Avoid these 10 Resume Blunders and land that job in 2011

This is the front end of a two part post that will provide ten tips to help improve your resume and help you land that job in 2011.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resumes that create no immediate impact end up in the bin

First impressions really do count, if your resume doesn’t grab the reader’s attention in the first 20 to 30 seconds then your chances of obtaining an interview are dramatically reduced.  Let me explain further. An employer may have 100, 200 or more resumes to look through for each job vacancy and only an hour or two in which to make their selection of who they interview. You must make an employer want to invite you for an interview. If you can’t tell them quickly why they should do so, then they will move quickly on to the next resume. The first you know is when you receive a rejection letter or, worse still, hear nothing at all.  So, don’t put irrelevant details on the first page of your resume, such as personal details (marital status, date of birth, etc), educational details from years ago, or a list of your hobbies. What an employer really wants to know is why they should invite you for an interview. For this reason, a summary of your capabilities in the form of a short profile at the top of your resume, followed by a list of your major achievements, will really grab an employer’s attention.

Poor visual layout / organization of information

The visual layout of your resume is very important. Even though the wording you use may be correct, if people can’t find the information they want quickly enough, they will move on to someone else’s resume. It is usually best to use a fairly straightforward layout, using plenty of ‘white’ space and appropriate headings and section breaks. Don’t try to use fancy borders or graphics, as these often make the file size very large, causing problems when you try to email your resume or print it out. Plus they may detract from your resume’s content. You should normally break your resume down into a number of separate sections, as this makes it much easier for the reader to find information quickly. Typically, you might have the following sections:

1. Profile (or Summary).

2. Major Achievements.

3. Career History (or Work Experience).

4. Education / Qualifications (this may go before the Career

History section if you are still studying or have recently left

education).

5. Training (may be combined with Education, depending on space).

6. Language Skills (optional).

7. IT Skills (optional).

Please treat the above list as a guide rather than a fixed formula. What works best for one person may be inappropriate for another.

Overlong resume

It is usually best to try and keep your resume to two or three pages, unless someone specifically asks you for a longer version. If you can’t keep your resume to this length, then you probably haven’t understood what an employer is looking for. Employers don’t want to know your whole life history – just enough to decide whether they want to interview you or not. Employers usually only spend 20 to 30 seconds reading each resume during their first pass through a pile of resumes, so simply won’t have time to read a 10-page resume.

No Profile section or a poor Profile section

Your Profile should be the first section on your resume. It should give a short summary of what you have to offer an employer, focusing on your key skills, strengths, talents and experience. Not having a Profile section at all is a major missed opportunity, because it is your chance to sell yourself to an employer. However, having a poor profile is almost worse than not having a profile at all. If you get your Profile wrong then this can cause your resume to be rejected almost immediately by an employer. Your Profile needs to sell, sell, sell, but in a believable manner. If you oversell yourself, then your resume may be rejected as being unbelievable.

No Major Achievements section or a poor Major Achievements section

After the Profile section, you should have a Major Achievements section, which must highlight your best and most relevant achievements. This should make an employer really sit up and take notice of you. This section must focus on what specifically you can do for an employer. If you don’t have a Major Achievements section, then you’ve missed a real chance to shine and connect with an employer. Employers want employees who get things done. Highlighting your achievements will show them that you are this type of person. A Major Achievements section also tells an employer why you should be offered an interview, rather than all the other job applicants. Just as a poor Profile may put an employer off, a poor Major Achievements section will also have the same effect. You must think about what you have achieved in your current and previous jobs. For example: What results have you achieved? What have you changed or improved? Some people feel that they don’t have any Major Achievements, but in my experience as professional resume writer this is just modesty on their part. All you need is someone to tease these achievements out of you. You must only include achievements that made a real measurable difference, and don’t include irrelevant stuff from a long time ago. Nobody wants to hear about the school swimming certificate you got 20 years ago!

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If you would like a free resume check up – email me at proreswriter@gmail.com

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