Resume Writing Strategies that Bring Results

In today’s tough economic climate, the competition for jobs is fierce indeed, which is all the more reason we need to be using effective resume writing strategies that work!

Here, we are not going to show you how to put your resume together; instead, we will share five excellent resume writing tips that you can use.

Tip #1: Know the job and company you are targeting.

Do your research before you start or update your resume. Look up the company you are applying to, and learn everything you can about it. Search online, talk with people in the industry, and make notes. Learn their mission statement, what their goals are, and how they are perceived in the community.

Notice that when you are researching the company, you are likely to see a few things or facts that stand out or are repeated. Also, this type of research could bring issues to the surface that you might not have noticed or learned about earlier. In fact, you might also uncover some information that might make you uncomfortable about the company, showing you that they may not be a good fit for you. Remember, even though you are focusing on their needs, and how you can benefit them, using effective resume writing strategies means that it has to feel good to you too!

When you are armed with plenty of information about the company and the job that you’re targeting, you can begin to formulate some key phrases that you will use in your resume, whether it’s in a qualification or an accomplishment.

Tip #2: Talk their talk.

I
n other words, use language in your resume that the company and industry uses. Don’t go overboard on jargon, but using industry terminology further shows the company that you know what you’re talking about.This can be a very valuable tip if you are posting your resume online. It is possible that an employer might search candidates using specific keywords and keyword phrases - and if you have these in your resume, this could help bring your resume to the top of the pile.

Word of warning: Use keywords and keyword phrases judiciously. Don’t overuse them, otherwise you could be perceived as “keyword spamming. Just use them where appropriate, in a natural manner. A good rule of thumb is that one keyword or keyword phrase for every 100 words of text should be fine.

Tip #3: Prepare your resume so that it targets one job and one company.

Thanks to the marvels of word processing, it is relatively easy to tailor your resume to the job and company you are targeting. If you are sending out 5 resumes to 5 different employers, make sure each resume is specific to each company. You can do this by putting a simple addition to a summary statement, such as: “How I Can Help ABC Company’s Finance Department…” or some such statement.

Specifically mentioning the job and company in your resume will set you apart. The employers will see that you spent time focusing on them. These are not only effective resume writing strategies, but strategies that also show employers that you are different. You really care. You really do want to join their team! You look like a winner!

Word of warning: Be double sure, no… make that triple sure that you carefully review every resume you send out to ensure that you are matching your resume to the right company!

Tip #4: Highlight critical and important information.

I
t is perfectly acceptable to highlight information that you want to be sure your reader sees. Consider that you only have a few seconds to get someone’s attention on your resume, and that someone is likely only scanning through at first. Knowing that, if, in your accomplishments, for example, you state that you have managed 35 accounts worth $1.2MM each, you might want to highlight it by either bold facing it, underlining it, or italicizing it, thereby increasing the odds that the reader sees it.

Kathy Tremblay

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Linsey Pollak

Prepare for Court

So, when you say you're a great project manager and describe how organized you are, how you pay attention to detail, and how your projects always come in on time and under budget your employer will probably want to see how you accomplish these amazing feats.

You would be surprised how many times I interview someone and ask them for some examples of their work and they say "oh, I don't really have any examples", or "I can't really show you anything because it's all proprietary". Really, you don't have any examples of scope documents, project plans, work breakdown structures, risk mitigation strategies, performance monitoring, etc.? You're just going to wing it and talk about how you did these things? How can I possibly tell how you think, document, manage, and report progress without looking at one or two actual examples?

Needless to say, the candidate that comes prepared to an interview with a professional portfolio of their work and is prepared to walk me through a couple of real examples has a huge advantage over the candidate that shows up empty handed. In fact, I will posit that having a portfolio should be a minimum requirement when you apply for a job. Walking through a project plan or documentation you've prepared let's you practically exhibit how you think and organize yourself.

As you're doing your job you should always be thinking about what artifacts you want to preserve to potentially include in your portfolio. So, keep copies of your work, especially those artifacts that you're proud of and that really show off the caliber of work you do. If you're worried about confidentiality, black out identifying text or substitute place holder text. You can also consider developing a new artifact which displays your skills in the same way as the original work product but does not reference any privileged or confidential information. This should be noted in the description of the artifact. In some cases you can ask your employer if they mind if you keep certain artifacts for your portfolio. Likewise, if you receive accolades for something you've accomplished save the email or memo to include in your portfolio.

Make notes on the artifacts you save that highlight what is especially noteworthy. For example, if you're a purchasing agent and you developed a spreadsheet or report to improve visibility of future spend that shortened delivery times and helped to improve cash flow make a note of that and stick it to your spreadsheet artifact so you can highlight that when you discuss it. The important thing is to start now and continually update your portfolio as you go. If you ever get laid off you may not have the opportunity to go back and retrieve information or you may not remember all of the details.

It is important to remember you may be in legal trouble if you share confidential information. Ask your employer if you can share specific things you have worked on, and only share that which is not classified or confidential. You may need to be creative to come up with items that prove your case, but if you start now, you will find them.

So, get ready for court and start populating your portfolio today. You know you will need it.
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