Sell your strengths.
It’s your first impression. Your one shot at impressing the powers-that-be that you’re the right person for the job — it’s your resume. Taking all your strengths and experience then concentrating it down into one all-important page isn’t always an easy task. However there are a few all-important elements your resume should highlight:

• What type of job you are seeking
• What you can do for a company
• Knowledge, skills, talents
• Results, accomplishments
• Positions held, where and when
• Background training and education

It’s important that your resume have a format, content and appearance that accurately reflect you as an individual. If your resume visually stands out, it will likely entice someone to select it out of the stack for consideration. To prepare your resume, start by doing an in-depth inventory of your past accomplishments, current skills and most relevant work experience.

Resume-building Guidelines
Follow these guidelines when creating your resume:

• Accurately and positively present yourself.
• Keep it concise. The top half of your resume is the most critical.
• Begin your resume with an objective if you are primarily interested in one area. However, if your background is varied and you can explore multiple areas, avoid limiting yourself to one area by using a specific objective.
• Include only enough information to encourage an employer to find out more.
• List your most recent position first then work backwards.
• Stress accomplishments. Be sure to include the benefit to the company.
• Include brief description (when appropriate) of the companies where you worked: size, sales, volume, products, etc.
• Avoid limiting your income potential. Do not include salary requirements.
• Don't list references. Print them on a separate page to submit to employers upon request.

Resume Style and Format
Here are some helpful suggestions:

• Use strong action words (i.e. "Designed" rather than "Worked on formulation of...").
• Make the resume attractive to the eye by using capital letters, bullets, appropriate spacing, underlining, etc.
• Use a format designed for the kind of job you are seeking.
• Avoid using pronouns, abbreviations, jargon or buzzwords.
• Have someone proofread and critique your resume.
• Limit the length to one page for every 10 years of experience.
• Use 14-point type for headings, 10- to 12-point type for body text.

Writing a Functional Resume
A functional-style resume is organized by the abilities you bring to the table, rather than by the past positions you’ve held. It’s a good format to use when you’re interested in making a career change into a field you don’t have any experience.

Start by brainstorming a comprehensive list (don’t leave anything out yet) of past job accomplishments that are similar or related to the position or career that you’d like to have. Even though none of these duties happened while holding a position similar to the one you’re applying for, they all indicate to a potential employer that you have the right skills.

Next create bullet points under broad headings of the pertinent experiences you have had. When you’re done, you’ll have a few powerful titles with brief, high-impact statements of your experience and qualifications.

The very last section of your “functional” resume is where you’ll list your former employers and job titles. Keep it to only a list; don’t describe your experiences at each job here, as you’ve already brilliantly highlighted them in a manner that will capture the attention of any HR Manager.

This won’t guarantee that landing your dream job will be easy, but you’ll have a strong self-marketing tool that harnesses your valid strengths and organizes them in a way that effectively communicates what you can do.

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