Even employers who do not know what they are looking for are going to get more excited when they read a resume that reads like a success story than a job spec. Most people use bullet points in their resume. A way to make the bullet points count is to list the things that you did to make things better, not simply list the things you did. For example, instead of saying things like managed seven-person sales team, you might consider saying things like lead a seven-person sales team to double digit growth in a declining market.
A staffing executive from a major CPG beverage company once said to me that his company is looking for people who are going to make the castle larger and not someone who just wants to hold the keys. When you are writing your resume or in an interview or on any other occasion that requires self reference, a few facts about your success weaved into your list of experiences will not hurt.
The following information is based on the feedback I have received from hiring managers, staffing managers, other recruiters, about that they look for in a resume and from talking with thousands of applicants about their resumes. These are suggestions only but the layout is a working format, so if you replace the information below with your information, you will have written a resume.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone number(s)
Email address
PERSONAL REFERENCE
The resume is summary of a person’s skills and accomplishments. However, people do not use their own name in a resume except for the contact information at the top of the resume or in perhaps in the form of a quotation. As a grammarian might say, one does not refer to oneself in the third person.
OBJECTIVE AND SUMMARY
Stating an objective or a giving a summary at the beginning of the resume is common practice. However, if a person is trying to keep the resume from getting too long, the objective and summary are frequently left off the resume. Generally speaking, your resume has the objective of getting you interviews with an employer who sees a match between your skills and the employer’s needs and is simply a summary of your skills and experience. Therefore, this part of the resume is kind of redundant.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY (Most recent job first)
Company Name, Location of Headquarters, Period of Employment (From -To)
Your most recent title and your location when you held the position and period in that position (From – To)
Use a bullet format.
- List things you have accomplished. Do not waste space on your just giving a job description. List things that showed that you made a difference in the positions you held.
- Use facts—for example, exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%, reduced costs, promoted people, saved time, increased productivity, etc.
- Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words, so list successes with specific industry words or functions. Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation), etc.
Next List Previous Titles at this company and again list successes and accomplishments in bullet format.
Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.
EDUCATION
Education goes generally is the last information on a resume. Part-time or vacation jobs held while in college are sometimes not listed except as a bullet to the education experience.
Do not put references or salary information on your resume. To post your resume, click here.
