Here are some great tips: Think of the resume as a sandwich - you are the sandwich artist
Think of the blank page as your bread. It can be white or wheat, even tomato basil cheese (because that's totally delicious). The top piece of your bread is the header, where you present your contact information, and the bottom piece is the footer, which is the end of a sandwich, but totally essential for holding it all together. Do not under any circumstances try to eat the paper! It is not delicious.
What kind of sandwich are we building? Besides the bread, there is no flavor yet, and people cannot subsist on bread alone. They need something that tastes good and brings out the flavor of the other layers, so we need to choose the right sauce to entice them to eat the whole sandwich and not stop after one bite.
THE BREAD
stylistic elements & layout
Style choices - fonts, sizing, use of bold and italic emphasis. Have you ever seen a best-selling book printed in a Courier font? Probably not. So, your font choice should be first attractive, then effective. You can't go wrong with using Arial or Times New Roman, but even choosing these faithful fonts should be based on the taste of your career. If you are involved in sales or enjoy an executive-level career track, Times New Roman should be high on your list. If you are in technology, use Arial. If you are in advertising or entertainment, Garamond can be very effective. A deliberate choice of font determines the entire tone of your resume. Choose wisely.
THE SAUCE
qualifications statement
Statement of Qualifications vs. Objective Statement. Since time immemorial, people have been opening their resumes with an objective statement. This is akin to applying a thick coat of tasteless mayonnaise to an otherwise inspired sandwich. It steals the flavor from all of the other layers.
Instead of using an Objective statement, use a Statement of Qualifications at the top of your resume. Why? Here it is: The job market is impersonal. We live in the Information Age, and everybody is looking for the facts, not extraneous statements about what kind of job you would like. Viewing the job market as a field of conquest instead of a wishing well is a healthy perspective and telling an employer that you are "seeking a job where I can employ my knowledge in engineering widgets to the benefit of an organization" just wasted of their time. Don't you think they already know that you'd like a job using your widget engineering prowess? Instead, why not tell them what they are seeking? Which is...
YOU!
Now, toot your horn!
Tell them how many widgets you've made, the awards you've received for widget engineering, and if at all possible, use numbers. Show them what you're made of.
For example:
Senior widget engineer possesses over 10 years of strong widget engineering experience. Has outstanding instincts in the design and integration of business processes to efficiently drive widget-focused projects to support mission-critical business initiatives. Notable accomplishments include the research, design, and implementation of a quality assurance process that reduced production downtime by 15%, reclaiming $200,000.00 in revenues representing 20% of company income.
Delicious.
The reason that this opening technique works is that it will quantify your experience by showcasing what you have accomplished during your career pursuits, effectively proving that your talents have a direct, positive impact on the bottom line, which is of critical importance to any successful business.
If you are early in your career or are a student, don't worry if you can't show number like we used in the above example. Your experience can still be quantified effectively through the use of strong, confident writing. If you can't think of anything, contact us, and we'll help you mix up the right kind of sauce for your sandwich.
THE CHEESE
notable achievements
Around here, we prefer lots of cheese. Preferably different cheeses - and almost any cheese will do. (Limburger, stay home!) The number of cheeses that you use on your resume sandwich really depends on the type of job you would like to land. Your choice of cheese is the last layer in the top of your resume sandwich, and is the layer that will either impress or disappoint the reader - or eater in our case.
The concept in this very important layer is to provide an up-front exhibit of specific accomplishments that have a direct parallel to the job that you want. Placing accomplishments directly following the sauce (Statement of Qualifications) serves the purpose of adding bold flavor and emphasis on what makes you an irresistible candidate because you know what the company needs, and you've already been there, done that.
Let's imagine that a Project & Program Manager is looking to move upward in their career and has an excellent lead on a recent opening. Using their knowledge of the career and a good investigation of the job requirements, they decide on three cheeses that will attract the attention of the Human Resources department:
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
REVENUE AUGMENTATION
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
These three choices are obvious because the job seeker knows that the employer will need to see a great example of project management. Revenue augmentation is a good choice because if a hiring manager sees that the candidate has led projects that resulted in increased revenues or cost savings (which augments the bottom line), then the manager is more apt to want an interview to learn more about how the candidate achieved such results.
THE VEGGIES Education and Skill Sets.
THE MEAT Professional Experience Nice marbling, thick slicing. Not too much or it will overpower all of the other flavors. Not too many bullets. Everyone uses them. Its better to use line spacing between each item. No longer than two lines, and no more than four items for the two most recent positions.
Most meat is good no matter which way it is cut; however, there are those prime slices that will turn a mediocre sandwich into a mothership of flavor. This is where strong writing comes in. Many people will try to cram this part of the sandwich full of any kind of meat, expecting that a towering sandwich equals a good sandwich. Although their intentions are good, they destroy the overall quality and impact of the resume by going into minute detail about day-to-day tasks. This type of overstuffing makes for a boring read and unless the reader is enamored with the intricacies of your workflow, your resume will be relegated to the circular file. Guaranteed.
LAYERING
Two of the layers in your resume sandwich are absolute: the bread and the sauce, meaning that your stylistic choices and contact information should always be front-and-center.
Depending on the direction of your job search and your professional and educational background, the other layers can be moved, toward the top or the bottom. Choosing the order of presentation is very important to how your resume (and subsequently you) are perceived.