Resume Writing Guide

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How to Write a Resume that Works A Guide to Resumes that get Attention and Results Visit us at: wwww.cubemanagement.com © Cube Management, LLC. All Rights Reserved Cube Management 24 SW 148th Avenue Beaverton, OR 97006 p. 503.213.3143 f. 503.626.6759

Transcript of Resume Writing Guide

© 2006 Cube Management, LLC All Rights Reserved. Visit us at www.cubemanagement.com

How to Write a Resume that Works A Guide to Resumes that get Attention and Results

Visit us at: wwww.cubemanagement.com

© Cube Management, LLC. All Rights Reserved Cube Management 24 SW 148th Avenue Beaverton, OR 97006

p. 503.213.3143 f. 503.626.6759

© 2006 Cube Management, LLC All Rights Reserved. Visit us at www.cubemanagement.com

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How to Write a Resume that Works A Guide to Resumes that Get Attention and Results There are lots of sales and marketing jobs available today, in fact there are more jobs than there are qualified candidates to fill them. But not all jobs are created equal. If you want to get more opportunities to be considered for the top jobs, your resume has to tell a story about your background and experiences not just simply state the facts. For this reason we have developed this easy to use resume writing guide to be used in conjunction with our guide to optimize your career search “Land Your Sales or Marketing Dream Job!” Introduction What is a resume? According to Wikipedia, a résumé, also known as a curriculum vitae (CV), is a document containing a summary or listing of relevant job experience and education, usually for the purpose of obtaining an interview when seeking employment. Often the résumé or CV is the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker, and therefore a large amount of importance is often ascribed to it.

The important part of this description is the purpose…to obtain an interview. A resume must be well written, easy to follow and extremely descriptive so that it will motivate someone to pick up his or her phone and call you for an interview.

The resume can be divided into a few basic sections, contact information, employment history including key achievements, education, social and civic activities. This is all that is really required, remember the goal of your resume is to get an interview not tell your life history.

Format How your resume looks is that very important first impression that cannot be over looked. I have seen hundreds of resume that make my eyes glaze over and they immediately get put in the “no” pile simply as a result of bad formatting. The days of the single page resume are over, use as much space as necessary to tell your story but remember it’s a resume not a novel. Shorter is better; use effective language, bullets, and white space to keep your resume pleasing to the reader’s eye.

A font smaller than 10 pitch is hard for folks to read and should never be considered. Also, be careful to use a common font, Arial, Times and a few others are widely universal on all computer software. Nothing is worst than using a font that gets substituted in their word processor which in turns throws off all of your formatting and spacing.

The use of color is also not recommended. Not all monitors show colors the same and printing can also create problems; you can never go wrong with black.

“ A well written resume is

your key that unlocks the door to employment opportunity. Making sure you have the “right key” is as easy as understanding what the

employer is looking for in an outstanding candidate. If you

have what they are looking for, all you have to do is

highlight those achievements in your resume”

© 2006 Cube Management, LLC All Rights Reserved. Visit us at www.cubemanagement.com

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Resume Sections Before you begin to write or revise your resume take time to review the job requirements of the position. Begin to formulate what experiences you are going to highlight in order to make the reader understand that you are more than qualified for this position.

Your resume should include the following sections, Contact Information, Objective or Summary, Work Experience, Education and Specialized Training, and Civic or Social Activities.

Contact Information Name (no nicknames), address, telephone number (only one, where you want to be and can be reached), email address (choose an email address that sounds professional [email protected] probably does not set the right tone!) and website address (again if it contains professional information such as portfolio and not the pictures of your drunken friends at your last party) Objective or Summary An objective tells potential employers that you are looking to do the sort of work they are trying to find someone to do. Be more specific than to tell them about the job you want. Tell them that you want the job they are looking to fill. For example: To obtain a position as a Regional Sales Manager selling industrial products to senior level buyers in the Southeastern portions of the United States.

Always tailor your objective to each employer you target and every job you seek. After all, if the potential employer begins reading your resume and you are looking for exactly what he has to offer you have just made a great first impression. This will draw the reader into the next section to see if you have the background and experience that matches what they are looking for. Work Experience Briefly give the employer an overview of your work skills that relate to the skills they are looking for in their job positing. Use action words to describe your job duties. Include your work experience in reverse chronological order. You should include the following: • Title of position, • Name of organization- include, the size of

the company, annual revenues, # of employees, products sold, market (domestic, global, etc.) and a link to their website.

• Location of work (town, state) – include whether this was a regional office, corporate headquarters, etc.

• Dates of employment • Describe your work responsibilities with

emphasis on the specific skills and achievements the employer is looking

• for. If you were selling a product or service, who were you selling to, what was your position in the market, who were some of your major accounts and prospects, what was your quota, how large was your sales organization. If it is a

marketing position, who were your targets, what was your objective (generating leads, building brand awareness, etc.) what was your annual budget, how large was the marketing group, did you work with outsourced resources, etc.

• Key Achievements – a summary of key achievements that match those that the potential employer is looking for will go a long way in helping to ensure a potential interview.

Education and Specialized Training If you are a recent graduate without a lot of work experience you may want to consider listing your educational information before your Work Experience. Everyone else should list it after the Work Experience section. List your most recent educational information first and include your degree (A.S., B.S., B.A., etc.), major, institution attended, minor /concentration. Adding your year of graduation will be used by the employer to calculate your age and is not required if you are sensitive to age discrimination. Add your grade point average (GPA) if it is higher than 3.0. Don’t forget to mention any academic honors you may have achieved. Civic or Social Activities Employers want to know what you do in your spare time. It tells them what kind of person you are away from the office and the things you like to do when you are not working. All employers want well-rounded individuals with strong community and civic activities. If you don’t have any, join something today!

© 2006 Cube Management, LLC All Rights Reserved. Visit us at www.cubemanagement.com

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How to Write a Resume that Works A Guide to Resumes that Get Attention and Results Although there are lots of sales and marketing jobs available today, your main goal is to find that one right position that is going to be the perfect match of your talents with your potential employers needs and desires. If you want to get more opportunities to be considered for the top jobs, your resume has to tell a story about your background and experiences not just simply a bunch of facts and dates. Use this guide as a reference and remember that resume writing is easy if you know what that perfect employer is looking for and you have it! Conclusion What is a resume? A resume is your opportunity to construct a key that will unlock the door of interviewing opportunities.

A resume is a living, breathing document that is never finished, never complete. Think of it as your personal life canvas just waiting to be painted for your next potential employer in order to meet his or her needs while accentuating the depths and skills of your experiences. A resume is NOT just a listing of jobs and employers but something that when read says loud and clear “This is exactly the person I have been looking for!” Final Word: Naming Your Resume File. Remember you are sending this file to a potential employer who will be saving it with hundreds of other files. The file name should be in the form <first name last name resume.doc>. I have seen too many Resume.doc and Best Final.doc resumes. Attention to the little details like these makesall the difference.

About the Author Wayne E. Cozad, II, Managing Partner of Cube Management, has been successfully recruiting top talent for over 30 years. He has a track record of success in building high-performance teams, creating cultures that attract and retain top people, and providing consulting services to companies around the globe.

About Cube Management Cube Management helps companies accelerate their sales, by providing the Sales & Marketing talent they need to grow their business. Cube is a leading recruiting and consulting partner to mid-market and emerging growth companies in the technology, manufacturing, healthcare and business service sectors. We work across the spectrum of Sales, Marketing and Business Development, providing holistic solutions that drive revenue and profit success. Cube Management combines Strategy, Process and People, to produce great results.