How to Update and Add to Your Resume

The economy has turned everything upside down. Many have lost jobs and houses and are left going along from day to day. The most important area that has changed in this recession in the everyday lives of people is things like someone with a graduate degree might now be working at Kmart, or if they have been lucky, they have a second job at Wendy's. We now are filling the job market that has to do with our daily living. These companies are the front runners in employment. Those corporate execs who were laid off now have to find employment in retail or lower corporation positions, or jobs that relate to our ordinary lifestyle. Simply said there are less higher end jobs and more entry level jobs.

In any of these cases, it is imperative that you have at least two resumes in job hunting; ones that you would show to the appropriate employers. The first and basic would be your own professional resume and the second would be a resume that would exhibit your particular skills. With these two condensed resumes, you will be able to highlight your strengths so that a prospective employer would have no trouble in viewing you resume at a glance.

Professional Resume - would be your current, up-to-date career resume - ready to present to a career potential.

Second Resume - would be a resume that highlights skills that you have, either in your most present job, or in other jobs that you have had outside your career line. For instance, you were in Real Estate, but you also have experience as a receptionist, or in administrative work, which Real Estate also used. The key that you'll want to do here is capitalize on your strengths and skills in order to present yourself in a more labor- friendly way so that you are more desirable to the employer. They see Real Estate and because they have 100's of resume for one position, they do not have time to decipher what you offer coming from this area and related to what they need. Here is where the Second Resume comes in. In this resume you will condense your career experience, listing your employment that you can use to show your abilities for this atmosphere of employment.

Both Resumes:

Name, address, phone number, email - at the top, in bold letter to emphasize your information.

Next would be your statement of purpose - "To secure a position as receptionist in a corporation"

Create a section titled Relevant Skills and make two categories of your skills: responsible, accountant - mathematical skills, organized, etc. and give examples from your work history.

Education - high school and any pertinent education; no need to list up to a PhD.

In your Professional Resume, use career jobs and go back only 10 or 15 years, no more.

In your Second Resume: under Past Employment - only include pertinent employment so that your experience is clear to the reader. This means list jobs where you have worked with the public, if you are going after those types of positions. List your work as a receptionist or doing phone work if that's what you want now. The key is to keep to one job description and keep it condensed and easy to focus on.

List company name, your title, manager's name and time worked there for each entry. Also list the city where this job was located.

That is the total amount of information that your want on your resume, which is hopefully one page, but can go two if necessary. You are open to arrange different fonts, bold or italized letters, etc. in order to make your resume stand out. The key is to keep it crisp and clean and organized so that it is easy to read at a glance. That's all the time you'll get unless they see the set of skills they are looking for. Skim through some examples on the internet and see which ones catch your eye and then stick to this information.

Good Luck on your new resume and your new job.