Resume & Career Resources

Many a times candidates spoil the chances of getting qualified in the interviews, by themselves, even if they have a fabulous work experience, impressive credentials and an amazing background. What the resume builder mean to say here is that they skip on the basics of writing a resume without concentrating on simple things like correct words formation, correct tense, easy to read statements. And this might upset the personnel managers.

The resume builder has the following simple tips:

Tip 1: Do not concentrate only on duties and tasks performed at your previous jobs. Display some achievements too and give yourself credit for that. Include things like:

. Highlight your promotions, awards or special recognition you had
. Problems and challenges you faced and how you overcame them
. How your performance played a crucial role in the organizational development
. Results, results and exclusively results

Tip 2: Avoid objective statement that is too non-specific or too elaborative. The resume builder points out this, that many readers lose interest at the first place with the same boring often-repeated objective statements defined by the candidates. For instance, statements like “Looking for a challenging position that enables me to contribute to organizational goals while assisting me in my overall growth and personality development” are a passe, and very generic ones. Replace the objective statements with what you do or something of your expertise.

Tip 3: Make your resumes concise, in a telegraphic style by avoiding “I” or “me”. Example: “Developed new products that incremented company’s gross margin by 20% and added $6 million in sales.” So brevity is appreciated with clarity as claimed by the resume builder.

Tip 4: Use the word “percent” or “%” with numbers, and use the “percentage” word without using a number. Examples: “Over 25 percent of our net profit came from previous sales.” “A large percentage of Indian Americans live in Chicago.”

Tip 5: Be careful while choosing the right word. Example: Some people use the word “balance” if they mean “remainder.” But if you notice, “balance” means “a degree of equality,” e.g., “balancing the accounts”, where as “remainder” means “what is leftover” and is used in all situations, e.g., “keep the remainder of the sweet in the refrigerator.”

Tip 6: A simple phrase “a couple of” is usually used to mean plural. Example: “A couple of clients have reported discrepancies in the assignments.” However, the phrases “a couple of days” and “a couple of dollars” mean to convey singular number, because as how resume builder expresses that when the phrase “a couple of” is used in accordance with time period, amount of money or representing the total amount of quantity, the expression is treated as singular. Example: “It requires only a couple of months to complete this assignment.”

So let not such simple rectifiable items come in between you and your next job. If you face problem with the grammar, tense forms, or phrasing, you can always hire a professional resume writer like resume builder. They just guarantee good work and it is worth a move for landing a job.

What Managers really look for while hiring candidates is the candidate’s capability to deliver best and not his statistical figures on resume. They might not necessarily choose the one with the best figures in his resume. One should realize that odds of getting a job offer are directly proportionate to how well he interviews at the table as told by the Resume Builder.

Your achievements at academic levels are assets for you but the hiring decision depends on the interview process and the personal impression you leave on the interviewers. You can still get a good job with an impressive interview even if you don’t hold impressive academic figures. So how do you face it while seeking a job even if you don’t have good credentials at your hand? The Resume Builder prescribes the important tips for that:

1. Use industrial terminologies in your resume relevant to your application. Sometimes the hiring personnel are told to check for the certain skills in the candidate, then sort and filter. These professionals might or might not have knowledge about the kind of job you are looking for, and if they don’t find those specific terms on your resume, they might reject you.

2. Include all your experiences of your professional career. Lay down the unique skills you possess. You might not know about the intricacies of a particular job until the interview process, but by including all your unique skills and experience, you could be especially skilled for the job you are applying. For instance, you might have worked with certain old technologies not in use, at your previous job, and the company you are applying also has some of those techniques which might be unknown to the rest.

3. Company’s benefits should be your priority. As the Resume Builder says that the hiring managers look for the content that benefits the company and select candidates. It is not about how well-qualified you are, it is more about how efficiently you work to help in getting revenues to the company. In a simpler way, it means how much beneficial you are to the company. Your resume should focus on the organization and your beneficial contribution to it, so that you gain more points over a more qualified candidate.

4. Invest your time in formatting a resume, as a good formatted resume makes a huge difference. The Resume Builder suggests you to remember this point that first impressions can really be the lasting impressions and the first impression here is not your actual presence but your resume. It should reflect your good presentation, your writing skills and how well you prepare official documents.

So what all is required is a smart work in writing your resume even if you are not that qualified or most experienced. Its the initial step based on your credentials and land you for an interview which is more important than getting a job as said by the Resume Builder.

