Best Practices in Resume Writing
We know we should write a resume, but we procrastinate for fear we’ll be overwhelmed. And yet a resume is so crucial, not just for finding a job, but moving ahead in your career. Here are ten strategies to perform your best in this all important task:
1. If you don’t already have one, write a career plan. Know the kinds
of jobs that interest you and create a plan with progressive positions
of interest.
2. Research the qualifications you’ll need for that next job or future
positions; identify the credentials, skills, and experiences you’ll
need.
3. Conduct an inventory of your current qualifications and determine how
well you match the job requirements.
4. Identify deficiencies and develop a plan to acquire the appropriate
mix of qualifications.
5. Evaluate each one of your jobs, educational and training experiences,
core skills, licensures, certifications, and other viable experiences.
6. Begin to document your credentials, including only those that
demonstrate that you match the qualifications you’ve identified.
7. Look carefully at each of your jobs. What problems did you encounter,
how did you solve them, and what were the outcomes? Organizations have
problems and if you can communicate that you know how to solve them,
you’ll attract interest.
8. Prepare, edit, and revise your resume. Use a highlighting marker to
identify redundancies. Work with a thesaurus, dictionary, or synonym
finder to improve word choice while reducing redundancies.
9. Solicit feedback; share your resume with trusted colleagues or
friends and ask for their comments and suggestions.
10. Produce your resume so it has a professional appearance and it’s
easy to read. Try different fonts, such as Century Schoolbook, Arial,
Book Antiqua, or Bookman Old Style, in either 12- or 11-point. Use a
one-inch margin all around. Experiment with desktop publishing features,
such as bullets and ruling lines.
Your resume is your best opportunity to market your credentials; it’s often your first introduction to a prospective employer, so do your best to make it a good one!
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