Slant Your Résumé Toward Success

Slant Your Rà ©sumà © Toward Success There is no job harder than selling yourself. Therefore, it is vital to focus the skills and experience on your rà ©sumà ©, so that document will do a good job for you in the marketplace.Rà ©sumà ©s today need a new approach. The level of competition in the job market is intense. Sending a canned rà ©sumà © does not work as well anymore because there is too much information circulating in the Information Age and too many people with excellent credentials chasing the same positions.Writing a good rà ©sumà © can be tough as nails, or it can be an ongoing learning experience. Always remember that a rà ©sumà © is a marketing document. Company recruiters task is to look for what they need, rather than trying to fulfill your personal career ambitions.Also, remember that for most managers, time is an enemy. You must sell yourself not only well, but also quickly. If you can succeed at that twos of good subsections are Professional Qualifications; Technical Skills, Computer Skills; Internships and Seminars, Certifications; Communication Skills, Management Skills, Publication; Teaching Credentials, Research Experience, Consulting Expertise. (The topics here are as broad as your imagination.)Mine your background for the unique details in your life that have prepared you for this positionFinally, mine your background for the professional skills and experiences that are hidden or forgotten or not presented fully on your rà ©sumà ©. Such skills can be volunteer work where you managed people or handled money; part-time jobs where you learned people skills; school activities where you learned self-discipline; or travel that expanded your view of the world. Always work to communicate your special qualities, those that make you uniquely able to handle the job you want.Its important to design your rà ©sumà ©, so it reflects you as a person and a future, valuable employee. In order to do this, consider using the following as guidelines:Use your rà ©sumà © to speak for you, a mentor that will communicate a precise, exciting picture of who you are and what you can do.Use your rà ©sumà © to focus on the opportunity you want right now, not a job you want ten years from now.Use your rà ©sumà © to slant your experience and training, so it best fits your next employers most urgent needs.If necessary, design several focused rà ©sumà ©s, each of which applies to a certain job arena. Make a list of the industries where you have competence and pick the most appropriate experiences and details for each field.Use your rà ©sumà © to focus on the lemonade in your background, not the lemons of past disappointments. Be careful of age references, track experience timelines to be sure that are representative, and dont include names and contacts for references (they change and you want to know whos talking to whom).Todays rà ©sumà © should be a creative, living document, a helpmate that changes and grows with you, as you move through the job search pro cess to career success.