How Lengthy Should a Resume Be?

With the competition on the job market getting increasingly competitive, an applicant must not compromise the presentation of his abilities just to save space. After all a résumé sells you as the product, so it must catch the attention and interest of the buyer. Most of the time, only applicants with very impressive résumés only get to the interview, so résumé length must not get in the way of landing the job you want.
Gone are the days when one-page résumé is a must. According to Grant Cooper, president of Strategic Resumes, “Brief resumes are simply no longer effective in today’s increasingly competitive job market. . . The advice that ‘They only want to see one-page resumes,’ is perhaps the single most outdated and incorrect statement job-seekers hear today.” Résumé length truly depends on the applicant’s experience and position he is applying for. Usually, though not always, new graduates and entry-level job-seekers often write one-page résumé while most executives at the highest levels need résumé that exceeds two pages. The thing is, if an applicant does not have enough experience to include onto a second page, one page is enough. If a single page is not enough, however, to sufficiently communicate the depth of their experience and skills, it is safe to go for two pages.
Remember to put only the most vital and helpful information about yourself in your résumé. Never submit a document that looks more like an autobiography than a résumé. Stick to objectives, relevant job experiences, years of experience, industry, title/position, educational and special trainings and accomplishments.
Needless of length, an applicant must remember only to include relevant information for the position one is applying for. Word conservation must be practiced and the formatting must be crisp and clean. One must not cram all the information to follow the one-page résumé rule. Some even resort to using 8- or 9-point type to “cram” everything in a page. Experts say that many companies are perfectly fine with well-written, concise and well-formatted two-page résumé that is easy to read and includes all the information they need. Also, it is very important to remember that a resume must capture attention on the first page. The use of powerful objective (headline) and strong summary of qualifications (executive summary) will make your résumé impressive at first glance whatever the length is.

Resume Writing Styles: Old Practices That Need to Be Left Behind

How have job search strategies evolved from traditional to contemporary resumes?

 

The term “old school” is often viewed in high regard—whether in sports, music or fashion. It mostly allows the older generation to reminisce in fond admiration of the old days, and the younger ones to marvel at the past. This, however, does not work too well in resume writing.

For one, old school resume writing involves buying the best quality paper you can find, and using your Smith Corona typewriter—okay, electronic typewriter—to create your resume. Good luck finding one nowadays. Still, letters typed over whiteout is not the only way your resume would look outdated.

1. Resume writing tips from the 90s allow for the word “Resume” in the beginning, and “References Available Upon Request” in the end. It cannot be stressed enough that people should NOT do that anymore. Everyone knows it’s a resume. Everyone knows your references are available upon request.

2. As late as 2004, some professional resume writers advised job hunters to include street address and fax number as essential to resumes. This is no longer the case. With the current emphasis on privacy, your city and state would suffice. On the other hand, fax machines are so outdated that you might as well just send your resume via pigeons.

3. Further, unless you want hiring managers to envision you as wearing a suit of armor, make sure you include your email address. These days, it’s almost as essential as your name.

4. Contrary to traditional resume rules, abbreviations are okay. Just make sure your audience knows what you’re talking about. To be sure, spell it out the first time you introduce it, then, use abbreviations thereafter. If, for example, you keep on writing “Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer,” it not only wastes space, you would also sound like a toddler who just learned a new word.
There’s nothing wrong with being traditional, but you’d want to stand out from the rest of the applicants in a more flattering manner than to appear like you’re from ancient history.

Writing a Résumé for Jobs in the Healthcare Industry

Reliable job-watch and career websites seem to agree that the Healthcare Industry will prove to be an industry of most number of and best employment opportunities in the year 2011. According to AOL Jobs, the top 10 most secure jobs in 2011 are:

(1) nurse
(2) physical therapist
(3) pharmacist
(4) physician and surgeon
(5) computer systems analyst and administrator
(6) computer software engineer
(7) biomedical and environmental engineer
(8) accountant, auditor and financial advisor
(9) veterinarian, and ...
(10) lawyer, paralegal and legal assistant.

Ranked top are healthcare related jobs. The U.S. News Money Career says that “Healthcare continues to offer excellent opportunities for job seekers, and not only positions that require a medical degree. Occupations that call for fewer years of study and offer more moderate salaries are also in demand”— what could these news mean? Healthcare jobs are in demand this year.

To land a healthcare job requires a résumé that is formatted towards the healthcare industry. Generic résumés will NOT be of much help. It is highly important for an applicant to identify which healthcare job he or she is applying for. Knowing the specific position to apply for is like the guiding line on how to construct the résumé. A doctor’s résumé should not sound like a résumé of a nurse.

Make sure to highlight pertinent professional skills that are required in the healthcare professional. These professional skills and strengths should also be termed in the jargon highly accepted and used within the healthcare industry. Examples of strengths that must be highlighted are: Knowledge of medical terminologies; Nursing Aptitude— Neonatal, Medical Surgical, OR and ER. Use jargons according to relevance. Present background and work experiences that are relevant to positioned being applied for.

For those who are applying for entry-level positions, they should supply educational information first, especially if there are healthcare related, before presenting non-industry related work experience. Entry-level applicants and career changers/shifters may find it very challenging to identify their strengths and experiences that would allow good transition towards the healthcare industry. Professional help is always a good option.

Choosing the Right Paper and the Proper Font in Resume Writing

However, have you thought about what font to use, what not to use and what paper to print on?

You have already identified what position you want to apply for. You’ve discovered that resumes written using non-industry specific templates will guarantee your resume will be shredded in pieces. The job posting you’ve seen suits your qualifications and professional skills perfectly. You’ve managed to compose strong words on your resume which you feel will market and sell your professional self effectively. Your resume now is more dynamic and professional content wise. The resume you imagined in your brain looks perfect and you think you’ve figured out everything that would set your resume above from all other resumes. So which one is the right print-size? What kind of paper is most appropriate to use?


