The resume is something that everyone has heard of, but few people actually know what it is supposed to do.
First off, let me say that it is a part of the job-hunting process that is much misunderstood. Many people think that a resume is nothing more than a list of a job-seeker's qualifications and experience. And a full list at that.
Many job-hunters just write down everything and anything they know or have completed a course in, hoping that the employer will find something appealing in the mass of facts presented. This is a common misunderstanding, and nothing could be further from the truth.
The first rule to remember in any communication to do with business, and especially job-hunting, is to be brief. Take it as read that anyone with a job is busy. Very busy. Especially people working in the personnel department. In the bigger companies they often have hundreds of resumes to plough through. And the last thing they want is to come in the office on Monday morning and be faced with a resume that is half way to being a novel.
So to repeat: be brief. Or as brief as possible.
The whole point of the resume is not to get a job, but to get a foot in the door. In other words: to land an interview. Nothing more.
A resume which gives a succinct taste of the candidate's experience and qualifications is much more likely to succeed in landing the all-important interview than is a resume consisting of pages and pages of irrelevant facts.
And this is where a professional resume writer really comes into his or her own. A professionally written resume will stand a candidate in much better stead than one hastily written by the candidate himself.
A professionally-written resume will take the candidate's experience and put it in the best light for the type of job being applied for. This makes the employer's job much easier, and gives the candidate a sense of focus.
A good resume gives a definite advantage in the ever-competitive job market.
Once the resume is written, of course, there's the interview to cope with. But with a great resume in front of them, that part of the candidate selection process becomes all that much easier, for prospective employer and prospective job candidate alike. |
