Criteria for Effective Resume

Resume writing is an art in itself. If you want to stand in the crowd with your shoulder and head high, you should first understand what it takes to create an effective resume.

Criteria for Effective Resume

The job search is usually an interaction between two people—the applicant and the hiring person responsible for the selection. The mode they communicate with each other is the resume. It is the key that has the potential of opening the doors of employment. Treat it as an opportunity to promote your skills for the applied position. If the resume is effective, you would surely grab an interview.

But to reach the stage of the interview, your resume must foster a feeling in the reader’s mind as if a biography is being read. This doesn’t mean you should write history of your life. The main aim of your resume is to communicate your skills, educations and achievements pertaining with the applied job, and finally secure a place in the list of interview probable.

With that aim in your mind, you should write your resume in either of the two resume formats that are widely used in the job industry. The choice will again depend on your professional background, and whether you are following the same path you have been trained or achieved work experience.

Let’s find out the two resume formats, and when you should consider either of it.

Reverse Chronological Resume

You should write your resume in the chronological format when you

•   Are a recently completed your high school o college studies and in the age group of 18 to 26.

•   Wish to make your future in the same field you have earned a certification or training in

•  Have been in one profession for a few years and make significant improvements by receiving promotions and salary increments

•   Would like to retire in your current profession

Functional Resume

This style will suit if you

•  Are not a traditional job applicant. This means you are not as young as a graduate, or you have taken    few years of gap from work and would like to go for any profession that could take care of your   necessity.

•   Are seeking a profession in which have no formal training or qualification

•   Have never remained in any single profession continuously

•   Are trying to make your living in an entirely new profession

Now, that you are cleared about the difference in these two widely accepted resume formats, it will be easy for you to decide which to choose from.  The purpose of either of the format will remain the same, to appeal the hiring professionals.

In my next posting, I will provide you an example of each resume style.

Importance of a Resume in the Job Market

A job search is demanding. You have to maintain your cool and positive attitude to inherit all the qualities of professionalism. Only then you would be able to face the heat of the hiring business. Just consider what makes you to buy a product or service? The possibility is either you have seen the advertisement that has appealed to your senses and needs, or heard from your acquaintance. Likewise, the employers too need some appealing features in your resume to enable them in offering you a job. And what else could inspire or appeal them about your suitability other than a well-planned and formatted resume.

Resume gives you an opportunity to promote your skills and abilities in front of the potential employers. It works like a bridge on which you will be driving your career vehicle for a long run. It should whet employers’ appetite to meet you personally. However, it is possible only when the foundation of the bridge is strong enough to support the weight the company would be bearing by offering you an employment. Therefore, each word in your resume should be cemented with keywords and phrases that are synonym in your profession.

Words are valuable. At the same time it is difficult and hard to come. It could communicate a lot if used in the right sense, and would mean a world. It has the potential to instigate and douse a war. And when you are communicating for an official purpose, you need to understand how to convey your message like a guided missile to hit the target. The resume should work exactly like the guided missile targeting the job. In the war, lots of missiles are thrown in the battlefield. But every few hit the right target. Similarly, in the job industry, lots of resume are posted for each job. Those which are written focusing on the job needs only get a chance of consideration.

Now, how to be focused and get into the readers’ frame of mind are the striking questions that hit like a torpedo in the job seekers’ mind. Whether you have just got a degree in your hand or been in your profession for few years, these questions keep nagging you when you want to apply for a job. This is the real challenge of writing the resume.

If you want to learn how to embrace the heat and face the complications involved in the job search, stick around as I will be generating unique ideas that could frame you as the promising candidate for the job.

Time to Polish Your Job Search

Few of the tricks you should apply in searching a job.

1)      Learn from your past experience? The hiring business is very complicated. If any of your previous attempts in getting the job has failed, you need to instill a fresh and renewed instinct in your job search. Either you have to change your outlook or search new ways to impress the hiring person. You need to change your route constantly to reach the destination. If one thing is ignored by you, the rest will automatically take its toll on you. So, bury the past experience, and get energized to try it in a better way.

2)      Are you donning a proper outfit? If you have planned carefully what outfit will suit and help you in the journey of job search, you will be able to make the first impression last longer. Changing and donning new attire that could help in gaining attention of the hiring people is always worth. However, if things are getting dull and stagnated, then it’s time to be more creative and innovative.

3)      Speak to your circle. Speaking with your contact can provide you the necessary details about preparation needed in your job search. You could get information on how to impress the hiring people by placing the right things in your resume. Never under estimate your circle. Who knows they could provide you with right information about the company you are seeking an employment in.

4)      Wear the right fragrance. If your resume is adorned with strong action words, it will generate an impact that could light up the reader’s taste. The action words will give you confidence and you will be able to put your message clear that will stay in the reader’s attention.

5)      Be Positive. To find a date, you need to have a positive attitude. You should foster the same kind of attitude in your job search. The hiring people need candidates who can demonstrate their abilities in a positive way. If you are low in your confidence, it will land you in trouble. So, calculate all your strengths and let it spill over in your resume.

Adorning a positive outlook is very essential in searching a job. Instill these tips in your mind, and grab all those opportunities that are waiting in the line.

Create Resume Website

Imagine a situation where you want to post your resume to the employers on an urgent basis since the last date of receiving applications is about to over. You rush to the courier office, or to the post office and find out that they are on strike due to some internal reasons. What would you do when caught under such a pitiful situation? You have no option other than waiting for the position to reopen in the future. Thankfully, there is one solution which could help you from such awful circumstances—create your own resume website.

The idea of creating the resume website has caught many aspirants’ eyes. One of the reasons that are fanning this idea is because of the available resources, and the user-friendly software programs that aids in creating resume websites. And it is the need of the hours and far better option than rushing to the companies for delivering your resumes.

Creating a resume website can save your time and few dollars that you have been spending on the prints outs. You can easily post your resume on the website, and the employers would find it convenient to go through it. Above all, it will make you appear professional and a tech-savvy person.

If you want to stay abreast and survive in the era of this modern technology, you have to change your outlook. Here are few tips you can follow while creating your resume website.

• First, register with any of the internet service provider for domain name. Don’t be tempted in registering with companies that are offering free domain names. Few dollars of investment at the initial stage is always worth for the future and you will have total control on the website.

• Search for a web host that is providing speed, bandwidth, and file space and advertisements quantity as per your needs. Usually, for resume website not much space is needed unless you are creating a flashy, animated or 3 dimensional resume.

• When you are creating a resume website, you should plan the layout that could fit information conveniently and at the same time appear attractive. The best software that could help you in creating the website is Dreamweaver CS4.

• Once you have designed the layout, add your resume with the help of html and CSS codes. Make it appear on the front or home page of the website. Seek some assistance from your friend, or neighbor who has good hand in format content for website.