Will you Résumé pass the 30 second Test?

Resumes are marketing tools that effectively describe your work accomplishments and transferable skills to a potential employer. Resumes should grab an employer’s attention within 30 seconds. Therefore, highlight your best qualities and key qualifications at the beginning of your resume. Employers scan resumes quickly, then read further if they feel you have the qualifications they are looking for. Remember a resume won’t get you a job but it can help or hinder you from getting the interview. Here are some sure-fire ways to ensure your resume reflects the best you have to offer.

Keep your resume positive, action-oriented and easy to read!

Know your audience – Research the company and the position you are applying for and write your resume accordingly (language, presentation style).

Choose a job target / objective – Keep in mind that employers read resumes to answer the question “What can this person do for us?” Be as specific as possible about the employment position you want and how you can benefit the employer.

Investigate the field – Determine what skills, knowledge and experience are needed to do the job and place emphasis on these parts of your background. If you are applying for a job that is not in your field and your education and/or employment history isn’t particularly relevant, list your personal qualifications first. Spend little time or space in detailing your work experience.

Know thyself – Brainstorm a short list of your best attributes, talents, strongest skills, experience, awards, achievements, memberships, character traits, education and training. Then incorporate the information that is relevant to the job you are applying for into your resume. Now compile a list of the primary jobs you have had – listing the most recent position first. Be sure to include any unpaid/volunteer work that fills a gap or proves you have the skills for the job.

Demonstrate your abilities – For each skill, think of several accomplishments that show the use of that skill. Use active verbs when describing these accomplishments and emphasize the benefit to the employer.

Resume styles

There is no right or wrong way to format a resume. Pick a style that fits your situation and include only the information you feel comfortable with. Your resume should be presented in a clear, concise manner on plain white or subtly shaded paper, preferably laser printed. Use of colours, sizes or types of paper, strange fonts or graphics should be avoided unless it relates to the type of work you are seeking.

To organize a resume effectively, start at the top with your name and contact information, include your address, phone number and email address. Make it easy for potential employers to reach you. Include a number for messages or times they should call. Be sure all numbers are correct and current. This information is usually used as a header to the resume. A job objective statement can follow so the employer knows what position you are applying for. Follow this with your summary of key points. Choose one of the following formats for the body of your resume.

Chronological – Begin with your present or most recent job and continue back through your work history. List your major skills/accomplishments instead of just your job duties and responsibilities. Work history can be listed by job title or employer, depending on which is more impressive or relevant – just be consistent.

Functional or Skills – Organize your skills or qualifications around 3 or 4 areas of experience, and list in descending order of importance. This format highlights skills obtained through both paid and unpaid experience and is helpful for someone returning to work, changing careers or with confusing or little work experience.

Combination – Take the best points of your experience and abilities, and back them up with your work history.

Headings

Skills should be categorized under general headings to make them easily identifiable to potential employers. Your skills should group nicely in 2 to 4 categories.

Example headings for a retail sales position:

Communication/Interpersonal Skills

Supervisory Skills

Sales and Marketing Skills

Creative Abilities and Window Dressing Skills

Use headings that fit your skills and are relevant to the work you are applying for. Different occupations require different skills. Some possible skill headings are:

Accounting
Bookkeeping
Budgeting
Child Care
Communication

Computer experience Counseling
Creative Abilities
Customer Service
Electrical / Plumbing

Teaching
Marketing
Mechanical
Office Management
Office Support

Organization
Problem Solving
Program Development
Promotions
Reception

Sales
Special Skills
Supervisory
Technical
Warehousing

Or Personal/Career Accomplishments, Special Achievements, Awards and Accomplishments

Statement

When explaining your skills, use clear, concise and energetic words. You might not develop a statement for each skill you have, but you can highlight the skill later in the work history section of your resume. Begin statements with strong action words. Examples:

General - Achieved, Completed, Improved, Reduced, Transformed

Management Skills - Administered, Delegated, Hired, Initiated, Managed, Prioritized, Produced, Scheduled, Spearheaded, Streamlined, Strengthened

Communication/People Skills - Authored, Communicated, Edited, Persuaded, Resolved, Wrote

Organizational/Administration Skills - Maintained, Monitored, Organized, Reviewed, Standardized, Updated

Research Skills - Analyzed, Interpreted, Investigated, Researched, Reviewed, Summarized

Financial/Data Skills - Assessed, Budgeted, Corrected, Forecasted, Reduced

Technical Skills - Adapted, Applied, Converted, Developed, Engineered, Repaired, Upgraded

Creative Skills - Composed, Conceptualized, Created, Designed, Integrated, Performed, Revitalized

Helping Skills - Advocated, Assessed, Coached, Encouraged, Facilitated, Motivated

Highlight your skills with strong descriptive words. Examples:

Confidently
Consistently
Continually
Cooperatively

Creatively
Diplomatically
Eagerly
Effectively

Efficiently
Energetically
Excellent
Extensively

Positively
Productively
Professionally
Proficiently

Quickly
Sensitively
Sincerely
Skillfully

Substantially
Successfully

Be sure to state your skills clearly, indicating how or where you used them.

