Your Imperfect Resume
“No one has a resume that they are 100% comfortable with, nor does anyone have a life that they are 100% comfortable with.” – Jay Baruchel
I couldn’t agree more with Jay. A couple of Saturdays ago, I kicked off my 3 part Career Workshop which covers Resume Writing, Job Searching and Interviewing tips. I do realize that one of the biggest challenges job seekers have is getting their resumes ready. For those of you who have written to me wanting to get some of the tips I shared in the resume session, I have some resources in this post that I think you will all find helpful. While at it keep these 8 points in mind and don’t hesitate to submit a comment with your own ‘rock star’ resume building resources that you believe will be helpful to others.
8 THINGS TO NOTE WHEN WRITING YOUR RESUME
- 6 Seconds: That’s all the time you have to capture the interest of the Hiring Manager or Recruiter so make it count.
- Typos: That’s one reason your resume will easily end up in the trash
- Format: A predictable clean and professional resume format is best because the manager knows what to expect and where to look.
- Keywords: Make sure your resume matches the keywords relevant to the job you are looking for otherwise it might be dismissed by the talent management systems many big and well paying companies use to weed out and help facilitate their recruiting process.
- Header: Add your LinkedIn profile link to your header but keep in mind a weak LinkedIn profile will hurt your chances.
- Summary: Your Summary is your Value Proposition packed into a Twitter punch. It should be short but include enough info that keeps the hiring manager interested in you as a viable candidate.
- Skill Highlights: If you include this section then make sure you tie your experience to the skills you highlight there.
- Experience: Speak in terms of achievements not tasks. Keep your experience as relevant to the job you are applying for as possible
AWESOME RESUME RESOURCES
DIY with Livecareer.com:
- Pros: Free Resume building tool with actual example content. I created a resume in minutes.
- Pros: Sample resume and cover templates with content you can pull into their tool and tweak to meet your needs. This is really great for someone struggling to find the right words for their resume. I think this is by far their best feature. I have checked out a few sites and they don’t have as many good examples as I’ve found with Livecareer.com.
- Cons: You have to upgrade to their paid account if you want to download your finished resume
- Cons: Their templates are a great way to start but they don’t cover a broad range of careers
DIY with Brainfuse JobNow:
- Pros: They have really good Functional, Chronological and Combination resume templates and guides.
- Pros: Free Resume Critic
- Pros: Free Live Help
- Cons: Must connect through their partner sites. Check with your local library
DIY with CareerTransitions:
- Pros: Resume and Cover Templates with sample content for different levels of experience that can be a really good guide.
- Pros. Free Resume and Cover letter creation tools
- Pros: Free Career Assessment Tool that will help you identify careers you can pursue
- Pros: Good information on Career Paths
- Pros: Offer career ideas and searches for jobs in your interested field
- Cons: Must connect through their partner sites. Check with your local library
- Cons: Their resume layout could be better although the content is great.
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