Chapter 1

Writing Your Job Winning Résumé

The Purpose of Your Résumé

You must understand something very important. Your résumé is a tool. Think of it as an extension of who you are, an introduction to your employer. It will contain facts, skills and accomplishments of interest with the sole intention of attracting your future employer. It cannot make you something you are not and cannot give you skills that you do not possess. It can, however, paint a picture of who you are and highlight specific items that show your tremendous value to a potential employer.

Your résumé's primary purpose for existence is to get you an interview. It is not designed to get you a job. It opens the door for you so you can expose yourself face-to-face to your future employer.

It gives your employer an idea of the type of work you have done and how you have performed in those positions. Between your cover letter and your résumé, you must leave no doubt about your passion to fulfill their needs and clearly communicate your intention.

When done properly it will be an interview guide for some of your employers and will hopefully be a positive reminder to them when the interview is complete and you are no longer present.

Formula for Success

We are going to start the process by building your résumé. The model you will use is a highly effective, generic masterpiece layout shown in Template Set #1 in Chapter 14.

This particular model will work for a large number of positions. However, for those of you pursuing jobs that pay salaries greater than $50,000 per year or intend on using an employment recruiter, it might serve you better to use the layout in Template Set #3 in Chapter 14.

All the preparation necessary for putting together any of the models you choose will be the same. Only the layout will change. We will be working only with Template Set #1 during the following exercises to avoid confusion.

When your résumé is complete we'll work on a cover letter to match that résumé.

Finally, you will learn the most innovative and time-tested interviewing skills and techniques that current job-seeking technology has to offer. This will boost your confidence and marketability beyond your wildest dreams.

By following the process in this particular order:

You will learn what true value and skills you have to offer your future employer.
You will find out how to customize your résumé using specific skill sets to meet your future employer's needs.
You will understand the difference and the impact of a highly "targeted" versus "generic" résumé.
You will then use your résumé as a guide to writing a well-constructed cover letter that begs your future boss to lift the page and look at what you have to offer.
Once you have a firm grasp on your skills and your self-marketing approach then you can concentrate on how to conduct yourself in an interview.

Job Winning Format

There are as many résumé formats as there are people. I have seen everything under the sun and then some. The most popular are the chronological and the functional.

Chronological résumés typically list everywhere you have worked and every position you have held since the beginning of time.

Functional résumés primarily highlight skills in an ordered fashion and then list past employers and other fillers at the end.

While neither one of these are good or bad they simply are not very effective in landing an interview. We are going to examine how to combine these approaches into the most effective format your future employer has ever held in their hands.

What NOT to Include

Before we get started, you need to know what not to include on your résumé. These can be very detrimental to your chances of scoring an interview.

Never put anything on your résumé that may bring out a strong bias in your employer.

Things NOT to include on your résumé would be:

Misspelled words.
A photograph.
Your birth date or how old you are.
Marital status.
How your health is.
Any negative information.
Putting a date on your résumé.
Misspelled words.
Why you left previous positions.
Names and addresses of references.
Religious affiliations.
Political affiliations.
What you do in your spare time.
Unnecessary personal information.
Salary requirements-

(Unless; you want to be weeded out early; don't need or want any interviewing experience and/or want to put a limit on your potential salary.)

Misspelled words.

Résumé Musts

Remember, the résumé is used to get you the interview.

With that in mind there are some obvious things to include:

Your name, address and phone number at home and at work.

(Don't put your cell phone number down unless you are absolutely positive you will have perfect reception or it's the only number you have. Being called on a cell phone can be risky for a first impression if you are in an area that has several dead zones for your mobile phone.)

E-mail address, if you have one.
Your objective.
Summary of skills or qualifications.
Work history.
Accomplishments.
Professional affiliations.
Education/certifications/training/licenses.

Getting Started

The first thing you need to do is write down all the significant jobs and positions you have held. You don't have to write down every job since your birth, just the jobs that are relative to the position you are applying for.

In other words, if you are applying for a job that is somewhere in the field you have been working in then include any past employment history that is important to that job. If there are other jobs that have relative skills, list them. Typically you would list the jobs you've had since High School or College depending on your circumstance.

If you are in the same field as you went to school for, list every employer since you graduated.

You probably won't use every single employer or business you have been in but this process will help get your memory flowing and your mind on task.

Here are some examples to guide you through your own list of employers and positions you have held.

Example #1
Joe finished high school in 1980 and went into the work force right away. He worked as an auto body repairman and managed a fast food restaurant during the five years following high school.

He then decided to go back to school and chose a vocational technical school for electronics. This is where his résumé begins.

Notice the list of jobs and positions start in 1986, even though he graduated high school in 1980.

Jim-Bob Big Corporation, Great Town, IM (1990-Present)
Systems Administrator/System Support (Sept 97-present)
Work Group Facilitator/Electronics Technician (Mar 1996-Sept 97)
Electronics Technician, Hard Disk Division (Apr 1995-Mar 1996)
Technical Supervisor, Hard Disk Division (Mar 1992-Apr 1995)
Electronics Technician, Hard Disk Division (Sep 1990-Mar 1992)

Medical Rental Company, Great Town, IM (1986-1990)
Technical Supervisor - Biomedical Dept., Great Town branch (1988-1990)
Biomedical Electronics Technician, Small Town branch (1986-1988)

Example #2
Sarah never went to college. She left high school early to have a baby and get married. She had a couple more children and worked sporadically at odd jobs. Mostly cashiering jobs at various places.

After being forced into the workplace after a divorce, she started out as a cashier and moved into a bookkeeping role. This experience was used through several jobs over time.

After re-marrying, Sarah went back to school and received her GED and worked off and on at various bookkeeping roles, gaining experience and knowledge of AP, AR, Payroll and various other duties.

After the death of her husband, Sarah needed to get full time work. She used her various bookkeeping positions as target skills and began her work résumé with the first significant position that started to show off her skills.

Example #3
Mary went to college, worked in management and owned her own business for many years. Her résumé will start right after college but the job descriptions and skills she will reference are those associated with sales since she is pursuing a sales position.

Example #4
John graduated from college. Got a job in his field and is working toward a Department Manager position. John will also start his résumé right after college and list the two jobs he has had since then.

His résumé will focus on his leadership and project management skills. He will highlight his ability to manage people and situations.

Age Revealing History

Those of you who are true veterans of the work place may need to proceed cautiously. Although age discrimination is strictly forbidden, it still happens all too frequently.

This can be avoided somewhat by not including old and irrelevant employment history, when possible. If you have been at the same employer or have owned the same business for the last 40 years you will have a difficult time disguising this.

Most likely you will have a number of employers or businesses that you can cut back to the last 20 years or so if the work history is truly relevant to the position you are applying for.

You will have to use your judgment on how much of your employment history you want to reveal. Quite a large number of major corporations don't give age much of a thought as a whole but the hiring decisions are usually made by a small number of people.

Another dead giveaway is when you list the year you graduated from college or high school. It isn't necessary and you shouldn't be asked about it directly, in an interview.

Note:

If you are one of those people that can't seem to pick the right job or you move from employer to employer frequently, I'll deal with you later.

Right now, you still need to do this exercise and you will need to list every job you have ever had.

Use the preceding examples as a guide for completing your own work history.

Do this now.

Chapter 1 Review

The purpose of your résumé is to get an interview.

Never put anything on your résumé that brings out a strong bias.

Capture every position or job that is remotely pertinent to your future position.

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