Example: From: Typed Reports              To: Accurately typed and edited monthly and annual reports
                                Trained volunteers      To: Trained 150 volunteers
                                Answered phones       To: Have been commended for friendly telephone manner

Electronic Resumes

When sending your resume to a potential employer electronically always follow the instructions in the job ad or on the resume-posting site carefully. If asked to send your resume in MS Word, send the resume in that format as an attachment. If no specifics are defined change your resume to text-only format. Go to File, Save-As, and choose Text-Only. This will remove all bullets, italics, bold, tabs and other formatting. Give the file a new name and the extension .txt. For safety reasons it is advised that you delete your street address. Give the resume as much eye appeal as possible, i.e. using ALL CAPS for headings, asterisks (*) for bullets, blank lines for information that was previously separated by tabs, list skills one per line and don’t skip lines between items. Proofread and edit your resume to ensure it is error free one last time before sending.

How does your resume rate?

Overall Appearance & Layout

Is your resume easy to read with enough white space (does it look “uncluttered”)?

Can you scan down the page and see a pattern in the placement of headings and text?

Is the wording positive and action-oriented throughout?

Does it look professional and business-like with no handwriting?

Is it free of spelling and grammar errors?

At a glance, do key ideas and words pop out to support the job objective?

Has unrelated information been eliminated, and is the length 2 pages maximum?

Focus: Job Objective

Is a Job Objective included?

Does the Objective address the needs of the employer?

Is it phrased in the appropriate language of that industry?

Is the Objective a realistic next step for you?

Skills or Qualifications Summary

Does the Summary contain skills that are consistent with the Job Objective?

If a Summary is not included, does the most recent job listed in the resume describe the skills that you would like to use in your next job?

Is the Summary positive, interesting and “alive”?

Does the Summary combine Hard Skills and Soft Skills?

Body of Resume

Do you sound real, personable, energetic and unique?

Did you include information that supports your work values and professionalism?

Bulleted points rather than long paragraphs?

Accomplishment statements - measurable & specific (use numbers/percentages/dollar values/decreases-increases)

Is the information relevant to the Job Objective and showing a wide range of experience?

Can job titles be easily found by someone scanning the resume?

Are work experiences presented in reverse chronological order (most recent work first)?

Education

If a Job Objective is stated, are related education and training programs highlighted?

Volunteer Experience / Community Involvement

Did you include organization names and job titles?

Are major skills and accomplishments related to the Job Objective highlighted? (In a Functional resume format, they may be listed under the Skills areas)

Hobbies / Interests / References

If hobbies appear, are the skills or qualities involved relevant to the Job Objective?

If interests appear, are they presented briefly and late in the resume?

Does the resume indicate that references are – “Available upon request”?

Once your job search has ended and you find a job, there are things you can do to make your working life successful.

Communication skills
Working well with others requires effective communication skills, which can be learned on the job. Listening well to what is being said and asking for clarification when necessary are two particularly important skills in the workplace.

People skills
Good people skills are essential in the workplace and take time to develop. Here are a few pointers to get you started:

Practise patience. In the workplace, you often have to depend on others to get the job done, just as others may have to rely on you. The modern workplace relies on teamwork, so you need to stay calm under pressure and respect your co-workers.

Learn to accept criticism. When your supervisor hands something back to you for corrections, or suggests a different way of doing something, don't get upset; constructive criticism is part of the learning process.

Give others space to do their jobs. Ask questions if you need to, but learn to trust in your own ability to make decisions. When first training for a job, everyone will understand if you have questions about how to do things. After you settle in, try to solve problems on your own before going to your boss. That will show the employer and the other employees that you have the resources and initiative to find things out for yourself.

Forgive the mistakes of others as well as your own. Everyone has days when things don't go the right way. Being able to forgive yourself and others when mistakes are made will make you a better team member.

Learning styles
When you start a new job, there is a lot to learn about the organization, your employer, other employees and your position. That’s why it’s important to know how you learn best. For example:

Are you more likely to turn a computer on and start playing with it, or would you read the manual first?
Do you learn best by hearing about tasks, reading about tasks or performing tasks?

Let your employer know how you learn best and ask for what you need if necessary. It’s also important to look at how you can add different techniques to your learning style, like slowing down before jumping into a task or asking someone to show you how best to perform a task.

The power of knowledge
Knowledge gives you more choices. The more you learn, the more valuable you become to employers. You may be able to apply for higher positions within your organization or to transfer into another job with more responsibility.

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