Master the Art of Writing Resumes

Imagine this scenario, you find the job that seems perfect for you. You apply for this by sending out a resume with a cover letter to the company. Then you cross your fingers and hope that you get shortlisted.

However, many others think the same thing and your resume arrives to the prospective employer along with hundred other resumes and cover letters. In an ideal world, you would think an employer will be very cheerful and enthusiastic about reading comprehensively each of the huge pile of resumes waiting on his desk.

But the real thing is that he will just give a quick glance at each resume and stop only when something interesting or remarkable catches his eyes. If your resume is the creative, remarkable, and interesting type, it will not be thrown back into the pile of boring and dry documents. If your resume is impressively structured, it will be read from the start to finish and may even convince the employer to give you a call and schedule for an interview.

Here are some tips on how to write a topnotch resume that will surely impress a prospective employer:

Tip 1

Be clear with your resume’s objective

Before you can write an impressive resume, the foremost thing you need to be clear about is your goal. The main purpose of a resume is to get you an interview. With this in mind, it would be easier for you to create a resume that will help you achieve this objective.

Remember, a resume is like an advertisement that sells a certain kind of product. You are the product and the employer is the target customer. What does it take to create an effective advertisement? You have to be direct, catchy, interesting, and be able to present yourself in the best light.

Writing a resume with this goal in mind (winning an interview) would yield a more effective resume than if you write one with the purpose of simply informing the employer about your qualifications and credentials.

Make your resume appealing and interesting.

Employers do not really have the time in the world to read thoroughly each and every resume that arrives on their desks. What they do is they simply scan through each one for about 10 to 20 seconds. Yes, that is all the time you have to make a good impression with your resume.

If the employer does not get impressed within the first 10 seconds that he is scanning your resume, chances are he will just toss it away regardless of your skills and qualifications.

This means that you have to strive to be able to dazzle the prospective employer with the top half first page of your resume. The first few lines should be powerful and must have impact. Say something witty or interesting that will make an employer take a double look in your resume. Most importantly, be able to say succinctly why you are the perfect choice for this position.

Tip 3

Focus on how you can help the company and not the other way around.

In your resume, be sure to highlight qualifications and credentials that are helpful in showing the employer that you are the perfect candidate for this job. For example, if you are applying as a graphic designer, be sure to emphasize more on your skills on graphic design related computer software instead of going on and on about your past work as a hotel attendant.

In your career objective, indicate how your skills would be able to help the company you are applying for instead of saying how you want to be successful and earn money by getting this job.

Hire professional resume writers.

If you are not yet confident with your resume writing skills and you want the job so badly, you may consider hiring a resume writing service, which is adept in creating masterpiece resumes that can impress and dazzle your prospective employer.

Tip 5

Think out of the box.

Gone were the days when applicants needed to follow strict formats and rules in writing resumes. Nowadays, if your objective is to spark the interest of a prospective employer, you need to do something creative and imaginative. This is especially true if you are in a field that requires creativity as a prerequisite skill such as media, entertainment, arts, graphic design, writing, and so on.

Write excellent assertions and back them up with evidence.

Assertions are written in the form of qualifications, skills and talents, which are all contributory to an impressive resume. Evidence on the other hand is your work history and educational background, which will serve as a back-up for the assertions that you have made. You cannot claim to be a world-renowned chef if you do not have any culinary school training. You cannot say that you are excellent web programmer if you do not have any certificates on web programming training.

Tip 7

Check quality of your resume.

It is true that nobody is perfect. However, you cannot make the same excuse when you pass a less than perfect resume. Your resume should be flawless, with no grammatical, typographical or spelling errors, whatsoever. Triple check the document and have it read by another person so you can be sure that your resume is error-free.

Be honest and sincere.

Employers now do background checks so you have to think twice before doing some resume falsifications. When we say master the art of writing resumes, we do not mean concocting false work histories or imaginary references, stay true at all times. 

Mastering the art of writing resumes is more than just about getting the job. It is about being able to sell yourself effectively and convincing people that yes, you are the perfect choice for this position.

You may not be aware of it but sometimes people who have excellent resumes get the job over those who have better skills. Make sure that you win over the competition by putting extra effort on your resume.