career Y
DEVELOPMENT
21 Ways to Improve Your Resume by Robin Ryan
our resume gets a 15 second glance according Human Resources person-
nel and hiring managers. 15 Seconds! You have got to garner their interest fast or you are sunk. I’ve written over 5000 resumes and hired hundreds of people personally so I’ve seen most of the errors job hunters make that torpedo their resume. In today’s competitive job market more
than ever your resume can be a door open- er, or a career stopper. The first step to developing a much-
improved resume is to see how employers might view your current resume. Begin by taking the Resume Assessment QUIZ – it’s free – and it’ll give you some feedback on your current resume. Follow that by reviewing the tips below. These will help you to make some good editorial improve- ments and changes. These 21 tips come from responses made by hiring managers in a national survey about resumes.
1. USE KEYWORDS! Many employers sort resumes elec-
tronically, so resume selection is depen- dent on the keywords contained in your resume. Make a list of the “buzz words” connected to perform your type of job. Look through employers’ job ads to un- cover the major ones. Incorporate these keywords into the sentences describing your previous work experience.
2. EMPHASIZE RESULTS! This was the top survey response. Em-
ployers said results achieved matter the most. Lace your resume with the accom- plishments you achieved in past positions. Show the impact you had and your pro- ductivity by including details concerning money earned or time or dollars saved.
32 PROFESSIONAL WOMAN’S MULTICULTURAL MAGAZINE CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF DIVERSITY WWW.PROFESSIONALWOMANMAG.COM
Use numbers to reflect, how much, how many, and percentage of gain or reduc- tion.
3. FOCUS THE RESUME. It’s imperative to use a job title for the
career objective to identify the name of the job being applied for. It’s most effec- tive to create a different resume for each job title (i.e., one resume for Project Man- ager, another for Engineer) and only in- corporate the information pertinent to do- ing that stated job. This will eliminate the tendency to crowd your resume with too much non-related information.
4. BE CONCISE. No vague generalities or long job de- scriptions. Say exactly what you mean,
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