How Any Generation Can Improve Their Resume…Critical for Landing a Job!

Hi All,

As we know, the job market is pretty tough right now, regardless of what generation you’re in. But there are still jobs available out there, and having a killer resume is critical. This could be the first contact a potential employer has with you, yet so many people just throw one together, and it gets lost in the shuffle of all the other mediocre resumes that also got submitted.

And FYI: I receive lame resumes all the time. Not only are they “boring”, but also filled with typos. Not good.

For many of you Millennials, writing a resume could be a very new thing for you. And for any of you Gen Xers or Boomers, your current resume may be stale, or perhaps you haven’t had to create one in a long time. Well, now is the time to get solid tips for creating one that really stands out!

Last night I spoke to a good friend (Gen Xer) who was laid off and is now in job search mode. She’s taking a very aggressive approach by paying a tidy sum to a career counselor, who is helping her explore other areas where her experience could play well. The counselor is also helping to improve her resume. Now, I know some people have a negative attitude about professional resume writers, but based on what my friend shared, this counselor gave (what I thought) was good advice about how to change her resume.

This prompted me to surf around to find resume writing tips that I could share with you. Not everyone can afford a career counselor or professional resume writer, so here’s some free advice I found on Yahoo!HotJobs that seemed worthwhile:

This excerpt is from an article written by Brian Karsh, entitled “Make Your Resume Standout From the Pack”. This is just part of the article and you can click on the link to access the whole thing. He actually shows a before and after on a resume description and some content that nicely illustrates his point(s):

Question: I have recently moved, and it has been tough finding work. I started looking for work back in April. What can I do to enhance my resume and land a job?
– Trying to Stand Out, South Bend, IN

Answer: So, what can you do to make sure your resume is selected from a stack that could be 400 deep? That’s the challenge when it comes time to writing your resume.

The key is to make sure you write an accomplishment resume as opposed to a job-description resume.

Focus on Accomplishments

This is the single biggest mistake that virtually all job-seekers make: Most people write job description resumes. In essence, they describe not only what they did, but what anyone would have done. Here’s an example:

Sales Representative, Szabo Industrial, Minneapolis, MN, 2003-Present

* Sold manufacturing components to clients throughout the Midwest

* Developed and maintained strong relationships with all customers

* Created call lists and scheduled in-person visits

* Managed personal budget and prepared reports

Now that may sound good, but the sad fact is that every sales rep in the history of Szabo Industrial — or any company for that matter — did those exact same things. The recruiting director will not say, “Wow this guy was a sales rep and he developed relationships with his clients — let’s get him in here.”

The key to a great resume is to focus on what YOU specifically accomplished. What did you do that was unique, special, different, or distinctive?

Click here to read the rest of this article and see how he changes the above info to make it work much better!

Bye for now and good luck!!

Lisa