Crafting a Resume: Quick Tips for a Winning Resume

Resume writing is not easy, nor is it something most of us enjoy. However, it does not have to be an unpleasant experience, particularly if you keep a good record of your work experiences. This article will help you craft a solid resume, and also provide tips on how to make the resume writing process a far less painful one.

The first step in writing any resume is to find a good resource specific to your field of knowledge. Are you a project manager? Find a resume writing handbook specific to the field of project management. Are you a football coach? Find a resume writing web site specific to athletic coaching. These resources will have information, tips, and advice specific to your field of knowledge; these resources should contain information about the most preferred format of recruiters in this field, the kinds of information that should be included (i.e. Qualifications paragraph, technical skills, etc.), and the acceptable length of the resume.

The next step is achieving perfection. Recruiters are busy people who look at many resumes each day. They have neither the time nor the ability to look at each one in a detailed manner, so they develop methods for reducing the number of resumes they have to review thoroughly. While each recruiter will have his/her own method, they typically expect you to meet the following guidelines during the first review:

-Candidate name must be part of the resume document, along with all relevant contact information (phone number, mailing address, and email address)
-No spelling mistakes
-No typographical mistakes
-Not clearly identifying where you are currently working and where you have worked in the past
-Not clearly identifying your actual dates of employment (most recruiters won't accept simply a year, they want a month and year)
-Not clearly identifying kind of business your employer was in (is your company a marketing firm, an engineering firm, a retail outlet?)

Does your resume meet all these guidelines? Great! Next, the recruiter, and eventually the hiring manager, wants to know what you've accomplished and what you're really good at. It doesn't help them if you simply write "worked on implementation of XP world-wide." What did YOU do? Give the recruiter a sense of scale, importance, and responsibility: "Responsible for budget, schedule, and five-person team implementing XP world-wide to 1200 desktops in 60 days. Closed project on time and on budget." Wow! Now that shows the recruiter a bit more about you and what you can do. We've all heard about the importance of using action words in resumes; in order to take your resume to the next level, you must add measurement (did you meet your schedule? Beat your quota and by how much? Save money by developing a new process, and how much?) and satisfaction (e.g. Developed and implemented new call tracking system at company Help Desk, improving customer satisfaction from a 1 to a 4 on a scale of 1-5).

These are just a few tips to get you started. If you can use these ideas while you review, revise, or re-craft your resume, you are much more likely to earn an interview-and you will be that much closer to winning the job you really want.