The basic premise or formula is to recognize that when your skills + traits + behaviors are placed in the right environment the outcome will give you a greater chance of success and happiness in your work.Â
We want to recap your resume strategy and structure progress from the last two posts. You have done a lot of work and deserve those marbles in your jar.
Here is where you should have landed:
1. You know that your resume and cover letter (next post) is your professional marketing program to sell you! Your resume is your advertising and reflects your product, YOU.
2. You have investigated the various styles and format designs and chose the one that best fits your personality and industry norms. The decision is made as to whether you are using a chronological order or a functional style of formatting the narrative (see post on Strategy).
3. When writing the document you have created a Summary Statement with 2-3 strong sentences that describe you, your skills and experience. You have chosen 4-6 Selected Accomplishments that cover your career to date. If you have had fewer professional experiences than educational endeavors, use this to tell about your educational accomplishments and include both hard and soft skills (see post on skills for examples).
4. Each of your employers has the correct names of the business and a small description of the company. Each position, if more than one, is listed on its own by date beginning with the most recent.
5. Finally, you have listed your educational efforts whether completed or in progress.
6. You checked spelling and punctuation, you didn’t use a fancy font or multiple fonts.
You did not fabricate or exaggerate on anything and the whole document is under 2 pages.
You may not have completed all this to your total satisfaction and we at MJG understand how difficult this is to write about yourself. Certainly, utilize your friends who can give creative feedback. Also, you can reach out to us.
Words Matter! Using the right words can send your resume to the top of the recruiter's stack. Whether your potential company has a professional physically looking at your resume or if they use a search engine to scan for keywords, what you write will catch their attention.
A few ideas for your consideration:
· Keywords are the words that relate to particular requirements for a job. They are skills, experience and credentials the recruiter will look for. You will find them in the job posting under ‘qualifications or responsibilities’.
· Use the words from the job description and align your experience and skills with their requirements. Sprinkle these through the Summary, Accomplishments and Experience section. Don’t go overboard.
· Double check for misspelled words as a computerized applicant tracking system may miss your valuable skills.
· For a deeper dive check out https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/how-to-use-keywords-resume-0916
Your homework is to make a list of keywords that are in job descriptions that fit your skills, traits and behaviors and align with some job descriptions you already see online. One marble in your jar for this assignment.