Resume Writing: You Can Get Started Now!

Creating a good resume means making it a very potent statement about yourself. Make it in a way that your potential is clear to your future employer and that your strong points are standing out. Your resume should jump out from all the rest.
This may seem like a big assignment but in fact the hardest part is starting out. Once you have a beginning on paper you can make changes to it and add to it as you wish. We made a step-by-step guide for you, so you can get a start right now.

Your first job is information gathering: all your personal info that you will need. You can use the PC for this or just a plain piece of paper. Your key info means your work history of course (don’t forget the exact dates), your professional education, your qualifications and experience, some additional skills you have acquired, special achievements you want to highlight. Gather as much info as you can. Later on you’ll have to filter out what you want to include in the resume, but starting out with plenty of information is the way to go.

Next make your mind up  about what format you want to use.  This will depend on where you want to put your focus on. If you have a lot of experience in the job, you’ll want to point the emphasis on that with dates and details. On the other hand if you have little or no experience at all it is best to put the emphasis on your education, skills and abilities. Whatever your format, keep your resume down to one page.

Find out what the qualifications are for the particular job and list the ones you have. Figure out for yourself why you would make an ideal candidate for this job and then concise that in one or two sentences for your employer to see. So they have to come right at the beginning of the resume. Make sure there is a direct connection possible with the job on offer.

List all your qualifications to start with and then filter those unique ones out that not many people would have. To give you an idea it would be best to list at least three but not more than ten exceptional qualifications for the job at hand. These qualifications can belong to the field of experience, or to your specific skills or even belong to the field of your past accomplishments.

List any previous jobs you did with the job title and main skills for each job you had. Start with the most recent job and if you have had a long job history don’t include items from over 10 years ago (these can be dealt with in an interview anyway) these will make your resume too long. Next point is listing your educational  qualifications. Here it is best to include the college’s name, its location, the degree you obtained and the year. High school education need not be included.

Any special technical education or courses that have a bearing on your position can be listed next. As well as special awards or honors you received.
As a general rule of thumb you can add a declaration that says you will provide references on demand.  Don't list them all on your resume as they will take up too much space.

Now all that is left to do is to arrange all these items in a nice and easy to read format. There is resume template software available or you can just use a document of your own. Take care to choose an easy to read font and stick to it throughout the document. Don’t go wild on special effects: just use bold for the main sections and for your personal data at the top of the page. And don’t forgetto add your address, phone numbers and email address either.

Good luck!