Be it any profession- teaching, accounting, medical, engineering, sports, modeling or politics. All require effective resumes, which land you a job. But as how the resume builder says that you need to carefully examine your resume before sending it out to avoid the chances of getting disqualified in the first instance.

The resume builder charts down some thought-provoking points which are the absolute “don’ts” before you forward your resume to the companies:

1. The Appearance of Resume– Don’t use cheap quality paper. Use a very good high quality paper for the print. Check all the grammatical and typographical errors, coffee stains, or mis-alignment, etc. Use spell-check feature for checking spelling mistakes. Make somebody else review your whole resume once, for proof-reading.

2. The Document Size– Don’t overdo by using unnecessarily extra pages. If your career graph demands the 2-3 pages description about your job experiences and accomplishments, then go ahead with that to avoid congested look on a single page.

3. Your Overall Career Experience– Don’t list every single job you had held in your whole career, even if it is acceptable to have a 2-3 pages resume. The personnel managers are more focused on last 10 years experience you had, so focus on most recent and relevant career experience.

4. Display Facts– Don’t mess up your resume by hiding facts over dates or titles that you have been unemployed or your switching of jobs frequently or your holding of low-key positions in the past. The resume builder acknowledges the same because if the hiring employer does your background check and finds out that you lied, then it would simply ruin your chances of getting selected.

5. Present Yourself in the Best Way– Don’t copy the required jargons simply from your company’s HR manuals. Make extra efforts in displaying your capabilities that make you worth the job responsibilities. Be specific in presenting your achievements and endeavors, for example: accounts expanded, sales increased, awards won, percentages increased, etc.

6. Be Relevant– Don’t use the chronological format for your resume, if you are seeking a job in a field where you have no prior experience. Exhibit your relevant experience and skills by using a functional or skills-oriented approach as recommended by the resume builder.

7. Avoid Excuses– Don’t include the reasons that made you leave your earlier jobs. Phrases like “company sold”, “bosses left”, “left for better prospects”, etc do not work as told by resume builder.

8. Apply to the Potential Employers only– Don’t send your resume to every classified you come across in the newspaper. Read the ads, examine your credentials accordingly and then apply or else no if you don’t befit the position.

9. No Extra Documents– Don’t attach the copies of transcripts, letters of recommendation or awards, unless you are asked to. But as resume builder suggested, you can keep these as extras in your files while appearing for the interview.

10. No Display of Personal Information– Don’t include information on your age, race, family, hobbies, marital status, etc.

The resume builder can very effectively help one in creating professional impressive resumes and they really show you how to make resume that surely lands you a placement. Sometimes we don’t comprehend how creativity helps in doing up your resume without overdoing it. What all you need here is a very high quality paper (with watermark, it is best), an envelope that have your crest of possibly your initials and avoid overdoing it, simply keep it neat giving that professional look. Also remember that follow-up letters should follow the same material you used earlier. See how resume builder has come up with simple little creative tips.

Tip 1

Use both mediums of sending your application- e-mail and snail mail. But the snail mail adds to more benefits if that is more befitting.
The concept of e-mail is very common in this era and everyone is using it but if you send a hard copy to the hiring managers, it does imply that you are actually taking extra efforts for your job to get done as how resume builder stresses. And this will make your application stand out from the rest. You should also need to think what makes your application stand out uniquely from the rest, so do what others aren’t doing. Make your resume special and this simple logic can make wonders for sure.

Tip 2

Present your application very neatly and professionally by matching your paper and envelope. Make your resume look very professional and classic by using good quality white papers and by avoiding colors on your resume or on envelope. Colors annoy the hiring managers. Keep the fonts clear, crispy and standard and avoid fancy fonts, could use ‘Courier’ but ‘Times New Roman’ would overdo. Use laser printer and keep the contents of your resume or envelope easy-to-read. Always come with innovative ideas to make your resume stand out, as how resume builder suggests that your text should be elaborated to look clear and easy to cursorily go through by the hiring managers as they hardly spend 20-30 seconds on your resume. They don’t have much time to go in details, and skim for grammatical errors, format, keywords, typographical errors, etc in a glimpse.

Tip 3

Position your watermark to avoid any damage to the contents. The watermark should be pleasant, distant, light and definitely in the right position as said by the resume builder. It should in no way mix with your precious content. The light grey shade can be the perfect shade for your watermark. You can simply use the crest alone if this is not working for you and your resume hard copy would still look fabulous and awesome.

