How to write a Killer Resume that lands an Interview!

Professional resume writing is easier said than done. Many resume preparation services claim that their professional resumes won more interviews. When professional resume writers craft a resume, they know they only have 15 seconds to catch the hiring manager’s attention.

Your resume is like a product brochure of yourself. Selling yourself to your prospect employer is your main goal.

Whether you like it or not, you must accept the fact that you are represented by your resume. No matter how hard you try, no matter how you look or dress, Employers will still be looking at your resume first. Remember, first impressions last. Competition is tight that’s why you have approximately 15 seconds to make your resume noticeable and stand out from the rest. So before you throw out your great speech, build a good resume and make it look good. Here is our 10 basic things you should do in writing your own resume:

Basic rule of writing your resume: Be Brief. The more you write, the longer your professional resume gets, especially if you have running quite long years of career experience. “Brief” can no longer be achieved. To resolve this, start by making a plain long version of your resume. Write everything that you can think of which can help you not forget anything that describes your career. Start by listing categories such as Personal Information down to the Work Experiences, Relevant Skills, Honors and Awards, Trainings and Character References. Don’t worry about formatting your curriculum vitae, we’ll come to that later on. Add another category if you prefer, as long as it adds value to your professional resume. Then fill out every category to complete your list.

The next step in your professional resume writing is to trim down your long listed draft resume. Trimming down your long list is a bit difficult. You want to include everything that you have listed, but that’s impossible! Let go of the irrelevant facts about you. Include only the most important details. Anything that is out-dated should go. Delete those work experiences that has nothing to do with the desired position you’re applying for. So get rid of your five month service on the neighborhood fast food chain if you’re applying for the supervisory position of huge IT Company. After you have trimmed down your resume, you can now format it to make it look good. There’s no standard format for a professional resume for as long as it’s neat, organized and concise.

Be Concise and Neat.

It is easier to read your resume if it is organized. In writing a resume, it is important to be concise with every sentence you have written. HR folks are not fond of spending twenty minutes in reading your professional resume. Your prospect employer has a limited time reading everything you’ve written. Piece of advice, just cut the crap off and get to the point immediately. If you want to include something in your curriculum vitae, write it but make sure that you polish your sentences. It is easier to read a professional resume that is concise and neat.

Customize.

CV writing will not be complete if you don’t cross to the customization of your personal brochure. Most people prefer to apply one template for all the job application they attend to. Do not settle with only one format for your resume. The same template will not work for all companies. Maintain at least two different executive resume formats. Each one will highlight different types of work, skills, and experiences that you have gathered from the past. Customize your resume depending on the needs of the position you’re applying for. Resume development is hard if you have no idea on how to do it, but for starters, you can just copy a specific format from the internet.

·         Avoid the Clichés.

·         Avoid phrases that are heavily used and profanely abused. This will elevate your resume among the others. Avoid the phrases such as:

·         Responsible for

·         Experienced in

·         Excellent written communication skills

·         Team Player

·         Good Leadership Skills

·         Detail-oriented

·         Successful

·         Meticulous to details

Most professional resume writing services uses this approach to satisfy their customer’s needs and it is proven to be more effective. To level yourself higher, at least come up with an interesting and attention-grabbing phrase like what professional resume writers do, something that can position you at the middle of the stage. Employers love applicants that jump out of the box. Be more creative. Instead of saying “Successful” or “Good leadership skills”, why not incorporate the phrase to your previous work such as “Successfully spearheaded a team to transition the production department from regular to contractual employees.”

Specify the value of your accomplishments.

The best way to handle your accomplishments from your current position is to highlight them in your professional resume by specifying the financial impact, whether cost reduction or raising revenue to the company. Resume with quantifiable accomplishment has a higher value than those without. An accomplishment written like “Decreased the annual production cost by 40%” is more appealing than “develop a production cost savings”. Bear in mind that Employers want to know what you can do for them, how you have contributed in your previous position or company and how you are going to be an asset for them. Employers love catching big fishes, that’s the reality.

Keywords, Keywords and More Keywords.

In professional resume writing, instead of using cliché words, we suggest that you use keywords that can grab the attention of the HR folks. Consider highlighting good job related keywords in resume so it’s easy for them when they scan your resume. Don’t just put any keyword, match them to the job requirement to be more attractive. If they’re looking for a candidate that have an extensive experience on a specific computer software and by chance you’re proficient with it, then you have the right to put it in your resume.

The “MMMM DD, YYYY” Format

As much as you want to hide the fact that you’ve been job-hopping from quite some time now, you can’t. They will notice it while looking at your professional resume. Companies hate job-hoppers and they are bad for business. If you’re guilty with this crime, you have to do some significant modifications in your resume. Rather than highlighting the dates, divert their attention by putting the years of your employment terms.

Stick to one.

A professional resume is advisable to keep it very short, brief and straightforward. Many claims that a resume can be as short as a one page resume. But what if you have enough experience and credentials to really showcase your career, knock yourself out and add another page. But if not and you just want to write irrelevant stuffs, believe me, stick to a one-paged resume. Rule of thumb: Restrict it to two pages maximum.

Print out and proofread.

Experts say that it is easier to proofread a document when it is printed. True. Start your proofreading by running a wrong spelling and grammar check. Take your time with it, you don’t have to rush. You have one shot to make a first impression and you don’t want to mess it. When proofreading your resume, mark all your changes before you go back to your computer. Another proofreading technique is to start from the bottom of the page upward. If you’re still in doubt, get someone to review your work. You may get used on reading your resume that’s why you almost memorize every single word written there. Unfortunately, common errors occur when you reach that state.

Sources:http://www.bendaggers.com/how-to-write-a-killer-resume-that-lands-an-interview/