Résumé Help: Everything but the Kitchen Sink!
What if we write our résumé and omit one of the key skills that our dream employer requires? We could be eliminated from the running and lose our chance at the job. Perhaps, but is the solution to brainstorm and include every possible skill we have and for good measure toss in every cliché describing our characteristics? Absolutely not! If you toss in everything but the kitchen sink, your résumé will be very broad and may not appeal to the readers at all. Not only that, it will be very lengthy and cumbersome for consumption. What’s the answer?
The answer is to tailor your résumé to show your top skills, the value you bring, and show examples of your achievements. This information should be relevant to what the employer is seeking. You can determine this by reviewing the employer’s job posting. If there is no posting, you can do a little investigation work. You may need to modify your résumé to suit various opportunities. The result each time is a focused résumé and a candidate that seems to be just right for the job at hand!
If you look at the example that Bob provided, you will see that he fell into the trap of tossing in every skill. It’s also poorly organized and very long. What you see here is just the first of three pages of his résumé! We do not see his professional experience until page two. Bob is an accomplished professional who would promote himself much better if he could streamline this data into just one-third of the first page of his résumé. He also would benefit greatly from a proofreader.
If you have questions about your résumé, please write us. We love to critique résumés and answer your questions. In the meantime, please check out these blog entries:
Résumé Help: Creating a Compelling Profile
Résumé Help: From Never Read to Get Ahead
To see additional résumé suggestions that will help you as you create your own résumé, please click on the image below.
If you would like a résumé critique, please contact Debra Wheatman at debra@careersdonewrite.com or visit us at http://careersdonewrite.com. The Résumé Help blog appears weekly on Mondays.
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