The Length of Your Resume

The length of your resume is less important than its substance. Remember when you were told, especially as a child, that it wasn't what you wore on the outside, but what kind of person you were on the inside? Well, to some extent, that is exactly the same with your resume.

What you write on your resume is more important than how long it is.

How long should your resume be? The length of your resume should be in direct proportion to your success in reaching your career goals and in pursuing related educational objectives. What does that mean?

Well, it means:

• Don't pad your resume


• Be honest


• Only list what applies to the position you are seeking


• Add enough white space to allow natural breaks in reading


• Never use two words when one will do


• Do not list references


• Target your resume to the job and the company


• Use action keywords

Write your resume in such a way that the reader knows exactly what you want and your credentials support that goal. Anything more becomes tedious and takes away from the impact of your true purpose. Anything less and your goal become unsubstantiated by your past experience and education.

Most resume experts, myself included, suggest you keep your resume to two pages. If you can fit your skills and accomplishments on one page, that is even better. Just remember that the goal isn't to provide your life story. Make sure you are using only what best supports your career goals.

The resume cover page is in addition to the resume. It is not counted in the suggested resume length above.

The length of your resume is - as long as it need to be to get the employer to take notice.

If you are interested in getting some help with your resume, you will love this resource that I have put together over the past few years. Actually, it was originally copyrighted in 1991, but I have revised it many times since then. I just had a panel of 10 individuals read and review it and they just raved about it.

"How to Write a Professional Resume"

Thanks for reading!

~Carla Vaughan

Changing Careers? In this Economy, You'd Better Be Prepared.

Changing Careers?

Is it time to change careers? If so, the ideas below offer some excellent advice for revamping your resume to outline the new direction your career will be taking, even in a tough economic situation.

As you know, your resume has to be the best it can be. When changing careers, your skills and achievements may perfectly fit into your new position. But even if they don't, how can you make your resume appeal to an employer in your new field of employment? You have to present yourself on paper in a different way that you have in the past. Your resume has to be carefully tailored to the new employer's needs and goals. And, with the economy the way it is, you'll be facing stiffer competition.

First, choose a resumeformat that best highlights your skills, accomplishments and talents. Most likely, this will either be a functional format or a combination format. The reason that these two resume formats are better for career-changers, is that they place more of an emphasis on the work done rather than on the employers, education and dates the work was done.

It does make a difference in how you are viewed. In either format, be sure to list your skills and accomplishments near the top of the page. Let the hiring manager see what you have to offer instead of what your job title was or where you worked. While important on some level, who you worked for may detract from what you did while you were an employee there. Why?

Look at this example. Perhaps you worked for Destin Marketing as a graphics designer and now you want to re-focus your career in a new direction. Now, you want to be an artist for Christmas cards. While the two involve artistic abilities, many of the tasks and responsibilities will be different. Placing those skills and talents where the prospective employer can see them first, is critical, especially when you remember that there are a lot of other job candidates vying for the same position.

When considering the skills you should put in your resume, remember that there are a myriad of transferable skills that employers seek regardless of where you work.
They transfer from position to position.
Consider this list and how each one might apply to you:

• communication skills (written and oral)


• negotiation skills


• team player


• leadership abilities


• motivating others


• solving problems

Of course there are many other possibilities, but you should be able to understand the concept by those presented here.

If you have won awards, received honors, had material published or anything along these lines, list them on your resume, but only if they relate to your new career path. Telling a prospective employer that you were real estate agent of the month in your office would be fine if you were going into a related career or a sales position in a new field, but if you are going changing careers to a school teacher position, no one is really going to care about a sales award.

Changing careers is not for everyone. It does require patience, creativity and more work than it would take finding a position in an identical field. It can be done, though, and should be, if it is the right thing for you, your happiness and your future.

Best wishes!

Brought to you by, Professional-Resume-Example.com

To view resume formats, go here: Resume Formats

Carla Vaughan

College Graduate Resume

The College Graduate Resume

You’ve just graduated from college (or you are about to) and you have little or no work experience. How do you craft a college graduate resume that garners the attention of prospective employers? Is it even possible to create an effective resume when you have little or no work experience? Definitely!

While recent college graduates and entry-level jobseekers have unique challenges when it comes to resume development, there are techniques that work well in this situation.

