Job Search 101: Writing an Effective Resume

You will almost always need a resume to conduct an effective job search regardless of which approach is used to find employment. Before beginning to develop a resume, it is very important to fully understand the purpose of a resume which is to get an interview with the company. Your resume is a vehicle by which you create enough interest that the potential employer will want to talk to you, or in other words, to interview you. Think of your

resume as a personal advertisement designed to market your skills. Whether you are answering an ad in the paper or sending resumes to a targeted group of employers, keep in mind that most hiring managers spend 10 to 30 seconds per resume. Some even use scanners to help weed out applicants. Given these two practices, it is extremely important to pre- pare a resume that will attract favorable attention and make the person reading the resume want to talk with you in more detail about your qualifi- cations. What makes a resume effective? An effective resume must be: 1. Brief—Resumes should be not more than one page if possible. Two pages is the absolute maximum. It is very important to sell yourself quickly while addressing your prospective em- ployer’s needs. 2. Informative—Give your qualifications and an insight into your future career plans, which is known as your career objective, very succinctly. Be specific; describe skills and experience in measurable details using action verbs. Be honest about your skills and experience; highlight only those in which you are best and those that are in demand. Eliminate unnecessary details such as personal characteristics, hobbies and inter- ests. If you need the space,...

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