Goldbeck Resume Writing Tips

1. Purpose
   As you are writing your resume, always remember that the purpose of your resume is to get an interview. The person who sees your resume may have already looked at hundreds like it. To stand out, you need to showcase your skills and abilities in a clear, concise way, avoiding extraneous information, and positioning yourself as someone with the necessary skills, experience, and ability for the job in question. Prospective employers want to know what you did, for whom, for how long, what you achieved, how you achieved it, and what skills you have learned. Any extra information will serve to distract them from these essentials.
   
   
2. Format
   Your resume should be as cleanly formatted as possible. Remember, the format of your resume should be geared towards presenting your information in the clearest, most direct way. A fancy format on expensive paper or on a graphic background will not only not help you, but can actually work against you! Clients want to know the basic facts with no added frills, and anything that distracts them away from this lessons your impact. Also bear in mind that a resume that is not formatted to current standards can also hurt you. An easy to read resume which has poor electronic formatting, or is typed on poor grade paper on an old typewriter will lesson your credibility as an up-to-date professional. Also avoid fussy, hard-to-read fonts, excessive text, and long descriptive sections. Break up your resume with clear headers and sub headers - these divisions will make your resume easier to scan quickly and absorb. Use short, dynamic sentences or bullet points.
   
   
3. Content
   The basic content of a resume should include five components - contact details, work experience, education, and special skills and abilities.
   
   
4. Contact Details
   This section should provide the necessary personal contact details for the employer to be able to reach you. Make sure your contact information is comprehensive and up-to-date. Do not include any irrelevant personal information in this section, such as marital status.
   
   
5. Work Experience
   List your work experience from the most recent to the last job worked. Make sure you list your job position, dates worked, your responsibilities, and achievements. Responsibilities should give a clear picture of the scope of the position. The achievements listed are very important, as hard, quantifiable achievements have the most impact with employers. The most effective resumes contain measurable achievements. Saying you increased sales is not as effective as saying you achieved a sale increase of10% - these all give clear information on what you have achieved. As the employer looks at your resume, he or she will get the impression that you are someone who gets things done, whatever the field of your responsibility.
   
   
6. Education
   Include your educational experience, achievements and training in this area. If you received a degree, certificate, or diploma, highlight it in this area.
   
   
7. Skills and Abilities
   Use this section to highlight all your special skills that relate to the position you are applying for. Examples include computer skills, technical skills, and languages.
   
   
8. Resume Samples
   Here are two great resume examples. Each resume sample comes with detailed writing instructions.
   Sample Resume Template 1
   Sample Resume Template 2

DO'S and DON'TS

• Do get your friends to proof-read it first. To find out what sort of first impression you are making, ask them to do a quick scan first and tell you which 3 things stand out the most.
• Do target your resume - you will probably need several versions of your resume to apply for particular types of jobs. Make sure that each version highlights the most relevant work experience and skills for the particular position you are applying for. Research the company you are applying for if possible.
• Do draw parallels or relationships between your experience and the position/industry if you do not have direct experience in the job or industry. Don't leave it to the employer to do. Do use strong action words.
• Do use technical jargon specific to your area of expertise - this shows you are familiar with your industry, and will help your resume show up on keyword searches if you post it online. If you are applying to a different industry, judicious use of that industry's jargon can help.
• Do invest emotionally in becoming a professional, albeit temporary, job seeker. You can control your job search activity and the number of leads you pursue and resumes you send out, your research and resume and interview preparation. Focusing on the things you can control will make the period of job searching more manageable and will make you more effective when you are face to face with those good opportunities.
• Don't invest emotionally in any one position that you are applying for. It hurts your performance when it comes to follow up and interviews and besides, why invest yourself in something that you have so little control over. There can be so many factors behind the scenes which will determine whether or not you are interviewed or hired for a particular position.
• Don't send your resume out before checking and re-checking spelling, grammar, punctuation and format.
• Don't make your resume longer than 2 pages unless your background is senior management or senior technical and has enough real substance to warrant a longer document.
• Don't list everything on your resume - showcase your strengths, avoid unnecessary information, and outdated, irrelevant work experience
• Don't fabricate information, or misrepresent existing info. It's ok to present yourself in a way that emphasizes the high points of your experience, but out-and-out fabrications can hurt your credibility if they are detected.