tips for revising resumes

7/28/2019 Tips for Revising Resumes

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TIPS FOR REVISING RESUMES

Why do resumes fail?12 Accomplishments Employers

Want To See

Here are the reasons given in a survey

of employers:

No accomplishments (78%) Negative visual impact (55%) Poor or no cover letter (40%) Lack of objective (36%) Format problems (32%) Irrelevant data (29%) Inadequate job description (12%) Time gaps unexplained (10%) Resume too long (10%)

Increased revenues Saved money Increased efficiencies Cut overhead Increased sales Improved workplace safety

Purchasingaccomplishments

New products/new lines Improved record keeping

process

Increased productivity Successful advertising

campaign

Effective budgeting

Every time you apply for a specific position, certain aspects of your

resume need to be modified to suit the unique requirements of that position.

The most common changes occur in the objective statement and discussion

of experience/qualifications.

Make sure that you highlight those aspects of your career that you think

will most positively impact the hiring decision. For instance, if you havequalifications suitable for a marketing and management position, and you

are applying for a general management position, it is important that you

highlight your managerial skills, placing them on the top of your list of

accomplishments/qualifications.This is what you need to do for stage 3 of the Resume Project.


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Most recruiters base their decisions on theRESUME 4Q.Here are a

few tips on revising your master as well as specific resumes.1) Duty Based vs. Accomplishment/ Skills Acquired Based:Incorporate your accomplishments, instead of simply telling what yourduties are/were in any job. Tell what skills you acquired while in that job.Examples:

Worked as sales manager (x) Managed all sales activities for the car accessories division

VS Worked as sales manager Managed all sales activities for the car accessories division Increased sales by 3% in the Sep 05- Dec 05 quarter Learned fiscal management skills Learned office management and handling employees in a large

setting

2) Be very specificExamples:To acquire a creative development position within the entertainment

industry that would utilize my vast (2 years) technical experiencevs.To acquire a creative developer position in a film production company that

would enhance my experience in using visual aid and special effects

technology.3) Disregard mundane job details:Responsibilities included checking customers outMaintained files and reports, did data processing, cashed employees'

paychecks.
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~pbawa/421/RESUME%204Q.htmhttp://web.ics.purdue.edu/~pbawa/421/RESUME%204Q.htmhttp://web.ics.purdue.edu/~pbawa/421/RESUME%204Q.htmhttp://web.ics.purdue.edu/~pbawa/421/RESUME%204Q.htm


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4)Wherever possibleUse Power Words5) Spruce up the Objective Statement:The career objective is a succinct statement that describes what you want

out of a job.

It lets the recruiter know if you are suited to the position. It is also an

opportunity for you to market yourself by mentioning your skills and

motivation.

Research by Bright & Earl (2000) found that a career objective influenced

recruiters to think applicants were more suited to the job they had applied

for.

Objective: I am an expert in building large, scalable services based onopen protocols.That person didn't get any calls back, even though he had built .COM

infrastructures that served literally millions of users email, web services,

etc. The person was quite brilliant with technical things, but didn't write a

resume that would get past the clerk: It didn't include any buzzwords or

technology that the clerk could recognize nor a tangible position/title that

was open. How could the clerk classify such a resume? It has to get past the

clerk to get to the hiring-manager.A better statement would have been: "A senior architect of UNIX-based

(Solaris, Linux) email and web services that lets me utilize my experience

in building extremely scalable systems with high up-times." He did change

his resume to something similar, and soon started getting phone calls.6) Employment History

List the most recent job first. List dates, position title, name of organization and what they do if they

are not well known.

List your achievements rather than duties or responsibilities (all salesassistants may have identical duties but you may have exceeded

sales targets, been recognized by a customer service award or been

promoted - these achievements highlight that you are more capable

than the average employee).
http://www.jobsfaq.com/resume/resume-power-words.htmlhttp://www.jobsfaq.com/resume/resume-power-words.htmlhttp://www.jobsfaq.com/resume/resume-power-words.htmlhttp://www.jobsfaq.com/resume/resume-power-words.html


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There is no need to include jobs you held for less than a month -unless they were very relevant.

Be positive (no need to mention dropping out of unit, or arguing withboss).

Tailor the information you provide to the job you are seeking. If youknow they are looking for someone with people skills, highlight your

achievements in this area.

7) Education

List all the qualifications you have gained, but only list courses or projects

within your degree if you think they will be of interest to the employer.

Example:2000-

Present

Graduate Diploma - Human Resource Management

University of New South Wales

Relevant Courses: Workplace Industrial Relations, The

Management of Training

1997 - 1999 Bachelor of Science - Psychology Major

University of New South Wales

Tailor this section to the job you are applying for. Don't just repeat your

transcripts. Highlight particular knowledge and skills gained in the coursethat are RELEVANT to the job. You could also highlight any relevant

research projects, thesis topics or applied projects.

Many graduate employers are interested in your academic achievements.

Highlight any achievements such as: awards, prizes, good results (credit

average or above overall or for relevant subject areas). Consistently good

grades show consistent quality and effort.

Include accredited education qualifications, such as diplomas and

certificate courses from TAFE or other education providers. This helps todisplay your range of skills and your motivation to learn practical skills.

Short courses (eg First Aid, Customer Service) can be included under

Professional Developmentor Training

8) Spelling and Grammar


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How important is accurate spelling and grammar? In 'Resumes that get

short listed' (2000) Bright & Earl found that "even one error reduces the

chance of the candidate being short listed by between 30 and 45 per cent."

It is, therefore, essential that allspelling and grammar are correct.

Employers regard your resume and cover letter as an indicator of your

written communication skills and your attention to detail.

Use the spelling and grammar checker, but with caution. Use Australian or

UK English spelling if you are applying for jobs within Australia. Use

American English spelling if you are applying to US companies in Asia or in

the US.

You should also edit for context and meaning. This generally involves

reading your application out aloud to check that what you are saying

makes sense and is appropriate to the concerns of your reader - the

employer.

Font

The font in a resume should not be too small and difficult to read.

Choose one plain font (Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana are good). The

size should be equivalent to Times New Roman 12 pt.

No underlining.

No color.

Bullet Points or Prose?

Use a combination. Complete sentences allow you to show off your written

communication skills.

Good Luck with your Resumes.

tips for revising resumes

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