Tips for Writing a Resume
that gets the interview
by Barbara Patinkin

General guidance:

• Provided all the necessary/important information is there, most employers and human resource personal prefer a one or two page resume, maximum.

• The purpose of your resume is to generate interest and have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to present a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments to land the job.

10 resume writing tips to get the interview:

1. Start your resume with a clear objective. If you write your resume without this in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused to those who read it.

2. Make sure you convey what makes you unique. Describe the strengths and benefits you bring.

3. Make it easy for someone to scan your resume and still absorb it. Use bullets with short sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented.

4. Information stands out when you use numbers, dollar signs $, and percentage signs % in the body of a resume.

• Managed a department of 10 with a budget of $1,000,000.
• Increased sales by 25% in a 7-state territory.

5. Put your strengths first. Determine which bullets most strongly support your job search objective.

6. Use terms that show your competence in a particular field.

• For marketing people, use "competitive  analysis."
• For accounting types, use "reconciled accounts."

7. Focus on the duties that support your objective. If you have some duties in your current job that don’t support your job search objective, leave them off your resume.

8. If you have reported to a company officer, CEO, CFO or department manager, say so in your resume. 

9. Leave white space. Use a font size no smaller than 12 point. This helps the reader scan your resume efficiently and effectively.

10. Have someone review your resume and encourage them to ask questions. Their questions will help you discover items you left off and items that are confusing to the reader. Revise your resume to include these items. Their questions can also clarify your resume based on this input.

Strategies for submitting your resume to potential employers:

1. Select want ads with positions that interest you. Review your resume to see if the key words listed in your resume. If you have missed any key words, add them to your resume.

2.  You increase your odds of winning with every resume you submit.

1. Apply for many jobs that seem to be at your level. When you get interviews for some of those jobs you can compare how each job stacks up.
2. Apply for some jobs that appear to be beneath you. Perhaps they will turn out to be more than they appeared to be once you interview for them. Or perhaps once you have your foot in the door you can learn of other opportunities.
3. Try for some jobs that seem like a stretch. Don’t rule yourself out.

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Enhance your professional image with personalized stationery.

Here is a website that has links to local networking
and job search support
in your state. 
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The information provided will help keep you focused, offer ideas that you may not have considered and more.

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An encouraging thought 

“It's not how many times you fall that matters;
it's how many times you get up.”  — Anonymous

Good luck and stay in touch!