Resume
Components of a
professional resume:
1. Contact information:
Make it easy to
contact you either by phone, mail or e-mail. Don't make the recruiter
track you down. Note: make sure your voicemail message is professional.
You don't want a recruiter to get the wrong impression from a silly
message on the recording.
Do not include personal
information, such as marital status, here or anywhere else on your resume.
2. Objective/Title:
Some experts believe
that including an objective may limit your chances of obtaining an interview;
if your objective doesn't match the recruiter's needs at the time, you
may miss out on a golden opportunity.
On the flip side,
a career objective is useful in communicating that you are proactively
managing your career. You know what you want, why not say it?
We suggest taking
a broad approach: Instead of writing a sentence like "Seeking a
career opportunity as a Marketing Executive¡," try a simple title
after your contact info, simply "Marketing Executive."
3. Summary statement:
First, include your
title and years of experience. Second, list special skills. Third, talk
about your character traits or work style. Remember that this is a summary;
it should only be 2-3 sentences long.
Example:
"Financial
Accountant with over 10 years' experience with two Fortune 500 companies.
Technical skills include P & L, budgeting, forecasting and variance
reporting. Bilingual in Spanish and English. Self-starter who approaches
every project in a detailed, analytical manner."
4. Professional
experience:
List each position
held in reverse chronological order, going back at least ten years.
If you held multiple positions within the same company, be sure to list
all of them - you want the recruiter to see how you've progressed. Concentrate
on the description of the position - that's the meat & potatoes.
The body of the
position description has two parts:
- A description
of your responsibilities and
- Your accomplishments
Top 12 accomplishments
that most interest employers
- Increased revenues
- Saved money
- Increased efficiencies
- Cut overhead
- Increased sales
- Improved workplace
safety
- Purchasing accomplishments
- New products/new
lines
- Improved record
keeping process
- Increased productivity
- Successful advertising
campaign
- Effective budgeting
Other resume components
include: Education, Professional training, Affiliations/Appointments
Licenses, Technical skills and Languages.
Approach these items
from the viewpoint of the recruiter or employer: How will these skills
benefit the company?
