|
Roleta Fowler Vasquez, CPRW/CEIP, wrote all the samples in this collection, as well as all content for the web sites, http://www.wordbustersresumeandwritingservices.com and http://www.bestchoiceresumes.com
You, also, may check out the content and endorsements in our Linked In Profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/roletavasquezcprw
Quoted on U.S. News and World Report (Money, Careers):
http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2010/11/23/6-steps-to-polish-up-your-resume
Quoted Career Expert on Monster.com (8/24/2010):
http://career-advice.monster.com/resumes-cover-letters/cover-letter-tips/cover-letter-point-counterpoint/article.aspx
Please Click on the Acrobat icon to View these Adobe Acrobat PDF files below containing various writing styles including Resumes. Cover Letters, Reviews, News Articles, Brochures, Web Site Content. If you do not have Adobe Reader, a free download copy is available at http://www.adobe.com.
HOW TO MODERNIZE YOUR RESUME:
You may have read certain recruiters and bloggers post headlines similar to or This is simply not true! Governments, large-to-mid-sized companies, and even small and local employers still want to know about your career highlights, education, and what you have to offer. A resume allows employers to do a preliminary background investigation. Later—if you passed the background check and attend interviews—you will find your resume is a valuable tool during your interview rehearsal, and employers can use the resume as a guide while asking questions about your career and education.
The Millenium added features that complemented the information technology explosion like online recruiting sites, company web portals, and personal web pages brimming with electronic resumes. The trouble with that was, candidates all looked the same. How can a recruiter or employer recall hiring candidates when the employer software renders all fonts to Times New Roman/12-point, and strips all highlighting and images from your heavily embellished document?
In addition, a shopping list of bulleted one-liners describing your everyday tasks was fashionable in pre-millenium resumes. In one glance, these resumes offered little explanation as to how the job candidate was able to perform the tasks, even if the minimum job requirements were noted.
Are you still doing this? I hope not. Old-style resumes look like this (a simplistic example, I know):
* Performed something.
* Coordinated something.
* Led something.
* Organized something.
You can see that the candidate does not give details as to who, what, when where, why, and how — much like the way journalists write a newspaper article. Today, resumes that contain these one-line, bulleted shopping lists stand little chance of landing interviews. You must understand that employers are looking at hundreds to thousands of resumes per job. You will, therefore, need to differentiate yourself from the crowd by telling a story.
The currently accepted resume writing method — used by all trained and certified professional resume writers— takes the best of your best bulleted achievements and applies the Challenge-Action-Result (CAR) Method of Achievement Writing — or the Context-Challenge-Action-Result (CCAR) Method of Storytelling — to explain the candidate's work processes and resources. Here are a couple examples:
FROM: * Supervised front office staff
TO: * Directed and planned workload for four clerk typists daily, reviewing and processing up to 30 technical engineering documents for a quick-turnaround in a high-stress environment.
Another example:
FROM: * Reduced turnover time by 70%.
TO: * Elevated efficiency and credibility of production staff by appointing 20 subject matter experts based on individual strengths to become "go-to" persons and trainers in their respective specialty. The improved workflow reduced turnover time by 70%.
Now which statements will get the employer's attention?
|
