How to Make a Winning Resume
When it comes to landing the job of your dreams, your resume is the way to get your foot in the door. After all, it is your calling card that details your experience and ability to get the job done. While the interview may seal the deal, a winning resume is what will get you a shot. Putting together a winning resume is more than just making it look professional; it has to have real substance as well.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Peruse resume examples to get an idea of what your resume will look like. While design is not the most important aspect of your resume, it does matter. The more clean and professional your resume looks, the more it will stand out. Stay away from large fonts, colors and resumes with design elements; other than a hairline to separate your name, address, phone number and email address from the rest of the copy, there should be no other elements on the page.
-
2
Write a short summary and position it just after your name and contact information. The summary may be the only thing a potential employer actually reads, so it should be effective. The summary should be the sum of everything else you detail in the rest of your resume. An example of a summary might be: "Car sales professional with more than 15 years of experience in the automobile industry. A record profit generator that understands the customer experience that has garnered more than 5,000 sales during the last five years of my career. Educated in just about every car make and model on the market with a desire for continuing education that translates in an ability to educate and communicate with potential customers."
-
-
3
Write an objective that is about the potential employer, not you and your goals. This should be listed just after the summary, and differs from it in that the objective tells the employer what you will do for him; the summary tells him who you are and what you know. An objective example might be "Objective: To obtain a sales position with a medical supply company that will allow me to exceed profit margins in my first quarter, make presentations to at least 10 new clients and demonstrate ways to target new markets." This kind of language instills anticipation in a potential employer as they begin to wonder if this is what you can do for them.
-
4
List your skills just below the objective on your resume. Using bullet points, provide an overview of your expertise, focusing on technical skills in particular. List elements like "Computer Programming Expertise" or "Ability to Maintain Large Database Systems."
-
5
Draft a list of your work experience after your skills list. This is generally the hardest part of the resume writing process for many people. Do this in rough draft form so that you can clean it up before actually inserting it into the resume format. Each work experience listing should include the name of your previous employer, the position you held, your dates of employment and a detailing of your responsibilities.
-
1
