DON'T FOCUS ON JUST YOUR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES FOCUS ON YOUR ACHIEVEMENT'S!

On many of the resumes I am asked to edit and reformat, I generally see that they are focused more on the actual job responsibilities rather than the achievements they have accomplished in the position. It is okay to have "some" of the responsibilities listed but you absolutely need to back it up with the achievement! The resume is only the first part of your marketing tool to get your foot into the door and you HAVE to wow them with how good you are at your job and do this in the first few statements!

Most people do not think in the terms of quantified achievements when they are in their position at work, but on the resume, that is the ONLY part that matters to the hiring manager.

For example if you only state:

• Managed all recruitment activities for a Financial Staffing Division. This is only a job responsibility.
• Instead state : Responsible for growing staffing revenue as Manager from a -14% profitability to a +12% revenue profitability in two months through internal team building and development of strong external business relations with financial hiring managers.
• Then in the next sentence you could state exactly how you developed these relations.

Remember to cite specific percentages, figures and/or results instead of broad generalized statements. You want to be able to market your value to an employer so be proud, own your accomplishments and sell yourself!

Writing a Great Cover Letter

Writing a great cover letter takes patience and lots of time. The cover letter is what I like to call the "Icing on the Cake". Here are a few tips to get you started.

1.) Take the time to do some research on the company and investigate who the hiring manager may be. This may involve a few phone calls or simply looking at the email address. When you find out who the hiring manager is, include their name in the opening salutation. This makes a great first impression that you took the time to research (and believe me, it does take time- especially if you do this for each job that you are applying for).

2.) Keep the resume between 3-5 paragraphs long with short sentences and to really make it stand out, bullet the second paragraph that what you can do for the employer. You must actively describe how you meet these needs in quantifiable results.

3.) Tell them why they should hire you and give an example or two of what you did in the past and how it relates to their organization ( I always recommend including something that is NOT on your resume). Try to make it flow naturally.

4.) Try to make the cover letter reflect your attitude, personality, motivation communication skills and enthusiasm!

5.) In your last paragraph, always include at least these three important things:

• Explain how they can reach you
• Thank them for their time and consideration
• Request a meeting/interview.

5 Tips To Get Started On Your Resume

Here are a few tips to help you with our resume writing:

1.) Think of yourself as a mini profit-and loss center rather than just a prospective employee. I know it sounds terrible, but employers today buy results and are less impressed with candidates promoting a laundry list of skills.

2.) Write "Power Statements". Develop specific examples of how you benefited your company by making or saving them money and PUT it on your resume! This statement below is an example of a results driven human resource resume:

"Increased employee retention by 60% in 2001 through new training and development incentive programs. Increases internal employee staff referral by 29%.

3.) You must have a resume that is designed to catch their attention. Employers make a snap decision when glancing at a resume if they want to pursue it further (usually within 60 seconds)! Always use bullets/short sentences as the employers have no time or patience to read long paragraphs. Especially in this job market where the common open position gets over 400 resumes!

4.) Learn how to analyze the key words that the employer is advertising for the open job descriptions. Use these words in your resume, especially in the top few sentences as it is a key element in creating a powerful resume! You may have to change your resume wording for EACH POSITION that you are applying for.

5.) When you write your power statements in your resume ( refer back to # 2 above) always include "how" you did it! It's one thing to say you increases sales by 80 % but another thing to say how you achieved that!