How To Write A Job Winning Resume That Puts Yours On Top - Part 1 of 2

This Hub was going to be "How to start a Resume Writing Business". However, after 5 days of research, I have concluded that we can all write a RESUME THAT GENERATES RESULTS. After All, Who knows you better then YOU? With all of the software and help out there on the internet; I cannot see why, with the proper direction, we need someone else to write our Winning Resume.Therefore, I do hope that you sit back and enjoy this series on "How You Can Write A Masterpiece of A Resume".

The resume is a tool with one purpose which is to win you an interview. A resume is an advertisement of you and your skills, nothing more, nothing less.

A great resume doesn't just tell them what you have done, Moreover, it makes the same assertion that all good ads do: If you buy this product, you will get these specific and direct benefits. It presents you in the best light, and It convinces the employer that you have what it takes to be successful in this position or career.

It is so pleasing to the eye that the reader is enticed to pick it up and read it. It "whets the appetite," and stimulates interest in meeting with you. They want to learn more about you. They need to meet with you, and It inspires the prospective employer to pick up the phone and ask you to come in for an interview.

This guide to resume writing will teach you how to write a resume equal to one done by a professional writer. It offers examples, format choices, help writing the objective, the summary and other sections, as well as samples of excellent resume writing for you to enhance your chances of winning that all elusive but rewarding interview.

Firstly, let us define what a resume is not. It is not a history of your past, a personal statement or a sort of self expression. Sure, most of the content of any resume is focused on your job history. But, write from the intention to create interest and to persuade the employer to call you for an interview. If you write with that goal in mind, your final product will be very different than if you write to inform or catalog your job history.

Moreover, most people write a resume because everyone knows that you have to have one to get a job. They write their resume with great sadness and to fulfill an obligation. Writing a resume is right up there with filling out income tax forms. Boring! However, If you realize that a great resume can be your ticket to getting exactly the job you want, you may be able to muster some more enthusiasm for creating a real masterpiece.

As with every great advertising campaign, if you do not know who your target market is you are wasting your efforts. So, what should you do? Research, Research, Research! You must do your homework or you will be miserable in the job you receive and you will delay your ultimate career goals.

You must decide what you want to do and where you want to be in five years. Do you want a job that you will leave in five years? Or do you want a job that will lead to a career in five years? This is a very personal decision that must be made before you even begin your resume.

Remember, this is your life and you are the Producer, Director, and Actor in it. You write the script, and only you can produce the level of satisfaction you want to achieve.

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"Research shows that only one interview is granted for every 200 resumes received by the average employer. Research also tells us that your resume will be quickly scanned, rather than read." Therefore, ten to 20 seconds is all the time you have to persuade a prospective employer to read on further. What does this mean? The decision to interview a candidate is usually based on an overall first impression of the resume, a quick screening must impresses the reader and convince them of your qualifications and that an interview should be the end result. Therefore, the top half of the first page of your resume will either make you or break you. By the time they have read the first few lines, you either catch their interest, or your resume has failed. That is why I say that your resume is an ad. You need it to have the same result as a well-written ad: Get the reader to respond.

To write an effective resume, you have to learn how to write powerful advertising copy. Not only that, but you must sell a product in which you have a large personal investment: YOU! What's worse, given the fact that most of us do not think in a marketing-oriented way, you are probably not looking forward to selling anything, let alone yourself. However, if you want to increase your job hunting effectiveness, you must to learn to write a spectacular resume.

You do not need to be pushy or make claims that are not true. However, you do need to get over your shyness and learn to toot your own horn. People buy the best advertised product and not always the best product. That is great news if you are willing to learn to create an excellent resume. With a little extra effort, you can get a better response from prospective employers than people with better credentials then yours.

Imagine that you are the person doing the hiring. You are the person who makes the hiring decisions and are responsible for the bottom line productivity of a particular project or group. You are a person who cares deeply how well the job will be done. Now, what do you need to write in your resume to appeal directly to that individual?

Ask yourself: What would make me the perfect candidate? What does the employer really want? What special abilities should I have? What would set a me apart from a merely good job candidate?

If you are seeking a job in a field you know well, you probably already know what would make You a superior candidate. If you are not sure, you can gather hints from the help-wanted ad or from asking other people who work in the same company or the same field. You could even call the prospective employer and ask them what they wan t and expect from a candidate. However, do not make wild guesses. Furthermore, It is very important to do this step well and make sure that you are addressing their real needs. Otherwise, they will not respond to your resume.

Putting yourself in the shoes of the person doing the hiring is the most important step in writing a resume that markets you. You do not want a resume that merely describes your job history. Every step that you make in writing a finished resume should convey that you are an exceptional candidate and you deserve the job.

Now, you need to focus your writing efforts. You need to be clear with what the employer is looking for and what you have to offer before you can write your resume. Take a sheet of notebook paper and write down one answer per page to the following question:

1. What would make me the perfect candidate for this position?

Now, prioritize the sheets of paper based upon which qualities or abilities you think are the most important to the person doing the hiring.

Then, starting with your first page, fill in the rest of that page as much as you can by brainstorming about why you are the person for the job. Now this is very important, write down everything and anything that you have ever done that will demonstrate to the prospective employer that you are a perfect fit for what is wanted and needed by them..

The whole idea is to loosen up your thinking. You need to be able to see some new connections between what you have done and what the employer is looking for. You do not need to confine yourself to work-related accomplishments. Use your entire life's experiences. You want to cover all of the possible ways of thinking about and communicating what you do well. What are your talents that you bring to the market place? What do you have to offer your prospective employer? What makes you stand out and call attention to yourself?

If you are making a career change or are a young person and new to the job market, you are going to have to be especially creative in getting across what makes you stand out. Therefore, Use these brainstorming pages as the raw material to craft your resume.

Firstly, you need to make assertions about your abilities, qualities, and achievements. You need to write powerful and honest advertising copy that makes the reader perk up and realize that you are someone special that needs to be interviewed.

Secondly, you need to back up your assertions with evidence that you actually did what you said you did. This is where you list and describe the jobs you have held, your education, etc. This is all the stuff you must include.

Unfortunately, most resumes consist of just the evidence section and do not have any assertions. Nothing can put you to sleep better than the average resume.

The pizazz is in the assertions section. When a prospective employer finishes reading your resume, you want them to immediately reach for the phone to invite you in to an interview. The resumes you have written in the past have probably been only to inform the reader. However, you do not want them informed. You want them interested and excited.

In fact, it is best to only hint at some things and leave the reader wanting more. Always leave your reader with a bit of mystery. That way, they have even more reason to reach for the phone. The assertions section usually has two or three sections. Therefore, your job is to communicate, assert and declare that you are the best possible candidate for the job and that you are hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth of July.

This is the interesting part; you start by naming your intended job. This can be in a separate Objective section, or it may be folded into the second section which is your Summary. However, if you are making a career change to a new field, or are a young person not fully established in a career you need to start with a separate Objective section.

Now, we have covered a lot of information here. This is the end of part one of a two part series on “How You Can Write a Masterpiece of a Resume “. Part Two is in the works. Therefore, if you think this is getting down to the Nitty Gritty....Wait for Part Two to Knock Your Socks Off!

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Article(C)2009 - 2010 cluense, all rights reserved. Cluense creates articles and posts online. She creates articles on, accounting, entrepreneur, political issues, small business, society, relationships, taxes, work from home businesses, and Tutorials. She also has a strong passion for writing.