By effectively concentrating on the above mentioned simple creative points, you can still make your resume go a long way by ingeniously coming up with more innovative ideas yourself, to enhance your resume more, that lands you a job. You can also check for more effective ways of writing a resume at the http://www.theresumebuilder.com/

Why does one need a good resume? This question pricks a lot on the minds of the job seekers. It is basically to market yourself to the potential buyers (employers) in a written format about your skills and achievements to compel them to hire you. In simple terms, if you want a rewarding career then you need to send out remarkably good resumes. This evolves from your credentials and not from your writing skills, as highlighted by resume builder.

Good writing skills do increase your chances of selection but the fact remains that it is more of marketing your skills and credentials in a tactful way that makes you stand out from the rest of the aspiring candidates.

The resume builder lays down three basic principles, for writing a good resume which holds true for any candidate, which are hardly followed but in fact need to be followed. There are simple steps with essential techniques.

Step #1: A Single Resume is not sufficient for Multiple Job Targets

Sometimes there are multiple skills required to be mentioned in a single field even if the employer’s needs remain the same. Suppose the manager’s job description remains same across industry segments at the core, there are still varying levels of ‘desirable/preferable’ qualifications across different sectors. And this point can play a major role while selecting a candidate.
So the resume builder suggests you to keep the standard resume same but leave place for accommodating other requirements too, making it flexible enough to allow minor changes, when necessary.

Step #2: Your Resume should Make Sense to the Reader

This is mostly neglected. In fact, the awkward resumes or the resumes which appear awkward to your hiring employers can be detrimental to your job search. Neatness do play a major role in presentation, but common mistakes like writing personal goals in “objectives” area and over displaying your qualifications(if not required for middle positions) can leave a bad impression on the reader’s mind. Your resume should make sense, as how the resume builder highlights certain parameters that make a logical layout of your resume:
- Educational qualifications
- One core achievement that stands out and why
- Core competencies
- Work experience in reverse chronological order

In addition, proofread your resume and make someone else also to do for you. Just avoid spelling mistakes and typos.

Step #3: Be Clear about Your Worth to an Organization

When writing your resume, always remember that you are marketing and selling yourself as a product which needs to impress the potential buyers (employers that hire you) with the product’s value (your value). Don’t go with too many resumes. Write a general description of your duties and job titles. Make clear of your worth to the organization for hiring you. Suppose, if the designation is of a finance manager, highlight your financial abilities- include relevant and specific facts (in numbers, percentages, revenue targets).

Hence the 3 steps above, determined by resume builder can play an important role when writing a resume. Aim to achieve what you want in your job and target it the right way.

The numbers can play a very significant role in enhancing your resume. They can assist you in making a quality resume. As how the Resume Builder points out that more numbers added to your resume make it more worth reading and increase your chances of getting interview calls. Adding numbers do not mean jotting down “1, 2, 3,” randomly in your resume but it means the strategic use of these numbers by an individual to make it more enhanced.

The Resume Builder strategically lays down certain areas where you can utilize the scope of using numbers.

Begin with Amounts

You can list out the amounts in your resume that are related to your accomplishments or your responsibilities in your previous job experiences. For example, if you were a marketing executive at your previous company, you can mention not only that you marketed the product lines, but also that you sold X amount of products for the company.

The Resume Builder suggests you to mention about the number of clients/customers you did marketing to. The more in-depth information you provide regarding your tasks’ accomplishments, the more impressively they see you as an asset for their company.

Money matters

What is required is a comprehensive writing of not only how successfully you were able to market the products of the previous company and got the clients too, but how you got the monetary profits too, to the company. So the ultimate job responsibility as a marketing executive was to market the company’s product lines or services to as many clients and customers so that the company makes money. So the question is, how much revenues you got for your previous company?

So this aspect can be very well discussed in points by numbering them, because the more money you made at your job, the more successful you were perhaps. Do not total out all the achievements you made in your career, but in fact, you can sum up the total amounts for those products or services for which you made maximum marketing and selling. The Resume Builder says that these dollar amounts add sheen to your resume making it more vivid.

Mention Time factor too

Mentioning accomplishments without mentioning time makes your resume look incomplete. It makes you think, for example, for how many years were you able to market the products/services? It should be actually, how fast a timeframe were you able to market X amount of product lines/services to Y amount of clients/customers that made Z amount of money? Or how many times a year were you asked to chart down more important marketing strategies? Timeframe is really important as how the Resume Builder acknowledges the same by enlightening the candidate about not leaving any important details behind.

So its always recommended that you also take time to realize how numbers play a major role in highlighting your previous accomplishments, to make you stand out as the most prospective candidate for your selectors.

