Creating an Effective Resume

Your resume looks good; but is it an effective resume? If you have had few or no interviews, your good looking resume is a failure. Get some advice from resumebros.com. An effective resume gets you interviews! With a little work and research, your good looking resume can be turned into an effective resume that brings calls from employers

So how do you turn your good looking resume into an effective resume? The one-size-fits-all resume is NOT an effective resume. An effective resume is built not just on what you have to offer but on the needs of the companies you seek to work for. An effective resume is tailored to each employer.

An effective resume checklist:

Style: Combination or hybrid resumes that combine the best aspects of chronological and functional resumes have become the resume standard.

Heading or Contact Information: Does yours include your email address? Even if an employer or recruiter does not contact you by email, the lack of an email address says something about your technological skills or perhaps your lack of them.

Objective: Does it tell what position you want and what you can do for the employer? 
The employer does not want to know that you want a challenge, or a new opportunity to use your skills; rather the employer wants to see that you can contribute to the bottom line, solve problems, improve efficiency, or retain customers. If you do not use an Objective, then your Summary, Profile, or Highlights of Qualifications should indicate the type of position that you are seeking.

Summary, Profile, Highlights of Qualifications: Before you wrote this section did you research the company or companies that you are sending your resume to? What are the needs of these companies? What skills and knowledge base are they seeking? This section should emphasize your accomplishments and skills, and match what the employer is seeking?

Education: If you are a new or recent graduate, your education is next. Unless you graduated from a school that is a show-stopper, emphasize your degree rather than the school. For example: Bachelor of Science, Economics, University of Massachusetts, 2008. Honors, GPA in major, and relevant courses are appropriate for the new grad to list in this section. Internships and co ops may be listed here or as part of your experience.

Experience, Professional Experience, Work History, Employment History: Whatever you call this section, it should not be a list of the responsibilities you had in each job. Neither is it an autobiography of your employment history. Your work history or experience should detail what you did on the job AND the results, Under most circumstances, you do not need to go back more than 15 years. The hiring manager wants to know what you can do now. Include specific details, amounts, percentages etc.

o Did you motivate retail staff and increase profits?

o What was the increase in profits?

o Did your work resolve programming problems?

o Did your work save money, streamline a process, or retain valuable customers?

o How much time or money did your streamlined process save?

o How valuable were the customers whose accounts you retained?

There are excellent books and internet resources to assist you. If you decide to hire a professional resume writer be sure to check samples of their work and make certain that you will be able to easily modify your resume to suit the positions that you are applying for.