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It’s very hard to write your own resume because a resume is a macro view of your life, but you live your life at the micro level, obsessing about daily details that have no bearing on your resume. For that reason, a lot of people hire someone to help them. After all, spending money on a resume writer is one of the few expenditures that will have good return right away. But if you’re writing your resume on your own, the first thing you’ll have to do is make some mental shifts. You need to rethink the goals of a resume, and rethink the rules of a resume in order to approach the project like the best of the resume professionals. That means not making the most common resume mistakes, and not breaking a few key rules.

Steps

1. Don’t focus on your responsibilities, focus on what you achieved. A resume is not your life story. No one cares. If your life story were so interesting, you’d have a book deal. The only things that should be on your resume are achievements. Anyone can do their job, but only a small percentage of the population can do their job well, wherever they go.
   • The best way to show that you did your job well is from achievements. The best achievement is a promotion because it’s an objective way to show that you impressed the people you work for. The next best way to show objective measures is to present quantified achievements. Most people do not think in terms of quantified achievements when they are in the job, but on the resume, that’s the only part of the job that matters. No one can see that you were a “good team player” on your resume unless you can say “established a team to solve problem x and increased sales x%” or “joined under-performing team and helped that team beat production delivery dates by three weeks.”
   • Steer clear of expressions like “Duties included,” “Responsibilities included,” or “Responsible for.” That’s job-description language, and not what employers are looking for.[1] Use action verbs instead, but minimize the use of “I” and articles (the, an, a).[2]Write a self evaluation and for each achievement, ask yourself: “What does this accomplishment say about me, and what I can do for this employer I want to work for?”
2. Don’t make your resume a moral statement; it’s a marketing document. The best marketing documents show the product in the very best light, which means using whatever most outrageous tactics possible to make you look good. As long as you are not lying, you will be fine. Here’s an example: You join a software company that just launched a product and the product had so many problems that they had to hire someone to handle the calls. You start doing the tech support, and you work tons of overtime because the calls are so backed up. You clean up the phone queue and then you start taking long lunches because there’s not a lot to do, and then you start job hunting because the job is boring.Here’s how you summarize this job on your resume: Assumed management responsibility for tech support and decreased call volume 20%. How do you know 20%? Who knows? It was probably more. But you can’t quantify exactly, so err on the safe side. But if you just say “Did tech support for a software company” no one knows you did a good job.
3. Keep it all on one page. The idea of a resume is to get someone to call you. Talk with you on the phone. Offer you an interview. So a resume is like a first date. You only show your best stuff and you don’t show it all. Some people dump everything they can think of onto their resume, but a resume is not the only chance you’ll have to sell yourself. In fact, the interview is where the hard-core selling takes place. So you only put your very best achievements on the resume. Sure, there will be other questions people will want answers to, but that will make them call you. And that’s good, right?
   • For those of you who can’t bear to take off the twenty extra lines on your resume because you think the interviewer has to see every single thing about you right away, consider that a hiring manager has to sift through a pile of resumes to figure out which person to interview; each resume gets about a ten-second look. If you think you need a longer resume, give someone one page of your resume and have them look at it for ten seconds. Ask them what they remember; it won’t be much. They are not going to remember any more information in ten seconds if you give them two pages to look at; ten seconds is ten seconds.
   • If you have a long job history behind you, beware of age discrimination. Employers might think you’re too expensive if you have loads of experience. If you’re at the senior level, list about 15 years of job history (no more) and don’t provide the date of your college graduation if it was more than about 10 years ago.[3]
4. Ditch the line about references on request. It’s implied. Of course, if someone wants a reference, you will give one. No one presumes that you will not. So when you write that you will provide a reference you seem to not understand how the game is played.
   • Don’t list references on your resume at all; if they are requested along with your resume, list them on a separate sheet.[4]
   • Bonus tip: If you have an excellent reference, like a CEO of a Fortune 500 company who vacations with your Mom, have the reference call before you even go to the interview. Sets the tone for the employer to think you are amazing.
5. Tread lightly on the personal interests line. Your personal interests are not there to make you look interesting. They are there to get you an interview. Every line on your resume is there to get you an interview. So only list personal interests that reveal a quality that will help you meet the employer’s needs. If you are in sports marketing, then by all means, list that you kayak. If you were an Olympic athlete, put it down because it shows focus and achievement. If you are a mediocre hobbyist, leave it off. Personal interests that don’t make you stand out as an achiever do not help you. And personal interests that are weird make you look weird and you don’t know if your interviewer likes weird or not, so leave weird off the resume.
6. Don’t be a designer unless you are. If you have more than three fonts on your resume and you’re not a designer, you’ve botched the layout. If design was easy, no one would get paid for it. Recognize your strengths and keep design elements to the bare minimum. And leave Photoshop out of it: Just because you know how to use the shading tools doesn’t mean you know how to use them well. Stay away from overused templates (like those in Microsoft Word) because you won’t stand out, and it makes you look completely generic.[5]

