Resume Writing

2009-06-07T14:01:00.002-07:00

Writing An Effective Resume

Ever wonder why you don't hear back from potential employers after you send out hundreds of resumes? The problem may not be with your matching skill sets, but rather the way you communicate those skills to the new employer that makes them toss your resume in the trash. There's a lot more to writing a resume than just listing the job duties you have performed. Your resume is your sales tool and one you need to hone to get results.

Traditional resumes: Traditional resumes list your objectives (what you want), followed by a chronological list of your experiences and responsibilities, education and skills.

1. Problems:

They state only what you have done. They leave the reader to try to figure out how your past experience can be beneficial to their company. Not all prior job duties transfer or are relevant to the new position you are seeking. And the reader of your resume won't spend time trying to figure out how your skills translate into benefits and value for his/her company.

They lack customization. Each company you apply to has their own mission, culture, and set of challenges. Your resume should be reflective of the company's mission and culture, and how you can benefit them by helping to solve their problems.

They lack forward thinking. Your resume shouldn’t be just about your past. It should be about what you can do for your potential employer now and in the future as a result of your past experiences.

They are vague. Job-seekers tend to list all of their current/former job duties whether they are relevant or irrelevant to the potential employer.

How to Write an Effective Resume

Change your mindset. Your resume is not about your needs and wants. It’s about your potential employer’s needs and wants. It may seem harsh, but the person who has to review your resume does not care about your wants. He/she is only concerned with what you can bring to the table in order to solve the company's problems and make things better. Remember, the end goal of any company is to make a profit and your ultimate duties there will be to help them make that profit.

a. Think like an employer and not a job-seeker. You can only try to understand what the employer wants if you can start to think like him/her. Take yourself out of the equation and begin thinking like the company's CEO.

b. You are the product, the employer is your consumer, and your resume is

your advertising collateral and a component of your marketing plan.

c. Understand your consumer and their underlying, universal goal to make a

profit.

Quantify your skills, talents, experiences and knowledge.

Translate your skills, talents, experience and knowledge into real numbers.

There’s a difference between saying:

“Implemented a task force to reduce employee turnover rate, resulting in significant turnover cost savings and increased profits” and,

“Created and supervised Retention Task Force, using CRM practices, to reduce the annual turnover rate from 75% to 0% by providing lead therapists the opportunity to resolve challenges internally. The increased accountability resulted in a workforce turnover savings of $216,000 a year, doubled physician referral retention, increased net revenue and costs savings by $720,000 (25%), and gained 10 % market share.

Make your resume relevant. Only list the skills, talents, knowledge, and experiences that relate to the job in which you are applying. You do not have to list every task you have ever performed, especially if it has no relevance to the new position you are seeking. There is no need to fill a resume with useless information just to take up space. Quality over quantity wins every time.

Brand yourself. What you say and how you relate the benefits you provide an employer creates your branding. How you brand yourself should be reflective of the corporate culture and the type of job you are seeking.

Substitute an Objectives/Summary Statement for a Mission/Branding Statement (or a “What I Can Do For You” Statement). Your Mission/Branding Statement should reflect your career identity, the benefits of hiring you, and what you can bring to an employer to solve their problems.

Objective/Summary Statements only say what you want or who you are in vague terms.

A Mission/Branding Statement revolves around the employer’s needs and what you can bring to the table.

“Poised to deliver success-proven processes in time management, focusing on profitability.

“Delivering out-of-the-box sales leadership using state-of-the-art methodologies to organizations seeking a dynamic, self-motivated, creative professional who

knows how to drive in profits.

Using Keywords: It’s estimated that more than 80% of resumes are searched for by job- specific keywords. (If your resume ends up in a database.)

a. Types of keywords to use? Nouns, such as management, marketing

campaigns, procurement, product updates, cost/business analysis, etc.

b. Hard skills: Industry-specific skills, degrees, titles, college.

c. Keyword density: 25-35 keywords throughout the resume.

d. Search online for industry/job-specific keywords.

Melissa Rose, MBA

Boxx Productions LLC

480-201-8463

Biz in a Boxx

www.bizinaboxx.com

Melissa@bizinaboxx.com

Upcoming BPO Meeting

2009-02-03T15:10:00.002-07:00

Hey Wildcats, the next BPO meeting is February 10, 2009 at the Good Egg on Scottsdale Rd. We have a short educational segment lined up for the meeting, with time to network with your fellow alum.

There is a free workshop for BPO members at the UA Alumni Association Phoenix office. This month's Professional Development Series is Truth In Writing. Sandra Yee, a 1994 UA graduate, will show us how to boost our brainstorming power and intuitive problem-solving with spontaneous writing exercises.

For more information about BPO or the monthly workshops, contact Melissa Rose at Melrose@cox.net or 480-201-8463.

Bear Down!

If You're A Lousy Golfer....

2008-04-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

Some of you may be getting the notice, some not as informed. We have a Bad Golfers Club that plays every other Sunday (usually) somewhere in the Northeast section of the Valley - Scottsdale, Fountain Hills...wherever it's cheap enough to justify playing 9 holes of lousy, but hysterical, golf. The criteria is that you are a lousy golfer. Better - we have our own rules and our own score cards so that players don't walk away completely depressed. (You get to knock 5 strokes off your score if you finish 9 holes with at least the same number of golf balls you started with. Golf balls you find in the desert that aren't yours count. It's called a Tiger Woods to us.)

Our next game is this Sunday at 2 pm at Mountain Shadows. $25 to play. If interested, email me at melrose@cox.net. If interested, can't play this weekend, and are not on my BGC email list, then send me an email and I'll stick you on.

The BPO Blog

2008-04-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

What a great group of UA business professional alum we have and no better way to share with each other the things we know and the things we've been doing between our meetings. Here's a forum to share ideas or just let everyone know the new ventures or new UA people you've met.

UA Business Professionals Organization

Resume Writing

Upcoming BPO Meeting

If You're A Lousy Golfer....

The BPO Blog