Writing Your Resume - Some Tips

A wonderful woman came to one of my workshops and at the end of the program, introduced herself and said that she was not getting any bites on her resume. She asked if she could email it to me for some feedback. Well, we have gone back and forth on four or five different revisions and I finally think that it is ready to send out or hand over to her network contacts. This woman used to work in the theater industry and has many (very interesting) stories about the types of things that she did to make the visiting artists feel comfortable and welcome in the new town or how she negotiated with various venues to receive substantial discounts. The thing is, none of her examples (her accomplishments) were on her resume. Her original resume was four pages long and a listing of her job responsibilities. No wonder she wasn't getting any hits.

While I give someone credit for reviewing everything they have done in the past, it doesn't help if their resume isn't focused to a particular position, highlight accomplishments and make the hiring manager immediately put it to the top of the pile.

Here’s what I do to involve a client in creating his or her own specific resume template. Perhaps you can do the same thing to prepare your own resume.
1. Research your old job by going to the company website and bringing up your former position. If that job or a similar job is there, you're lucky. Expand on responsibilities and make them measurable by asking questions such as:
a. Who did I work with? Internal? External? Where were they located?
b. How many clients did I have? (If applicable)
c. Within this position did I save money, time, create a process, design a procedure, etc.?
d. Looking at that position, what were my biggest accomplishments? What was I proud of? Why?
e. What did I like about this job? What didn’t I like?

2. Look up the type of position on any job board,or website ( ehow, Indeed.com, LinkedIn or the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook). Do the job responsibilities align with what I did? Is there new wording that can be incorporated into the resume (new buzz words, technology, jargon)? Expand on these by asking:
a. Have I done these types of activities before? What specifically were the results?
b. Could I jump into this job tomorrow? Why? Capture the specific activities that support this.
c. Why am I perfect for this job? Again, capture the specific activities that support this.

3. Go to the online pages of the companies that you are interested in working for. Read the “About Us”, “Our Philosophy”, and “Our Employees” type of pages and read the wording. Ask yourself:
a. What have I done in the past that supports this company philosophy, etc.?
b. How would I fit into this company?
c. Why would this company want me?

All in all it is a lot of questioning, note taking and thinking. The responses are then culled down to specific wording and resume format. It's a great start, you are writing your own resume and in the long run, see yourself as an accomplished player with skin in the game.