How to Write a Senior Resume
With their wealth of experience, seniors face the challenge of condensing decades of experience into two pages of short paragraphs. Another, perhaps more taxing, challenge: demonstrating a sense of being in tune with current marketplace priorities, skills and practices. Seniors in professional transition need to develop a resume that reflects the preferences of today's employers. The resume you used to get your last job may no longer be effective.
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Instructions
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Provide contact information that shows you belong to today's workforce. In addition to full name, mailing address and phone number, list your e-mail address, as well as a LinkedIn account, professional blog, Twitter account, and any other relevant electronic addresses. Depending on your career, securing your own Internet domain name reflecting your area of expertise could give you bonus points with a potential employer. For example, a veteran in the marketing field might create a simple website with the domain name "zoethemarketingpro" to support his resume.
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Craft a summary that sells. As a preface to the story of your career, insert an overview of your professional history and address how it fits with the position you seek. A lifelong career with technology companies may provide a solid background for a position with an art museum, for example, but the link may not be obvious in a quick review of the resume. Make the connection by briefly stating how it fits with the desired position. Adding an objective could also preempt tough questions such as, "Why are you leaving the technology field after 25 years?"
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Organize the resume to highlight accomplishments. If you use the standard reverse chronological presentation of your experience, supplement it with a skills section to further emphasize that you have the skills required for the desired position.
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Seed each position description with specifics on accomplishments. For example, instead of limiting the job description to a generic statement on media relations responsibilities, say something such as "designed and implemented a national media tour that resulted in a 100 percent success rate in earning positive coverage of the beta version of the company's first laptop."
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List education and certifications. Provide the name, city, and state of the institution you attended. Below that, give the degree earned. If you earned the degree more than 10 years ago, you can omit the date.
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Add dimension to the description of your professional life. Note accomplishments such as awards, honors and published works that may set you apart from younger candidates. If your colleagues elected you president of your professional association, or you delivered a keynote address at a national conference, note those distinctions.
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Keep Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind when writing the resume. Many employers request an electronic submission of the resume. Including keywords that link to terms in the job description can help get the document past computer screening and in front of human eyes. For example, if the position requires experience in "developing communications strategies," then insert the phrase as part of the description of your background and accomplishments.
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Tips & Warnings
Limit the resume to no more than two pages.
Format the document so that it can be read easily, both electronically and in hard copy: Use margins that are at least 1/2 inch, rely on a simple font such as Arial or Times New Roman, and use a font size that is at least 10-point.
Make every word count.
Include hyperlinks for electronic contact information.
References
Resources
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