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Resume samples:
- The entire resume, which is measured in the first glance, must be comprehensive, yet enjoyable, and easy to read. If it seems too complex, or difficult to read, or is too lengthy, it will probably not be read – no matter how “high class” the presentation, high quality of paper or creative it might be. Like any other sales pitch, your resume needs to gain the reader’s attention immediately.
- Do not include a “Career or Job Objective”. Frankly, the prospective employer is not as concerned with what your personal objective is, as they are theirs. Simply put, employers want to know what you can do for them, not the other way around. You must lead off with, and elaborate on, your specific background, training, experience and/or education that will benefit the employer. A “summary of background” or “skills summary” statement is much more preferred than your “job objective”.
- Your “Summary of Qualifications” or “Skills Summary” must be supported by one or two specific examples. Merely listing job titles, duties, responsibilities and/or education is not enough. Dig deep and come up with a specific (major) accomplishment or two, then, a sentence or two of explanation. What is required is that the resume at first glance make a valid, quickly grasped offer of how your skills can not only satisfy the essential job requirements, but how hiring you (specifically) will directly benefit an employer more than if he/she hired someone else with a similar background.
- Don’t try to write or speak in a language you don’t understand. If you have something to say, simply say it in plain understandable grammar. In other words, don’t use “big” words you don’t understand, and speak at a level of your training and/or education. Employers are often turned off by your attempt to impress them by using fancy words or sentences that you would not normally use.
- Everything not absolutely essential to the reader must be dispensed with; and what is left must be compressed into an understandable and inviting layout. The fewer the words, the better the resume.
- Rarely has anyone ever been invited to an interview whose resume was not read completely. Most resumes are not read at all, but simply glanced at by the employer looking for key words and phrases that directly correspond to the job he/she is trying to fill. Those that pass the first glance are then more closely read, and the acceptable or winning job candidates are invited in for a personal interview.
- Your resume should make every effort to “sell” a valuable commodity – YOU! If it tiptoes, if it is nervously modest, if it hedges, if it whispers timidly, it will fail! It may fail in any event, however, at least don’t allow it to fail because you did not “blow your own horn”. Make them an offer they cannot refuse.
- Make sure that your resume is written in such a way as to motivate the reader to continue reading until he/she has completed the entire resume. Your resume must be written like a good book is written. Once it becomes boring or routine, the reader will stop reading, and you will probably not be invited in for a personal interview. Think about how you can continue to motivate the reader to read the whole thing.
- Of course, if everything else is right, your resumes’ first good impression must be continued by using high-quality paper and printed with a professional look. Margin justify the text.
- Don’t write a “one-size fits all” resume. There is no such thing as a generic resume that can be used for many different kinds of jobs. Every resume needs to be customized to fit each and every opening. Take the time to do it! If you want a good job bad enough, you will always re-write your resume to fit the job! For example: Never send a Sales Manager a resume that shows your interests in pursuing an Administrative career. Instead, tailor your resume (if you have the necessary skills, education, training and experience) to the specific job that you are applying. Take the time to do any research necessary to find out what specifically the employer is looking for; then, and only then, can you bring out those skills, experience and qualities that you have that closely resemble the employer’s needs. If you don’t have the necessary minimum skills and education to qualify for the job, please don’t send your resume (anyway) in hopes that you may, for some miraculous reason, be invited in for a personal interview.
- Unless you really are a top expert or recognized authority in something, be sure to sell yourself without lying, exaggerating or overstating. Resumes are often considered by employers to be the “best piece of fiction” they have ever read. Frankly, employers can tell when you embellish or hedge, and if by chance you are hired because of overstating or exaggeration, you’ll only be embarrassed (and again unemployed) in the end.
- Use concrete examples of how you (a) saved a company money, (b) significantly increased revenues or sales for a company, and/or (c) how you accomplished certain recognized achievements. Make sure that your examples include sufficient details on not only the accomplishment, but also how you accomplished it. These examples cannot be vague, general or insubstantial. Avoid phrases like, “I was instrumental…..”. These statements are weak and unconvincing without supporting details on how you did it. Right here, is where your resume will begin to work much better than the conventional ones that employers are used to reading.
- Write in complete sentences. No telegraphing. You are telling, however briefly, an important story. Don’t insult yourself by making a part of that story obviously less important than another part. Everything in your resume must be important enough to be in there in the first place, so make sure that your tone throughout reflects this.
- Do not pack in tons of facts, even if you have them. Compress. Summarize. Emphasize what is truly important to the employer. Tell them what they want, and need to hear (but only if it is the truth). A resume is not an autobiography, it is an advertisement!
- Add numbers. Nothing backs up accomplishments like numbers do. You can say you were a top sales representative, but it is much more powerful if you let the reader know that you increased sales in your territory by $1 million. Also, be sure to back up how you accomplished this. Include facts and figures to show, not tell, the reader about your accomplishments.
- If your resume is being utilized by a dmDickason Recruiter, please take off your contact address and telephone number and replace them with the Recruiter’s address and telephone number. (See examples). We want to make sure that any and all employer inquiries are immediately brought to the attention of your well-trained and highly professional search executive. Besides, this is what they are paid for….to make sure that you and the employer get together at the right time and place.
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