Overview

Simply stated, a resume is a marketing tool designed for the ultimate purpose of winning an interview. An effective resume is part sales brochure and part list-of-facts. An effective resume should also concisely describe your achievements and be compelling in a way that leads the reader to feel both positive and interested to continue reading.

As a general rule, simple is best. A clean, easy to understand layout will help ensure it gets read fully and not simply scanned and added to the bottom of the pile. With that in mind, fancy designs or fonts, wordy descriptions, or unconventional layouts may not help win an interview. In fact, in some cases being “overly fancy” might even have a negative effect.

Before you actually start the resume writing process, get yourself organized and consider the following:

• Who is your audience and why do they ask for a resume?
• What are you trying to achieve?
• Why are you writing a resume and what will it be used for?
• What do these people really need to know about you?

It is a definitely a good idea to consider your audience. Taking some time to see things from an employer’s perspective will help you decide what best to include in your final draft.

Why do employers ask for a resume?

To decide on which candidates to meet in an efficient manner that saves time.
Companies ask for resumes to facilitate the process of comparing and contrasting various candidates based on experience, skills, and abilities. A hiring manager will likely have dozens of resumes to review and will ultimately decide on which candidates to meet from a process of merely scanning these resumes. A clear, concise resume will assist the hiring manager in this process and, if the job description is a good match for you, give you a much better chance at making a positive impact from the beginning. In short, your resume needs to attract attention and efficiently deliver the relevant information to get you that first interview.

To build a framework for the interview.
Resumes are not just a tool that employers use to decide if they want to meet you but they also accelerate the process of building a framework for the interview. Effective resumes help potential employers get through a lot of the more general questions and focus more on the specifics about you, your skills, and experience relevant to the position. In turn, it will give you more time to demonstrate your skills and achievements, and decide if the company and position are right for you.

To help the employer’s team formulate a collective opinion throughout the hiring process.
The hiring process will likely involve more than one interview and a group of interviewers. In fact, the entire process will likely involve groups of decision makers interviewing in multiple stages. Decision makers will need to be briefed on you before an interview and your resume will be used as the point of reference.  As well, your resume will be used again for review in the final decision making process. So you can see, having a clear and concise resume will assist the employer’s team throughout this process and will definitely work in your favor.

Resume Writing