In editing and doing the layout of your resume, always set your goals on making your resume look ‘professional.’ What does this mean? Begin with choosing the appropriate fonts. Although some serif fonts, which are fonts with edges, are used for professional purposes, serif fonts are less readable. San serif fonts are cleaner and more reader-friendly. Avoid using Times New Roman because that is the font used by most MS Word users. You need to use a font that presents your resume as something fresh. However, this doesn’t mean using the highly artistic fonts. Again, think professional looking’ resume. Arial and Arial Narrow are good fonts. Professional resume writers prefer font size around 10.5 to 12. Do not use more than two font styles in a resume.
It is a major ‘no-no’ to use colored, scented papers. Resumes are not invitation letters to your wedding or your child’s birthday party. As a matter of fact, choose a plain white paper with the correct thickness— not too thin (those that show ink print on the back) and not too thick (those papers that are hard to fold). It is advisable to use plain white paper that is 20-pound weight. The paper should not be extremely smooth to avoid ink smudging. Also, the standard size of the paper is 8.5” x 11”.
Always aspire to give your resume a ‘professional look’— that’s the only way to do it.

Formulating a Competitive Value Proposition

Even marketing professionals fail in drafting an effective resume. “Its all about selling and marketing yourself,” says a professional resumé writer from a leading online résumé service provider. “It is all about creating an effective, competitive value proposition,” he added. So, in marketing oneself, one has to think about a good value proposition for them. In business organizations, including online businesses, effective competitive value proposition is a must. What value proposition exactly?
In a business or marketing setting, value proposition answers or summarizes why a consumer should choose to buy a product or avail of a service. In other words, value proposition is a statement that aims to convince potential customer that one particular product or service will add more value or will provide better solution to a problem than other similar offerings. Companies use value proposition to target customers who will benefit most from using their products. There are many considerations that must be thought of when creating or formulating value proposition. Below are some tips in formulating a competitive value proposition.

1. Know your company’s or business’ strengths. Get everyone involved in the company and do brainstorming. Ask everyone from customer service to top management and all departments ‘what the company or business does best?’ Identifying strengths is the first key in knowing what to offer.
2. Identify the market. Just as there was brainstorming with ‘what the company or business does best?’ there should also be brainstorming in identifying the market and segment it targets. ‘What is the target market?” Example, which particular segment of online users is the target for the product or service?
3. Learn from the customers. Ask the customers through surveys. Learn what the customers want through other forms of research.
4. Know the competition. Learning the competition’s value proposition can help you improve your value proposition. How to do this? Well, buy from the competitor and subscribe to their newsletters. This will be very beneficial to your company.
5. Value proposition can make or break a company. It is a must for any businesses to draft a highly effective and competitive value proposition in order for customers to patronize the company’s products and/or services.

Resume Writing: Targeted vs. General Resumes

ob applications can be likened to marketing. As an applicant, you try to sell your skills to potential customers – the employers. But, before you get the chance to “sales talk” with these customers, you first need to present a product catalogue – your resume. Resume writing has evolved dramatically over the years. Gone are the days when applicants tend to have those same generic-looking resume that overly state their past experiences. Employers now prefer simpler resumes that speak about the specific qualities and competencies of applicants. These resumes are regarded as “targeted”.
A targeted resume has numerous advantages as compared to generic ones. First, it highlights those competencies that are highly relevant to the job specification. In this time of specialized job responsibilities, highlighting these competencies increase an applicant’s chance of getting a feedback from an employer for the reason that they help hiring managers to easily sort out qualified candidates from those who are not. On the other hand, a general resume can be cluttered with too much and at times irrelevant information, there is a tendency for hiring managers to miss out the information they need. Moreover, a targeted resume can speak about an applicant’s seriousness towards the job he or she is applying for since it shows the effort of tailor fitting the resume just for that specific position. A generic resume, on the other hand, might give an impression that the applicant might just be trying out his or her luck about that certain job opening.
Just like in marketing in which a product needs to be in focus, a targeted resume helps an applicant to position himself for the job and showcases his unique selling points to prospective employers.

When to Hire a Professional Resume Writer

In a vast online world where do-it-yourself instructions and how-to information abound, one would easily be able to look for step-by-step explanations on how to do certain things—perhaps, even everything—from playing the acoustic guitar to using a Microsoft Zune portable media player.  You need to change the batteries on your iPhone?  A quick Google search will yield numerous video demonstrations.  Your pecan pie not coming out the way you want it to?  Yahoo! Answers will have a host of suggestions for you.
It is therefore not surprising that people often decide to write something as simple as a resume without asking for help from professionals.  Besides, you might not even think you need help in writing a resume, and should you require any assistance, there is always the internet.
However, what people fail to realize is the value of professional assistance.  You could study all the steps about rewiring the lights in your home—and you could even end up doing a good enough job—but will you take the chance?  If you have any doubt in your skill in electrical installation, the best thing to do is to ask for help from a professional.  An electrician rewires homes for a living.  It is what he does.  You can trust him with your lights.
It is the same for resumes.  A professional resume writer creates resumes for a living.  If your current resume is not getting you the interviews you think you deserve, then it is time to seek professional advice.  A professional resume writer can make your resume play to your strengths.  He knows what employers want and will get you that interview.
In the end, you can go ahead and incorporate the advice that you got from the web and create your own resume.  You could even end up creating a good enough resume, and you might get a call from your potential employer.  But will you take the chance?  If you have any doubt in your skill in resume writing, the best thing to do is to ask for help from a professional resume writer.  After all, it is what he does.  You can trust him with your resume.