Resumes

The Purpose of a Resume:

A resume has one main purpose: to win an interview. A resume is simply a personal advertisement describing what an individual has to offer a company, so it really should be tailored to the specific company being applied to.

A great resume doesn't just convey what you've done in the past but makes the same declaration that all good advertisements do: “If you buy this product, you will get these specific, direct benefits”. A resume presents your best qualities and attributes and demonstrates how they would suit the job. It convinces the employer that you have what it takes to be successful in this new position or career.

A great resume would entice the reader to pick it up and read it. Within the first 30 seconds, it should stimulate interest in meeting the candidate and learning more about the person. It should inspire the employer to pick up the phone and ask you to come in for an interview.

A resume describes your background and qualifications in more details than the cover letter. A good resume is neat, well organised and easy to read. Most resumes are roughly 2-3 pages long.

Don't think of a resume as just a history of your past experiences, as a personal statement or as some sort of self expression. Write your resume with the intention to create interest, to persuade the employer to call, demonstrate why you are more than qualified for the position. If you write with this sort of mind set, the end result will be very different than if you simply wrote to inform or catalog your job history.

Everyone has a resume; everyone knows that a resume is required when applying for work. So as a result, most resumes are written unenthusiastically, a formality with which it is. If you realize that a great resume can be your ticket to getting the perfect job that you want, it should provide you with the motivation to create a real masterpiece of a resume, rather than the shabby product most people churn out.

Grab an Employers' Attention:

On average only one interview is granted per every 100 resumes. Most of the time your resume will be quickly scanned, rather than being read in detail. The top half of your resume will most likely determine whether or not an employer will continue with your job application. Most people do not think in a sales and marketing oriented way naturally, but effectively you are trying sell a product or a service, you. You need to get over your modesty because writing your resume is the place to really blow your own horn. People do tend to buy the best advertised product rather than the best product. With a little bit of effort and some marketing skills, you should get a better response from prospective employers than people with better credentials.