The Resume.Com Guide to Writing Unbeatable Resumes (3 page)

Action verbs are an essential part of a resume and an important part of producing a resume that gets you noticed.
They are generally effective when used as the first word in an accomplishment statement,
as they grab an employer’s attention and clearly demonstrate what you’ve achieved. Action verbs also are always used within
responsibility statements;
these are sentences highlighting your overall duties that we recommend writing in a paragraph format. Responsibility statements generally precede your accomplishment bullets but also can stand alone.

Dramatically different action verbs may be used to express the accomplishments or responsibilities of a Chief Operating Officer as opposed to a Managing Editor. The bottom line is that no two resumes are alike, and powerful action verbs should be selected carefully, depending on your industry.

Appendix C includes a comprehensive list of action verbs by category. A few examples of powerful action verbs that are great to start off a sentence include Manage or Managed, Direct or Directed, Implement or Implemented, Analyze and Analyzed, Guide and Guided, and Oversee and Oversaw.

These verbs will change tenses (from present tense to past tense), depending on whether the skill, accomplishment, or duty is from a current position or a previous one.

A headline is your major selling point and will sum up your objective and your strongest skills in a one- or two-line statement.
The key to the headline is telling a potential employer what you have to offer the company, not what you want from it.
Headlines combine the advantages of professional objectives with the advantages of accomplishments. A
personal
objective can be very vague, and has no appeal to the employer. For example:

I’m looking for a position that offers growth and the chance to utilize my skills and accomplishments in a career-oriented position.

This vague statement can be strengthened by converting it to a
professional
objective, combining it with your most attractive attributes or skills, and telling the employer what you have to offer.

Headline:
Award-winning sales professional with quota-shattering background and demonstrated expertise in training, motivating, and overseeing junior employees

This is the first sentence that will follow your contact information at the top of the resume, and it’s so important that we’ve devoted a significant portion of Chaper 6 to creating a good headline. One note: Don’t add a period after the headline; we want to keep this like a brief slogan that encourages you to read the entire advertisement.

Resume writing uses a telegraphic style that avoids using very basic words such as “a,” “an,” and “the,” which are known as articles. When telegrams were the main form of communication, every word added to a telegram was an additional cost to the sender. That’s why articles usually were eliminated. The time that you have to convey your message is extremely valuable, and you should always remember to cut excess words in a resume, especially articles.

Time is also a valuable part of an employer’s day, and the faster he or she is able to review your resume and understand your accomplishments, the more powerful the resume is. A watered-down sentence will use “a,” “an,” and “the” when it is not necessary:

Incorrect Example:
Managed a team of three employees and directed the benefits administration for a major accounting firm.

A stronger sentence avoids these articles and is crisp and concise:

Correct Example:
Managed team of three employees and directed benefits administration for major accounting firm.

Although the difference may seem subtle, this is a key element of a powerful resume.

The standard rule of spelling out numbers from one to nine applies to professional resumes. However, when you are citing monetary amounts of $1 million or more, use the numeral. When you use numerals, these highly attractive figures jump off the page faster than they would if they were spelled out.

Although it may sound like something that’s so basic that it doesn’t need to be mentioned, the most important part of your resume is the header, which includes your name, address, phone number, and e-mail. If these things aren’t included or if there’s a spelling mistake or typo in this part of the resume, the employer will not be able to contact you. You can have the most beautiful, well-written resume in the world, and it will be completely irrelevant. An employer will not try to track you down.

Chapter 6
discusses how to format great headers, but for now remember that a phone number and an e-mail address are vital to your success. If you don’t have an e-mail account, sign up for one before you send out your first resume. They’re free, and you can go to
www.yahoo.com
or
www.hotmail.com
and sign up for one in a few minutes.

Whether you were a member of your church’s choir or the leader of a group dedicated to advancing sexual equality, avoid including information on your resume that does not support your professional objective.

Let your accomplishments and skills speak for you. Don’t give a hirer any reason to reject your application outside of the qualifications. You should omit from your resume height, weight, sexual orientation, religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, and physical disabilities unless they are job-related or you are applying to organizations that you know will see them as pluses.

Age and photographs are other areas to avoid including in a resume.

After you’ve completed your resume, a quick review of these areas will ensure that you won’t be eliminated from consideration because of simple mistakes. Next, we’ll discuss the steps to building a powerful resume. The first step is deciding which format is right for you.

Choosing the right format is essential to your job search, as your work history and accomplishments need to be reflected clearly to impress employers. The
good news is that it’s a relatively easy choice. By answering a few questions, you’ll be able to determine the right format and begin creating a power resume. Resumes are divided into three major categories:

1. The chronological resume
is a step-by-step breakdown of your career by dates.
Job seekers with a steady work history primarily use this format
, as it highlights the applicant’s most recent position and moves backward in a linear time frame. Over 90% of all resumes use the chronological format, and if you’ve ever created a resume by using a template from a word-processing program, the odds are that it follows this format.

2. The functional resume
emphasizes two to four major skills you would want to showcase to an employer, such as sales, administration, and management. As opposed to highlighting a steady track record of employment in a direct timeline,
individuals who prefer the functional format are usually reentering the workforce after a hiatus or are changing careers.

3. The combination resume
is a hybrid of the two and is used primarily by applicants who have a steady work history but wish to emphasize their functional skill sets.
Self-employed professionals and consultants frequently use a combination resume.

Students can use both the chronological and functional formats.

In the next few chapters we’ll focus on the unique attributes, advantages, and weaknesses of these major resume formats.

The overwhelming majority of resumes follow the chronological format as it’s the easiest type of document both to create and to read. The chronological resume lists your responsibilities, skills, accomplishments, and work history by highlighting your most recent position and working backward to include all relevant employment.

The chronological format is ideal if you fit into one of the following categories:

■
You have a steady work history.

■
You are able to demonstrate upward mobility or promotions with one or more companies following a single career path.

■
You are applying for a job similar to your present or last position.

■
You have worked at Fortune 1000 companies with impressive name recognition.

■
You are working with a recruiter or staffing agency.

A chronological resume sorts your employment history by date, and the purpose of this format is to demonstrate a job seeker’s professional advancement and highlight his or her strengths as a career-oriented professional.

By listing data in “reverse chronological order”—or moving backward from today to over 20 years ago, for example—you emphasize the most recent and most relevant information in your career. Your educational degrees, memberships,
certificates, and awards (if applicable) follow your employment history. We’ll break this down for you step by step in
Chapter 6
.

■
It calls attention to a stable work history or employers with strong name recognition.

■
It demonstrates upward mobility and promotions (with one or more companies) in the course of a single career path.

■
It is favored by employers for purposes of making comparisons.

■
The strong emphasis on work history is less than ideal for many people.

Solution:
Use the functional format.

■
Your most recent experience has to be relevant to the job for which you’re applying.

Solution:
Use the functional or combination format.

If you have a strong work history, however, and think that this is the right resume for you, don’t hesitate to use it. There are ways to deemphasize gaps in employment, including listing positions by year instead of by month/year and including your activity and purpose during your period of unemployment. In the example below there’s an 11-month gap in employment that is downplayed simply by listing the year: