Tips for Writing Your Resume

In undertaking the writing of your resume, always understand that a resume represents your accomplishments. It is supposed to be a brief presentation of your background that includes a chronological outline that highlights significant activities.

That being said, I like to remind candidates that you are writing your resume for an audience that has little time, and often less inclination, to read each and every word you have painstakingly placed on a page. Does that mean that it doesn't matter if you have grammatical errors, misspellings and incomplete material's eye will be drawn to these blights on your resume and may come to the conclusion that you are not as meticulous as you should be. Will this automatically rule you out? No, not necessarily; but if you other candidates have virtually the same qualifications, and there is limited time, be assured that you will not get a call for an interview.

Start the process of writing your resume by drawing up a list of your jobs, leaving about 10 spaces between them. Gather and write in the dates of your employment, and the city where the company was located. Next, under each of the roles you had during your career, write a list of duties. Now, add what you feel were significant accomplishments for each of those duties. Once the list is complete, you should put them in a sentence utilizing strong words that describe the duty in relationship to an accomplishment. You may not be able to do this for each and every duty, but, if you think hard enough, you will find that there were many things that you can be proud of during your career with previous companies.

Just before you are ready to begin, think over your entire career and within 2 to 3 lines, summarize your ability to perform. For example, "Strong team player, experienced in all phases of (whatever) has, for the past (x) years successfully produced...."

The idea is to provide the reader with a statement that shows you are capable of performing, with excellence, the position for which you are applying. If a company representative is going to read anything on your resume, word for word, they will read your summary.

After you have written the summary, be sure to put your work history in reverse chronological order (latest job first), followed by your education.

When completed, your resume should look something like this: