Résumé Help - From Kitchen Help to Culinary Star
Although Claire is a very strong candidate, it was a struggle to read through Claire’s resume, especially the skills section. There are a few great lessons for us in this section.
First, text boxes are used for formatting the two blocks of content. A text box is useful in some situations. Resumes are often either scanned or uploaded into databases. The data in a text box can be invisible when scanned or when uploaded into a database that converts the document into a text only format.
Secondly, we have a mixture of job duties, skills, and accomplishments, all in a section labeled, “Skills.” The information is strung together in a visually-dense box, making it difficult to read. Instead, Claire could have two sections: Core Competencies and Highlights of Career Accomplishments. In the Core Competencies section, Claire could list in a simple 2 or 3-column format the routine job tasks that are critical to her next job, such as “inventory control.” I highlighted some of the possible competencies in blue. Claire could rewrite some of the items that I highlighted in yellow to be accomplishments. For example, rather than “streamlining workflow,” Claire can write a bulleted statement with an actual example of workflow that she streamlined and the results (cost savings, time savings).
If we help Claire uncover more details of her accomplishments and reformat this section, Claire is on her way from kitchen help to a culinary management position. For specific recommendations regarding today’s résumé sample and to help you improve your own résumé, please click the image below.
Additional Reading:
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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