Keep in mind that your resume will be the first time that your prospective employer will be seeing you and interacting with you. Before that, he would not have even heard of you, especially since you would have most probably applied for the job either through a headhunter, a classified ad in the newspaper or an internet job site.
So in effect, the first impression any potential employer has formed of you will be based on the application and the resume that you had sent in. Given the sheer number of applications that would have poured in, the employer would probably spend about 30 seconds on each. The ones that make an impression on him in those 30 seconds are the ones who will be called for an interview; the other applications get tossed away without a second thought.
Here are some tips and hints on how to write a resume that sizzles:
Let your resume say everything about you
Your resume should reveal your pertinent details including your name, sex, age, contact number, social security number and address. These details are necessary so that the company knows where to contact you in case they want to schedule an interview with you.
Mention your Career Objective
Tell your prospective employers why you want to apply for this particular position. Be very specific when stating your goals so that anybody reading it will know that you know exactly what you want. Generalized career objectives are very lame and will impress nobody.
Highlight your skills and accomplishments
Next, you need to mention the pertinent knowledge and skills you have garnered in your current as well as previous jobs, especially those that are beneficial for the particular job at hand. Highlight all your major accomplishments so that your employer knows that you are a hard-worker and have the potential to go places.
Give details of your educational qualifications
If you are a new entrant to job-hunting and have had no other work experience, your success at landing the job will be highly dependant on your educational qualifications. While all jobs may not really require someone who has specialized in any particular topic, there are several other jobs that will require potential candidates to hold a master’s degree in the subject or to have some kind of specialized degree that is relevant to the job.
Extra-curricular information
When you provide details on your hobbies and other special interests, it provides a little insight into the kind of person you are. Character references are particularly valuable and should accompany every resume you send out.
