Free Tips:

HOW TO WRITE THAT "DOOR-OPENING" RESUME
AND EFFECTIVE COMPANION COVERING LETTER

In today's highly competitive marketplace, your resume and covering letter are probably the most important elements in the job search process. Unfortunately, the resume is also the great "disqualifier." By reviewing your resume, a potential employer can summarily eliminate you from consideration. It would be ideal if you could make an appointment with the new employer without a resume. Unfortunately, those times are long since gone. So, it is essential that the resume be prepared thoughtfully, carefully and with a view toward "getting the interview." Writing effective, "door-opening" resumes and covering letters can require a larger effort than it appears. Firms receive thousands of resume weekly, and during periods of economic downturn, many more. The following is a brief guideline on how to construct an effective resume and covering letter, what to say, what not to say and how to stand a better chance of having it read.
Getting your resume read has become more difficult because it is often read by computers. Large, medium-sized and increasingly, small organizations are employing an "applicant tracking system" strategy of pre-qualifying resumes. This technique selects key words and phrases and enables the hiring company to eliminate more unqualified candidates. It is a highly selective system that will eliminate your resume before it is read unless it is formatted properly and contains the relevant structure.
An important element to remember is that a resume is not the interview, but merely a means to the interview. A common error in resume preparation is trying to say it all in the resume. This usually results in an uninteresting, wordy document that probably says too much. By putting it all in writing, you are not giving the employer good reason to want to see you. The resume should be constructed so that the employer's interest is aroused and you become a candidate for the interview.
The resume is written only to get the interview!

• Keep the resume to one page, two at most. Most firms don't want to be bothered reading about you if it takes too long.
  
• Don't use an "objective." Objectives are the exclusive province of recent college graduates who are entering the workplace for the first time.
  
• Make your resumes "accomplishment-oriented" and keep it that way, consistently.
• Chronological resumes are preferable to functional ones because the format is more traditional and easier to follow. Use functional resumes only when you must minimize gaps in employment and erratic career advancement.
  
• Take particular pains to avoid typographical and grammatical errors. As a reflection of intellect, a resume with typos or poor grammar may be discarded on that basis alone.
• Don't lie. The CFO of a well-known, listed company, was recently discharged when it was discovered that his resume stated that he had an M.B.A. when, in fact, he did not. There is nothing wrong, however, with "event glorification."
  
• It is acceptable and perhaps beneficial to respond to a job advertisement more than a week after it appears. Your resume has a better chance of being read if it is received in the "trickle" instead of the "flood" of responses.
  
• Never write "Health: Excellent." No one has ever written "Health: Poor."
  
• Always accompany your resume with a personalized covering letter. This indicates that the job has enough interest for you so that you took the time to personalize your response.
  
• An effective covering letter should also be short, precise, accomplishment-oriented and end with a request for an interview. Wherever possible, address the letter directly to the individual who makes hiring decisions. Avoid addressing it to "Human Resource Department" or "Personnel Department." Ask for the interview! Close the letter with that request.
  
• Research! You can find the name of the individual you seek usually by making a telephone call. If that doesn't work, consult on-line directories which are easily available on the Internet.
  
• When you respond to a classified or display advertisement, you are usually in competition with hundreds, if not thousands of applicants with similar qualifications. Therefore, directing a covering letter to a specific individual will bring greater returns.
  
• Whereas the resume features accomplishments in your employment, the covering letter should emphasize personal characteristics (tenacity, communication skills, rapid promotions, etc.) and how your qualifications meet the advertiser's requirements.
  
• Persistence Beats Resistance! One, two or even three follow-up letters may be necessary to penetrate your target.
  
• Ignore requests for salary history or requirements. That request is an attempt by employers to either disqualify you or assume an unfair advantage during salary negotiations. If your resume and letter are interesting enough, that sh ould be more than enough to provoke a response.

We wish you good results in your job search effort.
It is truly the resume and covering letter that makes the difference.
Take great pains to make yours "the perfect resume."