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg8A1WbCRXs

Tips

• Tailor your resume to each position. One-size-fits-all resumes should be avoided, unless you’re casting a very wide net (versus applying for a specific company or position).
• If you are only putting achievements on your resume, you are going to be hard-pressed to fill a whole page. That’s okay. Anything on your resume that is not an achievement is wasting space, anyway, because you don’t know what a hiring manager will look at first—and if you have ten good achievements and three mediocre lines about your life story, the hiring manager may only read those three lines—so remove them.
• It’s very hard to see your achievements from the trenches; you might think you did not have achievements because your boss doesn’t ask you to do achievements, your boss asks you to do tasks and projects. But you need to recognize that you do not see achievements and ask for help to see them. A resume coach, or even a friend, can help you to see them more clearly.
• List items in order of importance or relevance to the reader. Many people write the dates first, and while dates are important, they’re not the most important.[6]
  • Job history: Title/position, name of employer, city/state of employer, dates of employment.
    • If the company you work for is unknown, or the nature of the company isn’t obvious from the name, describe the business, note its revenues and maybe how old it is; otherwise, a recruiter or hiring manager will have to look up the company description, which takes up more of their time.[7]
  • Education: Name of degree (spelled out: Bachelor of _____) in name of major, name of university, city/state of university, graduation year, followed by peripheral information, such as minor and GPA.
• Accompany your resume with a short and succinct cover letter/email.

Warnings

• List your most recent job first. Chronological order is only a good idea if you are looking to get hired to go back in time. Otherwise you look like you’re bucking resume writing convention in order to hide something, which you probably are, but you have to do it with a better sleight of hand than that.

• Spell check your resume. Then check the spelling yourself. Then have someone else proofread it. Resumes with typographical errors often automatically get moved to the bottom of the pile. If you can’t be trusted to pay attention to such an important detail in your job search, what does it say about your potential job performance?

Related wikiHows

• How to Write a Self Evaluation
• How to Write a Cover Letter
• How to Make a Resume
• How to Ask for a Reference from an Employer
• How to Get a Job

Sources and Citations

• blog.penelopetrunk.com: How to edit your resume like a professional resume writer - Original source, shared with permission.
• blog.penelopetrunk.com: 6 most violated resume writing rules - Original source, shared with permission.

1. ↑ http://www.quintcareers.com/resume_mistakes.html
2. ↑ http://career-advice.monster.com/resume-writing-basics/Common-Resume-Blunders/home.aspx
3. ↑ http://www.quintcareers.com/older_worker_strategies.html
4. ↑ http://www.quintcareers.com/resume_mistakes.html
5. ↑ http://www.quintcareers.com/resume_mistakes.html
6. ↑ http://www.quintcareers.com/resume_mistakes.html
7. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/2001/11/01/1101resume.html

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Avoid Common Resume Mistakes. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Microwave. Check!
Towels. Check!
Iron. Check!

This is pretty much the kind of checklist that students and parents are use this time of year as students head back to their college campuses!

College juniors and seniors going back this fall, should consider another type of checklist if they want to land great entry level jobs or get accepted into competitive college internship programs next year.

As college students prepare to participate in on campus recruiting programs this fall, here are 3 things to put on a different kind of checklist.

1. Understand personal traits. Make a list of what you think are your personal strengths and weaknesses. Once you have this list of strengths and weaknesses, commit to working on them this year. For example if you have identified a trait as a strength, you need to identify a great example of how you actually use this strength. If you don’t have such an example then saying it is a strength might not be believable. Use this year to work on weaknesses. Career tests and career assessments are available in your college career center if you need help.

2. Know what you value. Make a list of things that are important to you in a college internship program or in an entry level career beyond graduation. Nothing is unimportant if it means something to you. Include things like working conditions, benefits and training. Use these values as a fundamental guideline when you research companies.

3. Take stock of your job skills. Make a checklist of job skills that employers seek and will be important to succeed in the summer internship program or entry level career of your dreams. Check off the ones you have and work on the ones you don’t.