The Resume objectives are a passé. The Resume Builder provides a concrete way of attracting the hiring manager’s attention which is done by effectively outlining the overall experiences instead of the weak statements focusing on one’s needs. For instance, “Looking for a job that enhances my skills”. Statements like this simply ruin one’s chances of selection. The majority of the resume objectives do not work because:

a. Many resume objectives resemble each other making it hard for the selectors to differentiate between applicants. They lack uniqueness.
b. The objectives are mostly not clear and do not provide the selector with the sufficient information doubting the candidate’s credibility.
c. They mostly stress on “me” aspect to show what the candidate is looking for himself, rather than what he has to offer.
d. With preset objectives, the resume lacks a flexibility option that highlights one’s selling features.
e. Most of the objectives are often-repeated statements without novelty.

In contrast, the Resume Builder has defined a profile statement because:

a. It is an informative paragraph that provides a quick review to the employer of the candidate’s prior job experiences and skills set.
b. It highlights what the candidate has to offer to the employer. So it focuses on his attributes and specific job-related skills.
c. It showcases one’s achievements uniquely rather than generic ones which are applied to any candidate.

The Resume Builder has given following illustrations of the dull resume objectives, followed by the strong profile statements one can use.

Dull Resume Objective #1: “To obtain a job that utilizes my skills set and past job experience.” Objective here is too vague and do not underline the required skills set that the selector is looking for.

Revision #1: “Comprehensive experience in Human Resource management and client development combined with exceptionally good interpersonal skills. Provide an inside support to the HR executives to realize the required results. Convey a soft but professional approach when managing the client concerns.”

Dull Resume Objective #2: “A position that challenges and enhances my recruiting skills, and provides me with an opportunity to contribute to a good organization that helps me in my overall personality development.” A slight better approach than the #1, but still miss marks as it relies on “me” aspect.

Revision #2: “Recruitments strategist with a verifiable record in enhancing and developing the business opportunities. Acquire the clients’ interest for outsourced projects through progressive recruiting techniques. Assist in the Training of the recruited members, and in planning out the Assessment needs for the Performance appraisals periodically done for the organizational members.”

Dull Resume Objective #3: “To be a nurse practitioner in a hospital.” The Resume Builder points out no scope for evaluation for this kind of introductory sentence.

Revision #3: “Well-acquainted with patient education to serve the patient’s medical needs efficiently. Possess a balanced combination of compassion and commitment to deliver quality patient care. Well-equipped with new concepts and their practical usage.”

Therefore, the Resume Builder highlights how the resume objectives were dull and lacked innovation, where as the profile statements impressively summarized the major required contents, for the readers.

An appealing resume is very important to market yourself effectively in the job market. Many fresher job hunters are puzzled as to why so much emphasis is given to resume. They often crib that although I have particular skills and am fit for job, I was not even called for an interview. They just looked at my resume and rejected me.

This essentially is because you did not portray yourself properly in your resume. How will a person know about you without having to learn about you? The first time employer comes to know about you is through your resume. So unless you properly communicate yourself through the resume, do not expect much from them.

Many job hunters have a misconception that if they have enough credentials on resume, it will easily fetch them job. This is totally wrong understanding of the entire process. The fact is that unless you write your credentials properly on the resume, no one will value it. There are many individuals who may not have enough credentials, but the way they present themselves on resume gets them job immediately. Resume builder has pre-defined formats that can be customized easily.

To come up with an effective resume, there are three basic steps which holds good for every job seeker and which can make him get a proper job.

Firstly, you should target only one kind of job per resume. Do not stuff your resume with every detail of irrelevant job experience. If you are applying for a Computer related job, do not write about construction and real estate experience. Employers generally get annoyed with such resumes that do not hold relevant experience as per the job requirement. So what do you do in case you get two job opportunities and both are from different fields? Well the best way is that you submit two different resumes written separately for each job requirement.

Secondly, don’t write endless stories in your resume nor write words that are only understood by you and no one else. Your resume is a gateway towards your job. The language should be very simple and to the point. Don’t repeat same information again and again to make your resume look big. Running around the bush will not lead you to any fruitful result. Ensure information in this resume is to the point only. Resume Builder gives you well built sentences which can be used in your resume.

Thirdly, give your resume a neat outlook. Shabbily formatted resumes directly go into dustbins. Resume builder provides you facility to format the sentences by properly aligning them. The information should be properly placed in the form of bullet points wherever required. Use good font and proper spacing between

Although resume builder works on these three principles, there are many more options in it. These are some of the steps that play major role in building up an impression on the employer. Although there might be many more ways in which you can prepare your resume, these three steps remain time tested.