The days of the one-size fits all resume went out with the typewriter. One of the powers computers bring to each of us is the ability to tailor our resumes to exactly match the jobs we are seeking.
Still, the temptation to pile on more than necessary is hard to resist. There are many important things to consider when you compose your resume. While you are writing what amounts to an advertising piece about you, it is even more important that you think about the person who will be reading it. More likely than not, your resume will be buried in a pile of competing ones on somebody's desk. You need to think about what will make yours' stand out from the rest.
Remember, the purpose of your resume is to get you invited to the interview.
One way to do that is to make a friend out the person reviewing the pile. There's a good chance that your competition has fallen prey to the temptation to lard their resumes with irrelevancies. If your resume matches the attributes of the job description directly, briefly and without needless details, you just made the reviewer's job easier.
How do you get to the right level of brevity? In addition to limiting your experience statements to what the employer is looking for, beware of overselling yourself. Many times what seems like a strength to you might be off-putting to an employer.
For example seasoned job applicants might be tempted to show their long experience in the workforce.
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Although officially she is BOLT's Payroll Administrator, she is far more than that. The same eagle eye and attention to detail she brings to making sure our paychecks are correct goes over many other parts of our operations. For example, she keeps a close eye on our marketing materials, newsletters and other items that help establish BOLT's presence and reputation as a leading staffing company in the Bay Area.
