Results tagged “job objective” from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips Blog

This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:

Maria writes:

I had been job-hunting without much success when a recruiter at a job fair told me he thought my resume was really bad. I was shocked! I thought I had a pretty darn good resume. What do I need to write and improve my resume?

The Career Doctor responds:

You didn’t attach your resume, so I don’t know for sure what the specific problem is with your resume, but I have seen enough bad resumes to know some of the most common problems. And for a recruiter to tell you that your resume was bad means that it must be really bad. I’m not trying to be overly harsh, but to add a douse of realism because I find job-seekers often ask for advice on improving their resume when they secretly love it and plan no changes.

So… here are my all-purposes fixes for resumes.

First, your resume has to have a focus. Every job-seeker needs to be a specialist, a specialist that fits the needs of the prospective employer perfectly. Sometimes a job objective or summary of qualifications can give you the edge you are seeking.

Second, your resume must showcase your accomplishments. Employers like specifics. They don’t want to know you saved your former employer money; they want to know exactly how much money you saved. They want to know the exact size of the staff you managed, the amount you increased revenues, the level of customer satisfaction you delivered.

Third, there is no such thing as one resume. Gone is a one-size-fits-all resume. Every resume you send out should be different from all the others. You need to use specific keywords and phrases that fit each employer.

Fourth, your resume has to look appealing, welcoming. Yes, it’s superficial, but a plain resume (or worse, from a template) screams plain job-seeker. Take the initiative to design your own resume style… or hire a professional resume-writer who can do it for you.

For more information, check out these articles on Quintessential Careers:

• Ten Resume Tips
• Why Hire a Professional Resume Writer?

Many more articles, resources, and tools can be found in the Resume Resources section of Quintessential Careers and in the Resume and Cover Letters Tips Blog of Quintessential Resumes & Cover Letters.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.

This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:

Marcey writes:

I’ve heard that writing a summary of qualifications or summary of skills section on the resume is important, but I can find almost no in-depth, informative information on why this is so or how to do it. The sources I have been able to find seem to have contradictory information — bullets vs. paragraph, etc. Can you provide some information and some clarification?

The Career Doctor responds:

First, remember that there are very few agreed-upon rules of resume writing. Just about everyone has a pet thing they love or hate related to resumes. Thus, your best bet is to follow the generally agreed-upon rules of resume development — and these are the rules I talk about in this column and on my Website.

The qualifications summary — sometimes also referred to as your professional profile or summary of accomplishments — has become a pretty widely accepted element for resumes. I love them because it sharpens the focus of the resume and gives the reader a quick overview of your most important qualities. I think of the qualifications summary as the executive summary of your resume. And when employers only have 10 seconds (or less) to make a decision about your resume, a well-written qualifications summary can be your edge.

The qualifications summary should include the three or four attributes that make you unique and best qualified for the job you seek- your key selling points.

I personally prefer a bulleted list in the qualifications summary because the bullets make it much easier (and faster) to read. However, it is not wrong to have it as a short and concise paragraph.

Finally, you can use a job objective and qualifications summary together to give your resume an even sharper focus.

Read more of my suggestions for resumes in key elements and rules of resumes, published on Quintessential Careers.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.