Craft your Brand in 2015 … Your Resume

Every year we make resolutions .. . and each year we break them. If you want to improve your employment or career status in 2015, reviewing and/or updating your resume is a resolute you need to make and just can’t break. Individuals usually attempt to update or craft a resume during a job announcement. As a result, by word of mouth they seek me out anxious for assistance! Yet, this is not a good practice! If this practice sounds familiar to you, put this practice in the never again trash bin and let Solid Waste bury it.

According to Liz Wolgemuth of U.S News & Report, your resume is an important aspect of your job search. Over the course of my career, I have been reviewed and crafted hundreds of people resume. Your resume is your brand. Your brand is how others perceive you, how they consider your knowledge and skills and the knowledge, skills and abilities that make you unique.

When I review resumes, they are often times outdated, poor formatting, and fail to highlight the skills your brand has to offer. If you want to progress in 2015, resolute to bringing your resume along.

Before you take this trip, do not bring along the “I” in your resume. For example you can include a narrative such as this: “Provide administrative support to over 50 personnel “instead of “I provide administrative support to over 50 personnel.” Therefore, write in third person or first person implied.

HR personnel have tons of resumes to review. Who’s to say he or she is reading your entire resume? So, when you’re crafting yours, you’ll want to include skills to immediately catch the reviewer’s eye. This is where your Summary of Skills come in. Right below your abbreviated objective (see #4). It is intended to give a brief summary of who you are, what your skills are and how they apply to the position. Use active verbs and bullets.

  1. Review your achievements from the previous year. What have you accomplished? No one knows your achievements better than you do.
  2. Your objective should simply include a concise narrative focusing on the position you are applying for.
  3. Be sure to include both soft skills (interpersonal skills) and hard skills (you can draw blood, you are an expert in Microsoft Excel, you can type 60 words per minute, etc.).
  4. Remove your physical address (You most likely won’t be getting a notification through the U.S Postal Service. Make sure you have an email address. According to a study conducted by Schullery, Ickes and Schullery (June, 2009) over 90% of employers prefer to receive resumes electronically.
  5. Want to learn more? Attend a Resume Writing workshop at GCI training.

June Bridges Cox, M.S. Ed. CIT

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