other lenses if you are interested in hearing other ideas - they're listed down at the bottom of the page here. Thanks for reading!
But I digress... Let's go back to our example of the terrific sales rep who sold more widgets than the rest. We already know we need to put the info into a concise, bulleted format, right? Right.
But another thing to keep in mind is:
1) The bullet needs to also stand out, and the accomplishment needs to be easily and fully understood by the reader.
2) The accomplishment needs to be quantifiable. How many clients? How many widgets?
Also, on the resume, don't write out the numbers. For example, instead of "sold fifteen thousand widgets..." you "sold 15,000 widgets."
So, for the sake of simplicity with our brief Resume Writing Help Class here, I submit the following bullet point:
- Sold 15,000 widgets to 59 out of 64 corporate accounts in 2008, with 75% of these accounts already re-ordering as of April 2009.
Hopefully this makes sense to you! These are fairly basic ideas, but I have more at my other lenses if you are interested in hearing other ideas - they're listed down at the bottom of the page here. Thanks for reading!
Read a Few More of my Resume Writing Help Tips, and What Has Worked for my Clients!
When I first started giving others resume writing help (since about 2000 or so), I really only had the basics down, and a lot of that was pretty old-fashioned stuff: Name/Address... Objective... Chronological Listing of Employment History with "Responsibilities included..." blah... blah... blah.Obviously I've learned a LOT since then! My career coaching library has dozens of books (not counting the ones I've sold at my yard sales LOL!). So, I really do hope that some of the tips I offer in my other lenses will help you avoid the 9-year learning curve I experienced!
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Inspirational Quote for All Who Need Resume Writing Help
Abraham Lincoln once said:
"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my axe."
So, don't lose heart! It takes time to build a resume. It's worth the effort!
Visit www.CreatingaResume.info for more help.
Effective Resume Writing Help
Get effective resume writing help or even just a few tips for writing a resume - and share your own ideas about creating a resume too! We can all learn from one another!
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Hi Everyone! When I give resume writing help, I speak from LOTS of experience! I have years of resume writing and development and career coaching unde... (more)
