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The Psychology of Achievement |
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One size fits all resumes are a thing of the past. The marketplace requires
new resume techniques and the sooner you recognize this and act on it the
more your resume will help Y-O-U. The best way to build your resume is to
use the bullseye technique. This means your resume will need to target the
specific needs of the employer you are approaching.
Statistics tell us that a resume gets only a few seconds of time during the
review process. With this in mind it is important for the top-half of your
resume to be right on target with regard to the employers requirements.
Think of the top-half of your resume as your billboard or advertising
section. This is the section where you will want to point out your specific
strengths and use bullet statements to highlight results that you have
delivered during your previous employment. This is ‘not' where you put a
boring objective statement of what you want to achieve. That is passé. If
you list an objective you must build it around what you will bring/deliver
to the employer. Always keep in mind that when the employer is reviewing
your resume they will be thinking "what's in it for me" and not how they can
make you a happy camper. So, if your objective focuses on what you want it
will be a turn-off right from the start.
The top-half of your resume should also include your ‘professional
highlights' or ‘key achievements'. Again, when writing these make sure to
highlight how you have done something the employer needs as part of the job
requirement.
Using action words/phrases to begin your sentences is also critical. Just
imagine how many resumes the employer gets – literally hundreds, if not
thousands. How will yours stand out from the pack and keep the ‘reviewer'
from falling asleep? Action words, that's how. Here are a couple of examples
of how to start your sentences with action words that convey energy and
entice the reader to continue:
· Achieved…
· Created…
· Reduced costs by…
· Delivered…
· Generated…
· Spearheaded…
· Improved…
Use this technique throughout your entire resume. Get rid of any wording
that is ‘job responsibility' or ‘job description' sounding. Employers want
to know about your accomplishments – they do not want a copy of your job
description! Make sure to write about your achievements with descriptive
words that help the reader visualize you in the position. And take a look
online for ‘sample' resumes to get a good feel for a fresh new layout. There
are plenty of resume service providers that have samples listed on their
websites.
Stay in sync with the marketplace – a resume should be no more that 2 pages
(unless you have patents or publications to list). Be sure to stick with
communicating key information and use language that makes the reviewer want
to read more about you and most of all – get you in for the interview!
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