Resume Resources: Resume Basics
So what exactly is a resume?
- Your personal advertisement highlighting your job skills and their value to the future employer.
- A powerful self-marketing tool.
- A flattering snapshot of your skills and accomplishments.
- An article about you – how you act and perform in your job.
However you choose to define it, your resume is one of the most powerful tools in your job-search "tool kit". It usually forms your first introduction to a potential employer.
Your resume must:
- Highlight the benefits you can offer to a prospective employer.
- Show how your capabilities satisfy your potential employer’s requirements.
- Differentiate you from the crowd by emphasizing your accomplishments.
Purpose of a resume:
For you:
- The resume is to help you gain consideration to get an interview.
For the employer:
- The resume is a screening tool to select candidates that show the skills and capabilities that they are looking for. A screener will initially scan your resume for 20 – 30 seconds, and make a decision to either keep your document for further review or to discard it.
According to the article "Writing a Resume for Susie the Screener" by Douglas Richardson and written for the National Business Employment Weekly,
(www.nbew.com) "Resume reader’s responses to your efforts are governed by four major principles:
- Address my needs and priorities, not your wishes and aspirations.
- Don’t tax my patience.
- Don’t tax my credulity.
- Give me the information I want – and only the information I want – in a sequence that lets me make the most accurate snap judgement about you.
Remember that employers develop their first impressions of you from your resume. This is your chance to show them that you are an outstanding individual with all of the qualities they seek.
