Update Your Resume month

According to a publicist for career coach and author Ford R. Myers, September is International Update Your Resume Month. In keeping with that, Myers, who wrote "Get The Job You Want, Even When No One's Hiring," shared with me, via e-mail from his publicist, his "Five Tips to Develop Attention-Getting Resumes."

1. BE BRIEF
Myers specifically points out that of the main sections of a resume -- Career Summary, Professional Experience, Education, etc., the Summary section is where brevity counts the most. "The 'Summary' is a brief statement of who you are, where you're 'coming from,' and what skills and expertise you have to contribute to an organization. To grab the reader's attention, you'll need five or six targeted lines oriented toward the benefits and contributions you offer as a professional," states Myers.

2. BE SPECIFIC
Although individuals should be as specific as possible throughout the entire resume, this tip should be exercised most in the "Professional Experience" section. "The 'Professional Experience' section is where your past jobs, roles, responsibilities, and accomplishments are listed. It's also where most employers and recruiters focus 90% of their attention. The information you present here, and how you present it, can decide the fate of your candidacy within about 10 seconds of scanning time. Resumes that get noticed focus on specific results. Whenever possible, quantify your results, including retention rates, sales, profit, performance and effectiveness by using percentages, dollars and hard numbers," explains Myers.

3. BE ACTIVE.
Myers urges resume writers to use strong action words at the beginning of every sentence. "Words such as 'direct,' 'launch,' 'initiate,' 'devise' and 'lead' have a lot more meaning than a vague phrase like was responsible for," states Myers.

4. BE SELECTIVE
Focus on information that is truly relevant to your career goal and edit out the rest. "There is no need to focus on your after-school job or high school accomplishments if they are not relevant to the career you're looking for, or if they're in your distant past," says Myers.

5. BE HONEST
Myers warns job seekers to never lie on a resume. "If you lie you will always lose in the long run," he says. "If you find that your resume isn't getting the results you want, change it! Your resume is a 'living document' that will be edited and updated through the course of your job search and your entire career."

Myers' publicist is sending me his book to read. After I do, I'll do an interview with him to learn more specifics about updating our resumes. Then, I'll share them in a post. Stay tuned. And, don't forget to follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

By

Avis Thomas-Lester

 |  August 30, 2010; 6:09 AM ET Save & Share:                 
Previous: LaTonya Blige's career change 2 | Next: Jobs are stealing families' time

The comments to this entry are closed.