Your college career center has career counselors and resources to help college students achieve career planning success.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Article by, Marcia Robinson and courtesy of BullsEyeResumes. The BullsEye Career Blogs helps jobseekers, working professionals and students stay focused on their career success!
Author Website: http://bullseyeresumes-college.blogspot.com

A growing number of jobseekers find themselves in the midst of a long-term job search. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. jobless rate soared to a four-year high of 5.7% in July 2008 and the average job search took more than four months to net results. However, some critics would put this number and the number of the unemployed much higher.

Helen Kooiman, author of Suddenly Unemployed asserts, “Such statistics are inaccurate indicators. They do not include those whose unemployment benefits have run out or those who don’t qualify for unemployment… Such statistics also do not count welfare recipients, temps (who cannot be counted as fully employed), or others who eke out a living on so-called self-employment.” Neither do such reports include what the Bureau of Labor Statistics terms “discouraged workers” or those who “were not currently looking for work specifically because they believed no jobs were available for them.” Their figures reached 461,000 in July.

A long-term job search can put a tremendous financial and emotional strain on a job hunter. “It’s been a demoralizing experience and it’s been very difficult budgetwise. I’m a single mother,” Kay Marie King says, a former non-profit executive with a wealth of experience that is currently involved in an ongoing job search.

So, what can you do when weeks of a fruitless job search quickly turns to months? Here are seven tips for jump starting a stalled job search:

Tip One: Don’t be so quick to blame everything on the economy (your region, your industry, etc.)

These issues certainly play a role in the current job market. However, it is easy to fixate on such factors and completely discount factors which we personally control. The next six tips cover areas that long-term jobseekers do well to revisit to jump start a stalled job search. Why is this so important? I am reminded of a woman I once interviewed that looked great on paper, but during the interview she had an incredibly offensive body odor. She remarked that she’d been on several interviews but she was “overqualified” for every position. It was a classic case of the problem (or her perception of what the problem was) not really being the problem. While most jobseekers don’t have such an obvious issue, each one would still do well to take a long look in the mirror.

Tip Two: Conduct a candid self-assessment.

Look at yourself from the perspective of the potential employer. Compare your experience and qualifications to those typically required of someone in your target position. How do your skills and experience match up? Think of creative ways to to fill skill gaps and gain experience.

Tip Three: Re-examine your target position or industry.

Are you searching for work in a waning industry or oversaturated field? Is your desired position readily available in your selected geographic area? Being open to relocation may improve your chances. Can you apply your knowledge and skills to an industry that is experiencing growth?

Tip Four: Rethink your current job search.

What job search strategies are you currently using? If you are concentrating your efforts on strategies that are typically the least effective (like online job boards and newspaper ads) your job search will take much longer to yield results. Consider incorporating job search strategies that yield higher results, like networking and direct targeted mailing campaigns.

Tip Five: Re-evaluate the way you are communicating your message verbally and in print.

Communicating your message to potential employers in a clear and compelling manner is critical to job search success. Re-examine your resume. Does it communicate your value to employers by addressing how your skills and experience will meet the employer’s specific needs? Practice communicating your value in response to typical interview questions, including, “Tell me about yourself.”

Tip Six: Maintain your intensity level and a positive outlook.

It is easy to become discouraged over the course of a lengthy job search. Keep a positive outlook and maintain a high-level of focus and intensity throughout your job search for quicker results. Taking a systematic approach to your job search will help you to stay organized and on track during your job search. Yet, it is important to pursue other interests during your job search. Enjoy spending time with friends and family. Renew your interest in a hobby. Tackle a project you wouldn’t have time to if you were working. Spending time in other pursuits provides a much-needed reprieve from the stress of a job search. You’ll be energized and ready for the next leg of your job search.

Tip Seven: Build a solid support system.

If a self-guided job search has netted limited results; consider working with a career or job search coach. Your coach will help you identify any problem areas and offer suggestions for improvement. Another option is to join a local or online job search club. If a coach or job search club isn’t available try building your own support network. Enlist the help of family and friends or connect with other job hunters. Taking a team approach to your job search provides an opportunity for constructive feedback, a fresh perspective, ongoing encouragement, and added accountability.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Roxanne Ravenel is a Job Search Coach; the author of “The Savvy Jobseeker’s Guide & Workbook: Five Steps to a Simply Successful Job Search”; and the host of The Savvy Jobseeker weekly podcast. She offers job hunters strategies and resources for finding their ideal work in less time at SavvyJobseeker.com.
Author Website: http://SavvyJobseeker.com