Let’s first visit the purpose of a resume. It does not have to perform the task of getting you a job. All it has to do is get you an interview. So the primary mission of a resume (and cover letter) is to arouse the reader's interest and market your abilities and accomplishments so that you get asked to an interview.

Here are a few techniques to assist in the writing of a college graduate resume:

1. Keep your resume and cover letter targeted to one career at one company (at a time). Be specific and focused.
2. Any activity or group in which you held an office, performed related work or gained experience that highlights your skills is a possibility for use on a resume. It doesn’t matter if you were paid or not. It can be used in a summary of your qualifications.
3. Visit a variety of websites to learn more about the daily responsibilities, academic requirements, technical skills, and other qualifications needed for your target position. The Occupational Outlook Handbook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is a great resource. The more you can match your skills to those that are expected in the position for which you are applying, the better your chances of getting called for an interview.
4. Focus on what you can do for the employer not what you expect them to provide for you once you get hired. Be positive and energetic in your choice of language and don’t forget to use action keywords to make a confident impact on the employer.

Like anything else in life, you need to clearly understand where you are heading in order to get there. Although it is highly unlikely that your first job after college will last until retirement, it is the job that starts your career, so planning and preparation should be taken seriously.

Make sure you proofread your resume and have someone else review it for you, too. It would be such a shame to get everything listed above done correctly and then not be taken seriously because you didn’t spell something correctly.

You now have an opportunity to get your foot in the door. Make the most of it. Use the advice above to create a college graduate resume that gets the attention of employers and makes them WANT to learn more about you.


Brought to you by: Professional-Resume-Example.com

Finding a Job in 2009

Professional-Job-Search.com launches

There is a new job search site in town and it promises to be a real winner. After several years of working on the professional resume website: Professional-Resume-Example.com, it became apparent that more information was needed specifically about the job search.

This new website is designed to fill that need.

While there is widespread information about the job search and various methods of finding a great job on the internet, there isn't a concise compilation of material in one place that satisfies the questions that most job seekers have.

This is the new site:
Professional-Job-Search.com

The goal of this new website is to provide a one-stop location for all job candidates to find the information they need to secure a great job.

Material will be continually added based on the needs and goals of those in the job market as well as on the comments and suggestions made by the visitors to the site.

As with the resume site, the focus isn't on buying and selling a bunch of stuff, it's on providing well-written, thorough information specifically focused on meeting the needs of job-seekers.

Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

~Carla Vaughan
Owner
Professional-Resume-Example.com

Professional-Job-Search.com

Changing Careers?

Is it time for you to consider changing careers? If so, the ideas below offer some excellent advice for revamping your resume and focusing it on the direction you plan to take in your new career.

As you know, your resume has to be top-notch. Anything else just doesn't cut it. When changing careers, your skills and achievements may not perfectly fit into your new position. How can you make your resume appeal to a prospective employer in your new field of employment? You have to present yourself in a different way that you have in the past. Your resume has to be carefully tailored to the new employer's needs and goals.

First, choose a resume format that highlights your qualifications and accomplishments. For career changers, this will either be a combination format or a functional format. The reason these two formats are better for career-changers, is that they place more emphasis on the work done rather than on the employers, education and dates of employment.

Even though this seems trivial, it isn't. In either format, list your skills and achievements near the top of the page - and be sure they match the employers needs. Let the hiring manager see what you have to offer instead of what your job title was or where you worked. While the company you worked for is important on some level, who you worked for may detract from what you did while you were an employee there. Why?

For example: Let's say you worked for Southlake Marketing as a graphics designer and now you want to re-focus your career in a new direction. Now, you want to be an art teacher. While the two involve artistic abilities, many of the tasks and responsibilities will not be the same. Placing those skills and aptitudes where the prospective employer can see them first, is critical, especially when you remember that your resume gets scanned, not read. You only have a limited amount of time to make a great first impression.

When considering the skills you should put in your resume, remember that there are many transferable skills that employers seek regardless of where you work. Every employer wants someone who takes initiative and is a problem-solver.

They transfer from position to position.
Consider this list and how each one might apply to you:

• communication skills (written and oral)


• team player


• negotiation skills


• leadership abilities


• solving problems


• motivating others

Of course there are many more possibilities, but you should be able to understand the concept by those presented here.

For more information about changing careers, look here: Career Planning