How to Write a Winning Resume

How to Write a Winning Resume
Written By: Darren Bocksnick © 2009

In an uncertain economy, your resume may very well become one of the greatest assets in your professional portfolio. Your resume is a powerful statement about you- your skills, strengths, education and what you have to offer to a potential employer. Therefore, having a powerful, well-written resume is essential in getting your resume to stand out and get noticed from all the rest.

Personal Directors within typical corporations are inundated with piles and heaps of resumes strewn across their desks, littering their email inboxes and sometimes, even tying up their fax lines. Amidst such fierce competition and the plethora of new jobless claims; how does one even get their resume noticed, let alone read and called in for an interview?

Though there are many factors to consider; these are in my opinion, the keys for writing a winning resume that gets noticed. Remember though, resumes are not designed to get you the job; they are designed to get you the interview. The interview of course; is your test at passing or failing at getting hired by the company. So make sure you “study up” on your interview skills; that way you can pass with flying colors!

1) Make your Resume Perfect: Resumes are a reflection of yourself and therefore should represent the best you have to offer and in all you do. Grammar mistakes on resumes are an absolute “opportunity killer” for job seekers. This is viewed as lack of attention to detail, shoddy workmanship and a careless attitude. Always use a grammar, spelling check and then proofread, again and again.

2) Make your Resume Precise: When listing important dates and numbers, be certain they are accurate and up-to-date. Misinformation is “opportunity killer” # 2. While some “flowering” words are suitable, avoid at all the costs the fluff of an over-exaggerated fact. Just keep your resume precise and the details will take care of themselves.

3) Make your Resume Presentable: Your resume is at its most fundamental level, a presentation. There’s nothing worse than a great product that’s not given justice because the presentation was lacking. You are the “product” in this analogy and your resume is “presenting” you. So, to make for an ideal presentation, use extra thick, high quality white or off-white paper. The presentation should look clean, well-formatted and legible. A resume that is difficult to look over or “follow” is “opportunity killer” # 3.

4) Make your Resume Purposeful: Generic resumes that generalize about job details or skills don’t always work. Many employers are looking for specific sets of skills to match their requirements. It’s better to have a couple of variations of your resume- tailored to the different types of industries you may be applying for or are interested in. Change up each resume just enough so that your skills and experience that are relevant to the position being offered- stand out to the employer. Write your resume with purpose because an overly generalized resume is “opportunity killer” # 4.

5) Make your Resume Powerful: Rather than writing about every “task” you did on a daily basis for your employers, describe instead how you contributed to and benefited your past employers. If possible, attach a dollar sign to the contributions you made while employed for them. This stands out to employers and catches their attention. Rather than using traditional sentence structure in your resume; start each line or bullet point with a “Power Word”. These are action words that showcase authority and results. Instead of saying, “I made sure the employees did their jobs and closed up the store at night”, say this: “I oversaw the store operations and trained employees in property security/lockdown measures for a multi-million dollar department store.” This simply says it better and sounds better. Having a powerless resume is “opportunity killer” # 5.

Resumes are powerful tools in your professional arsenal. Use them wisely and make sure they are presenting you at your very best! You deserve it and have worked hard to achieve your goals; don’t let a poorly written resume hinder you from finding and landing the job of your dreams!