Customer Reviews

Guide to Building a Great Resume (Five O'Clock Club)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After an unsuccessful 5 month job search, I decided it must be my resume that was keeping me from getting interviews. "Building a great resume" starts with the key fundamentals - how to properly describe your accomplishments. Examples abound! And the before-and-after structure provides an excellent way to truly see how a prospective employer will view your resume. This book also addresses the trends of the 90's and the new millenium -- older employees with multiple jobs.

Nationally-syndicated columnist and career expert Kate Wendleton zeroes in on the most effective approaches to resume writing, beginning with developing a compelling statement of your accomplishments. She explains how to show the results of your work, outline the benefits you bring prospective employers and present your strong points effectively. She includes exercises to guide your deliberative process, plus before-and-after resume samples. These makeovers demonstrate how you can turn a routine resume into an interview-generating powerhouse. Much of the book is taken up with sample resumes, which are helpful models for writing yours though they may be pretty dull to read. In addition, Wendleton also provides specific tips on how to phrase and design your resume. While recommending this manual to job hunters, we from getAbstract have determined that if you read these hints carefully, you can just skim the examples until you find one that meets your needs. Wendleton - and you may well say `thank you' here - both shows and tells.

Building a Great Résumé is one of a series of books on career management published by Five O'Clock Club, a network of career counselors. It supports that organization's method of searching for a job, which includes:

* Self assessment: determining interests, values, and a 40-year vision
* Identifying one or more target careers
* Preparing a campaign for each target career.

The self-assessment includes identifying the seven most satisfying experiences of your life, regardless of when they occurred or whether they were job-related. So the résumé advice is particularly appropriate for candidates who are changing careers or returning to work.

Wendleton identifies three purposes of a résumé:

* Marketing piece - to get the job interview
* Sales tool in candidate's absence, after the interview
* Guide for the interview.

Most people need only one résumé, unless their target careers are completely different. Reverse chronological format is preferred, but individual jobs can be broken down functionally. Résumés should have a summary statement that sets the tone, highlights the theme, and positions the candidate. An objective statement is appropriate if targeting a specific type of position and the candidate doesn't want to be considered for anything else.

The top of the first page is the most important part of the résumé. If experience most relevant to the target job is not the most recent (closest to the top of the resume), the summary should include some information about the earlier jobs so an initial screening won't miss it. If you don't include a summary, you're positioned by the most recent experience.

Use the language of your target market. Job titles should reflect the actual job, not necessarily the exact job title. Within each job, state accomplishments in order of importance to the hiring manager. Include facts that help your case; exclude those that don't. A résumé should be concise; it should be as long as it needs to be, but no longer.

Accomplishment statements must be short, measurable, and results-oriented. Unpaid, temporary, and consulting work counts as much as full-time employment.

Wendleton includes a number of case studies that describe a candidate's situation e.g., too many job, gaps in employment, no work experience) followed by a sample résumé that follows the principles outlined in the book. Some of them include before and after examples.

She provides a brief checklist for determining whether the résumé follows the principles outlined in the book. The book includes specific advice for executives, managers and high-level professionals, lower level professionals, those transitioning from non-profit to for-profit organizations, and new graduates. It does not address cover letters. Inspirational quotations are interspersed throughout the book.