Learn to Write Resumes that Will Get You the Job You Want

We all learned to write resumes in high school, or maybe college, but either way we all learned the standard way, the way that everyone writes their resumes. However the fact of the matter is, there are many different styles of resume to choose from when creating yours, and since you don't want a resume that looks like everyone else's you need to write yours in such a way that it sets itself apart from the others. You want to catch the eye of the person that is scanning through resumes, sometimes hundreds, that will make them stop and read yours, realize that you have the skills and experience they want, and put your resume in their pile to call for interviews. The work world is very competitive these days and having a degree and or experience is not a guarantee that you are going to get the job. In truth, a Bachelor's degree is the equivalent of what a high school diploma used to be, so you need to have a resume that highlights both the degree and skills that you have.

So, how do you write your resume in such a way that it stands out from the others?

1. Delete the objective block from your resume. Employers know what your objective is, and that is to get the job.

2. Keep your resume to one page if you can, but only two at most. Potential employers don't have time to read through long resumes. They want to be to scan your resume and be able to get an idea of what your skills, experience, and education are at a glance. Keeping your resume down to no more than two pages allows an employer to do this.

3. Include your job experience in terms of skills. What I mean by this is instead of, as in the older style of resume, writing out a long and lengthy paragraph of what you did on a job, break your job down into tasks. Once you have broken your job down into specific tasks, then use bullets to list them. This makes it very easy for a potential employer to look at your resume, and know nearly immediately what your experience and skills are.

4. Taylor different resumes to fit different jobs. You probably have experience that can be used on more than one type of job. For example I worked as an Administrative Assistant while I was going to college, and when I applied for jobs, I taylored my resume to fit whatever job I was applying for. So, if I was applying for a job that was manning the front desk and answering phones, then I listed those types of skills at other jobs I'd had to reflect how my experience made me the best candidate for the job. If I was applying for a job that was mainly word processing, then I focused more on skills such as how many words I could type a minute, and the sorts of word processing projects I worked on at different jobs, and finally I'd list the word processing programs I had experience in and was familiar with.

5. Don't list anything personal on your resume such as race, religion, hobbies, or whether you are married or have children. These things have been used to discriminate against potential candidates in the past and it is illegal for employers to ask you about them.

6. List only relevant job skills and experience on your resume. For example, even if part of your job as the receptionist was to clean the kitchen and load the diswasher, this will probably not be relevant to any job you are trying to get, so don't list it.

7. Once you've created your resume, make it internet-ready. Often when copying and pasting your resume from Word the formatting goes out the window and makes it difficult to read online, so make one that is rich text format with no formatting. It will look better and be easier to read.

8. List all volunteer and self-employment periods on your resume, particularly if there are large gaps in between jobs when you did these. It looks much better to have a volunteer or self-employment block than just to leave a blank of a year or more on your resume, and have your potential employer wondering what you were doing during that time.

9. Always list any additional languages that you speak. Having an extra language is always a plus even if you are not fluent. I always list that I have a working knowledge of Spanish, which just means that I'm not fluent but I can still have a basic conversation and understand most anything said to me in the language. Many employers are now seeking bilingual employees.

Applying these tips to your resume will ensure that your resume stands out, and that you will have a better chance at getting the jobs you want!