Is Your Resume Excellent?

So you have written an excellent resume. A resume lists your abilities and strengths and can distinguish you from the rest of the crowd. It allows a potential company to understand how you can fit in its organization and what can be expected. You should be proud about both your history and your future potential. Now what do you do? How to you create a document that does a good job for you?

To begin, let's look at what role the resume plays. You are the actual product, not a few pieces of paper. Be certain that it remains in it's place. Your resume can not find your job for you. What do I mean by all this? Many job searchers expect that their newly updated resume will do their work for them. Don't be shy about using the Internet and posting on sites that may be effective for your talents and education. However, you must keep going, and don't stop there.

Name what positions you see yourself in with a new company. Know what companies you are going for. Be specific about the companies you would like to work for. Who makes the decisions? How do you plan to get their attention? Don't send an unsolicited resume. If you do, it will probably be ignored. Always do the preliminary legwork first.

Use your resume to start the discussion, not to end it. YOU should be what sells, not the resume. It can be used to finish up an effective discussion, no matter how short the conversation may have been. You resume should be used to give additional detail and to give reminders of key points you have made about your skills. Thus, the approach in which you're told that the employer "might be in touch" is avoided. The method of prescreening applicants with the resume doesn't work for the employer or the candidate. Have a discussion with folks. Study the company and learn about them. Sell your abilities and strengths. Go and achieve your goal!

Susan Reynolds is a senior partner at Newmarket Careers, a Santa Clarita employment search, executive coaching, and resume services firm geared toward managerial, executive, and senior level professional careers. A free professional career assessment is offered to qualified individuals who fill out the short online form.