I hope you were able to join us on my first webinar “How to build a Resume that Gets Noticed”.   It was a huge success with the number of people that attended and the amount of follow up I’ve had.  I’m excited to know that the information I provided you was so relevant and that it has changed your mindset about resumes.  That was my goal for you.  I’ve had numerous requests for help with cover letters so stay tuned for more information on ‘How To Build a Captivating Cover Letter’.

Below is a handy recap of how to build a resume that can capture a reader’s attention in 15-30 seconds.  The focus of the resume is the most important ‘real estate’– the top half of the first page.  That is where you will find:

•  Your Personal Brand
• Profile
• Work Experience

 Your Personal Brand

Branding, by definition, is a marketing tool used to create a memorable or ingrained image of a product in the consumer’s mind.  Personal branding, therefore, is about creating an essential presentation point that, in a nutshell, is YOU.  Your personal brand already exists!  It is how the people in your world perceive you.

You absolutely MUST know what makes you different and special in order to distinguish yourself from anyone else. You need to know this to help an employer realize that you are the perfect match for their needs.

Think of your favourite brand, it has a visual appeal and an emotional appeal.  Ensure you have both.  Your brand will become your personal tag line and will be the first piece of information to stand out.

Your Profile

Objective is passé! It indicates what you want.  Your brand along with your profile describes what you have to offer.  A robust profile will be strong enough to encourage the reader to read the rest of your resume.

Your profile is 3-5 well crafted sentences that identify your strengths and match what technical competencies and behavioural traits employers are looking for and that is authentic to you. It should address the bottom-line results that you can produce for the organization. It must be rich in key words so that a human eye or computer scanner will pick them up.  Your profile should be written in third person in the current tense.

Work Experience

This is a significant section in your resume.  This is where you will include your accomplishments and work history.  Your profile tells the reader what you can do and the body of your resume is the proof.  This section should include work dating back for approximately 15 years.  You will not provide ‘job description’ type information but instead statements that clearly demonstrate what you have achieved for your employers.  Your accomplishment statements must relate to the job you are applying for.  Your results should include a quantifiable outcome – how you generated revenue, decreased costs and/or increased profitability. If you can’t provide a quantitative outcome, ensure you provide a strong qualitative one.  It’s imperative that you give the reader as much “visual” as possible.

Following this format, will entice readers of your resume to know within 15 seconds that you are the answer to their recruitment needs.   Start with a solid resume then customize it for each job you are applying to increase your chances of gaining interviews for the job you are searching for.