Do you have a completely unblemished work history? Was
writing your resume a breeze because you are perfectly
qualified with a model career and educational background?
Or, do you find yourself struggling to prepare your
resume...struggling because of some glitch or problem in
your background that you don't know quite how to overcome
in your resume?
* Maybe you are too old...or too young...
* Maybe you have an obvious gap in your work history...
* Maybe you have changed employers too many times...
* Maybe you are a new graduate with little-to-no relevant
experience...
* Maybe you are an executive who needs to explain what
appears to be a demotion...
* Maybe you are returning to the workforce after taking
some time off...
* Maybe you are trying to change careers and your past
experience doesn't relate...
Don't feel alone! It is the extraordinarily rare job
searcher who doesn't struggle with how to deal with some
problem on their resume.
As a professional resume writer I have worked with
thousands and thousands of clients, and while every single
one of those clients is unique, they all have one thing in
common: they have a problem that they need me to solve for
them. How do I do it? The truth is that the solution is
often as unique as the individual client. But, to develop
those solutions, there are six steps that I carefully think
through prior to tackling any new project for a client. As
you work on developing or refining your own resume -- as
you try to come up with ways to transform YOUR troubled
work history into a job-winning resume -- it may be helpful
for you to work through the same six steps.
Step #1 - Know your goal
What is your current career goal? What profession? What
industry? What professional level? Knowing your objective
and your goals for a job search is the foundation of not
just your resume, but of your entire job search. Unless you
know where you are going, you will have no idea what the
focus of your resume must be and you won't even have a clue
how to begin writing it. Don't expect a busy employer to
figure it out for you. Your resume must have a precise
focus and it must convey that focus in five seconds or
less. If it doesn't, it will be discarded. It is that
simple.
Step #2 - Know your audience
Now that you know your goal, you are in a position to begin
thinking about the recipients of your resume. What are the
expectations and requirements of a candidate for the job
you are targeting? What are the problems that a person in
your ideal position is likely to be faced with? Remember
(speaking of problems) that the person doing the hiring has
problems that they are hoping their new-hire will solve.
What are those problems? Do they need to increase sales?
Reduce costs? Increase productivity? Improve efficiency? If
you clearly identify the problems of your target audience,
you can construct an entire resume focused on how you are
the ideal candidate to solve them. Do that effectively and
whatever issue you are dealing with in your troubled work
history will suddenly become a non-issue.
An employee is an investment, and if you can create a
resume that proves you will produce a better RETURN on that
investment than the next guy (even the one with the squeaky
clean work history), doors will swing open to you.
Step #3 - Know your competition
Who is your competition in the job market? What
qualifications might they have that you don't have? What
qualifications might you have that they don't have? For
most situations, I'm not referring to specific individuals.
Obviously you wouldn't want to violate the privacy of any
specific person competing for the same type of job. But,
there is definite value in trying to define your
competition in generalities. What types of qualifications
does the typical candidate have for the job you are
targeting?
Knowing your competition is a key part of Step #4...
Step #4 - Clearly identify the problem(s)
Okay. Now that you know where you are going, know what your
audience is seeking, and know what your competition brings
to the table, you are ready to fully define the problem or
problems that your resume must overcome.
Some of those problems might be obvious. Work-history gaps,
concerns about age discrimination, and multiple job changes
are among the most common. But, having worked your way
through the prior three steps, you may have identified
others. Are there key qualifications you are lacking?
Educational requirements that you don't quite meet? Ways
that your experience doesn't quite stand up to your
competition? Whatever those problems might be, make sure
you define them. In the next step, we will begin to solve
them.
Step #5 - Be willing to throw the rules out the window and
think outside the box
Now, take everything you have ever read or learned about
resume writing and forget it. Well, maybe not everything,
but at this point you definitely do need to begin thinking
creatively and strategically.
Remember that a resume is essentially an advertisement - a
marketing piece - a personal sales pitch. Resumes are NOT
autobiographies! They are personal marketing documents
meant to sell you as the ideal candidate for a particular
position. Everything about the content, the structure, and
the design of your resume should be strategically and
selectively included, excluded, highlighted, or
de-emphasized.
Always be absolutely and meticulously honest, but be
willing to think outside the box and present your
background in a format and structure that will be most
flattering to you in relation to the career goal you are
targeting.
Do you want to be one of a kind? Or do you want to be one
of many? Your resume is meant to make you stand out and
shine. You will NOT achieve this by following some rigid
template and structure that doesn't have the flexibility to
showcase your unique qualifications.
Step #6 - Reframe, reposition, reformat, and redesign
It is really all about how you frame and position your
experience, your achievements, your educational background,
and any other qualifications. Once you get to this step,
you are ready to put pen to paper (or fingers to the
keyboard) and begin writing your resume. Take what you know
about the expectations and the desires of your target
audience, combine this with your understanding of the
competition and the problems you defined in Step #4, and
start writing your resume.
Perhaps you are making a career change into a completely
new profession. Much of your past experience is
transferable, but this might not be immediately obvious to
the resume recipient. How can you "reframe" your past
experience to selectively emphasize the transferable skills
and de-emphasize those that will no longer be relevant?
Is there a qualification you are lacking for the position
you are targeting? Perhaps some other experience you have
had has helped you to develop this qualification in a
non-traditional way. How can you "reposition" that
experience to illustrate the qualification in question?
Maybe you are returning to a career path that you veered
away from ten years ago. Your recent experience is not as
relevant as your past experience. What opportunities do you
have to "reformat" your resume to bring the older skills to
the forefront?
Or maybe you have a couple of big gaps in your work
history. Can you think of a way to "redesign" your resume
to take the visual emphasis off of the chronology/dates of
your experience and place it instead on your achievements
and results?
So, what problems does your resume need to solve? What
issues must you face to transform your troubled work
history into a job-winning resume? As you get started,
remember, it is words on a piece of paper. It is easy to
edit and move things around. Don't be afraid to experiment
(just do it BEFORE you use it in the job market!).
If you aren't sure what the best solution is, create
several versions and ask your friends and family for
feedback before choosing the one you use in your search.
And, if you get stuck, that is what professional resume
writers are here for! We can often provide solutions that
you would never have thought of on your own.
Do you want to use this article in your ezine, website, or
other publication? You are welcome to as long as you use
the following text with it:
----------------------------------------------------
Nationally certified resume writer and career marketing
expert, Michelle Dumas is the director of Distinctive
Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents
http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her Executive VIP
Services http://www.100kcareermarketing.com
Michelle has
empowered thousands of professionals all across the U.S.
and worldwide. Michelle is also the author of 101
Before-and-After Resume Examples
http://www.before-and-after-resumes.com
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