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[H1772]How To Write A Professional Resume

by Maxwell Hurst, Max

In today's competitive job market, employers relay on well-written resumes to screen potential candidates. In many instances, employers look through job search web sites, such as HotJobs.com or Monster.com, to find professionals with skills, education and experience that fit their needs. These employment search web sites, along with many companies' own online applications, require candidates to upload their resume in order to express interest in a specific opportunity. Without an opportunity to send a personal email, or a cover letter, you have to make sure that your resume expresses your personality in addition to listing your professional and educational experiences and achievements. To do so, you can include a professional profile or summary at the beginning of your resume that allows you to market yourself through a narrative. This section allows your potential employers to learn something unique about you and your career, as well as get a good feel of your communication skills.

To write an effective summary, you should first understand what information should not be communicated in your resume. While a summary provides an insight into what is unique and competitive about you, it is not a place for you to indicate any personal information that does not relate to your career. Information such as ethnicity, marital status, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and affiliations, etc. should be left out of your resume. While descriptive of who you are, this information is not relevant to your potential employer in order to pre-screen your qualifications for their opportunity. Additionally, the summary should not contain your previous professional experience, unless you can clearly demonstrate how such background can be of value in your future career development. Beware of generic statements, such as “I am well organized and detail oriented.” Employers want to hear your unique voice and get a sense of your communication skills while reading the summary portion of your resume. Using generalizations about your abilities will make the employers believe that you are either a poor communicator or are using such statements to fill up space on your resume.

Your summary should be in form of a short paragraph or bulleted statements, containing only several sentences. There isn't a sentence limit, but as a rule do not take up more than one quarter of the page. Your summary should begin by a headline that summarizes your professional title and/or your professional statement. Emphasize your title by featuring the headline in bold and larger font, as it allows your potential employer to grasp who you are quickly. For example:

Financial Planning Professional
Achieved Double-Digit Return for All Clients through Well-Balanced Financial Portfolios

It is important that this title is well crafted, as it is the first impression your potential employer will have of you.

There are three things a well-written summary should address:
- Your experiences and skills as they relate to your idea job
- What you can bring to the organization and the open position that no other candidate can
- Your professional goals.

Even though your resume summary is written by you, it should be composed in third person, in present tense. Think of it as a summary of what one of your best colleagues would say about your professional achievements. Reinforce your title, and sell only the experiences and skills that meet your career objective. If you have multiple career objectives, such as you wish to get a position in either marketing or public relations, develop separate resume summaries for each of the objectives. A summary can also contain a brief bulleted section highlighting only a few vital competitive skills that you bring to the table. An example of an effective summary would be as follows:

Successful financial planning professional with over 15 years of personal and retirement planning experience. Managed a small financial planning firm, achieving double-digit financial returns for all clients by developing personalized investment portfolios. Leader in development and professional growth of four other financial planners in the firm through effective and motivating mentoring strategies.

Key competencies include:
o Personalized portfolio development
o Financial forecasting
o Retirement portfolio management
o Development on-going professional growth strategies

Much like your overall resume, your summary should be well-written and error-free. Make sure to review your summary, and customize as necessary for the various opportunities of interest. An effective summary will help you “hook” your employer; it should sell you as a primary candidate for the job, leaving your employer with a great first impression of you.

Well, with so many people searching for jobs these days it is of the utmost importance that YOU make a great first impression.

How?

Simple. Your resume.

In most cases, the only thing you have to create that first impression with is your resume. And, it is your resume that will get you the interview.

Here are ten tips on how to write a resume?these are resume writing tips that will help you create not just any resume, but a professional resume that clearly stands out amongst all the other applicants'a resume that will help you create that great first impression.

1. When writing a resume use a professional resume format. The two most accepted resume formats today are chronological and functional. Personally, I prefer chronological. From the interviewer stand point I find it much easier to read and follow.

2. Create your resume in the proper order and with correct punctuation. Resumes with grammatical errors drive recruiters crazy. You can use spell check on Microsoft Word to check for spellings and grammar, but that is NOT enough. Print out your resume and re-read the hard copy AND then let a friend or colleague read your resume as well. It is amazing what a fresh pairs of eyes can find.

3. Organize your resume properly under headings (such as education, skills, work experience, training, etc.) and put those headings in bold.

4. Write your resume in such a way so that it matches YOUR skills and experience to the skills and experience needed for the available position. Highlight the details that match the employer's requirement. This will make your resume look as if it was created for this particular job rather than one generic resume you send out to everyone.

5. Use "industry-oriented" words in your resume. You want to make sure you are using the jargon (keywords) of the profession?this gives the impression that you are an expert in your field.

6. Avoid using "I" in your resume. Make use of action verbs like collaborated, managed, established, etc. A good resume uses both action verbs such as analyze, achieve, etc. and nouns and adjectives like capable, resourceful, etc.

7. Make your resume presentable. Print your resume on high-quality resume paper and print your resume using a laser printer.

8. References, references, references. When writing a resume make sure to list your references. Never state "references available upon request". Why make more work for the person reading your resume? Instead, list your references at the end of the resume. Also, make sure to include the job title AND the phone number with each and every reference.

9. When writing your resume objective, make sure to be as specific as possible. State the specific position you desire and one to two sentences why you would be the best candidate for that position.

10. Be specific with the rest of your resume as well. Far too many resumes are filled with generalizations. This is not a good way to show your experience and skills. Instead, your resume should contain relevant information for the job you are applying for.

Often times, employers only look over your resume for a few minutes'so use these resume writing tips to make your resume stand out from the others.

Remember, your "one chance to make a first impression" may just be your resume.

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Both Maxwell Hurst & Adam Waxler are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Maxwell Hurst has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cover Letter, Employment and Finances. . Maxwell Hurst's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.

Adam Waxler has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lose Weight, Interview Questions and Arthritis Signs. Want to discover some of the greatest "think-outside-the-box" job search strategies ever revealed? Then sign up right now for our FREE one-of-a-kind Cover Letter e-Course @. Adam Waxler's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.