Writing Great Resumes

Here is what I have learned about writing resumes:

I bet some of you are wondering " We all know how to make a resume." I don't want to just make a resume, I want to show you how to make a good one.

A resume tells the possible employer about you. It is the best glimpse they see before they make the decision to keep your resume or throw it in the trash with all the inadequate resumes. That means you get one chance to impress them.


Getting Started

There are two different kinds of resumes. There is a chronological resume or a functional resume. A chronological resume is the most common resume. It is directed by time, newest jobs to the oldest jobs. This is a good choice if you have more recent job experience in the position you are seeking. A functional resume has the most relevant projects or education at the top and only lists information that it important to the position. This is a good choice if you don't have much experience, but a larger amount of education. Choose the one that best fits your situation.


Templates

Using a template is a good start, but your resume shouldn't look like a template. A template is a starting tool, but you need to make your resume your own. You can keep some parts that are good, but don't just paste your text into the document. You are different from everyone else in the world, make your resume a representation of you.


Audience

You resume needs to be tailored to your audience. You should be able to see the job description in the resume. One resume cannot be used for 10 different jobs. Each resume should be specific to the job.


Content

Content is king. It does not matter if you have the most stunning looking design for your resume if your content does not tell the employer anything. Don't just tell things you did, but explain why you were important. If you were a waiter at a restaurant, don't just put waited one tables. Explain why you mattered as an employee. An example would be helped over 40 people in 3 hours everyday. This shows why you were more than just a regular employee. Numbers really matter. By putting how many, how much, and how often you are better able to tell the employer what you did.


Little Things

Here are some small details:

• start descriptions with a strong action verb
• alignment is obvious, especially when it is unaligned
• spelling words wrong looks unprofessional

How To Be Different

While it is important to stand out from the rest of the crowd, designs can be taken too far. Resumes should still remain professional.

Here is a website that shows examples of resumes with designs that were taken too far:

http://applicant.com/30-plus-brilliant-and-creative-resumes/

However, here is a website that shows creative resumes that are still professional:

http://jobmob.co.il/blog/beautiful-resume-ideas-that-work/

While I am still learning, these are some helpful suggestions to those who are just getting started.

Using Captivate

I plan to use Captivate to create a more interactive training manual for my work. As of now, the training manual is a bunch of powerpoints. This makes it difficult for people who are not visual learners. Also, reading all of the powerpoints (there are 16) takes a lot of time. I want to shorten this training process and make it easier for everyone watching. I can’t wait to post what I can do to change it.

Tools That Have Helped Me So Far

There are two skills I have learned that are great to have for technical writing. The first is blogging. This last week I really learned the importance number 5 on Tom’s advice for technical writers. I was trying to get an internship. The manager of the company told me that he was impressed with my blog. It was a great feeling knowing that one small thing, like my blog, really set me apart from other candidates. It shows the personality of a writer. It is a great way to get your name out.

The second skill is web design. Computers are now an important part of the business world. The internet is widespread, and anyone who can pay for the domain name and hosting can have a website. The difference in getting a job or not is being able to design the site well. I have been learning how to design a website using Adobe Dreamweaver. While there are other products available, this is the one my class has been working with. It is good to have some knowledge of web design, so when an employer is speaking about web optimization you know what they are talking about.