Resume Writing Tips – Before You Start Your Resumes
Why write your own Resumes?
These are the reasons why you should write your own resumes or try a free resume builder.
- It helps you focus your resumes on what you are good at
- Explore and understand your many skills and competencies
- Will get you a good chance to get invited to a job interview
- It is an opportunity to reflect on your achievements
- It will enhance your self-esteem and self- image
- It qualifies your achievements and their benefits to your potential employer
- It is the best preparation for the interviews that are to come
- Helps you to identify gaps in your career and what you should do about them
- Enables you to see your career in a broader prospective
- Discover aspects about yourself you never realized before
If your current resumes are more than three years old, rewrite them from the start – try our recommended free resume builder
- Chances are your resumes are not employer-centered
- You want your new resumes to tell a story that will grab attention
Have resumes prepared in case any of these scenarios may happen unexpectedly:
- Your position changes
- Your employer asks you to relocate but you don’t want to
- Your spouse wants to move and you agree
- Your employer falls on hard times and you are affected
- You are unhappy with your boss, co-workers, or assignments
- You get laid off or fired
- You learn about an attractive job opportunity
- A friend or recruiter contacts you about an interesting job
By staying on top of this, you will have professional resumes already up to date and ready to e-mail within minutes. Go to Great Resume Templates to see good examples
Update your resumes regularly, even if you are not looking for a job.
- Have your career goals changed?
- And what about new skills you may have acquired during the past year?
- Perhaps update your accomplishments.
How to start writing your own resumes
Go to Great Resume Templates to get an idea of what good resumes look like, and then start collecting information for your resumes
- Identify & research your target jobs
- Think of your target jobs then, include the key words, key nouns and key verbs
- Include all your important key skills words (always be specific)
- Review job descriptions – search O*NET Dictionary of Occupational Titles
- Look for additional sources of key words to include – job description (read job ad carefully) and employer web sites
Consider writing your resumes from the bottom up:
- This strategy focuses on doing the easiest things first, the factual sections:
Education background, professional affiliations, and work history
- Then you can work on the analytical parts: Work experience, qualifications and summary
- Writing resumes from the top down most people will quickly get stuck and frustrated
Many professional resume writers found different parts of the resume come together much better with the bottom up approach
Be cautious of well-meaning resume advice from friends
- They may not focus on your key strengths
- If you need help seek professional resume writing services or try our recommended free resume builder
Write your resume first before considering these alternatives
- curriculum vitae
- portfolios
- websites
- videos
- leadership profiles
- executive branding statements
- proposals
As with any form of marketing document the usual key rules for resumes apply:
Less is more / Look professional /Keep it simple /Customer friendly
Go to Great Resume Templates to see good examples
Before writing each section of your resumes, develop a database on yourself
Generate key information about yourself: Employment History, Military Experience,
Community/ Civic/ Volunteer Experience, Education Data/ and Additional key Information
Set aside enough time to produce first-class resumes
- Allow sufficient time to gather key information on yourself
- Then draft each section of your resume
- If starting from scratch, expect to spend up to 40 hours on your resumes
- Think of your various resumes as being worth $1 million or more, the additional income you will earn over the next 10-20 years. It’s worth the effort
