Resume Writing for Experienced Professionals
A resume is a summary of your educational background, employment, volunteer
experience, special skills, and any other information that you think helps you
become more marketable. An effective resume, while emphasizing what you have
gained through past experiences and achievements, is focused on your future work
performance. Thus, it should communicate the potential you have to contribute
successfully in a new work setting.
As you prepare your resume, think about the impact it has upon the employer.
If it is well done, it can communicate your competence and your interest in the
position. Conversely, if it is disorganized or has mistakes, it can communicate
a lack of willingness to do a job well.
BASIC GUIDELINES FOR YOUR RESUME
- Customize your resume for each position.
- Emphasize your strengths and accomplishments.
- Avoid excess narrative. Write in phrases, leading with action verbs. This
eliminates the need to use personal pronouns, like "I" and
"my".
- Use dates in the experience; however, avoid excessive use of dates in
other categories.
- Omit salary requirements. If a job announcement asks, include information
in your cover letter.
- Length should be dictated by the amount of information you have to convey.
Never try to crowd two pages of information onto one page.
CONTENT SUGGESTIONS
A resume should promote your individual skills and strengths; however, there are
categories of information that employers usually seek and you may wish to
include (see below.) Keep in mind that these categories should be added,
eliminated, or rearranged based on their relation to your strengths, background,
and job objective. Category headings may be changed to meet your needs. Be
creative in developing your categories and the headings you give them. For
example, you may wish to use "ACADEMIC BACKGROUND" instead of
"EDUCATION", or "COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP." Consider specialized
categories such as "RESEARCH EXPERIENCE" and "PRESENTATIONS AND
PUBLICATIONS."
JOB OBJECTIVE
- To maintain flexibility, you may choose to omit an objective on your
resume. If not included on your resume, your objective must be included in
your cover letter.
- Make certain your job objective will enhance your employability.
Objectives, which are vague, will not tell an employer what kind of job you
are seeking.
- Keep your objective short. Typically, you should only address immediate
plans in your objective.
PROFILE SECTION
- The purpose of the profile section is to inform the potential employer in
the fewest words possible who you are and why you are qualified.
- Profile sections should focus on hard skills and experiences.
- The profile should stimulate the reader's interest and tells the employer
what to look for in the remainder of the resume.
- A good profile will allow the reader to route the resume to the
appropriate hiring person, without reading the entire document.
| EXAMPLES OF PROFILE SECTIONS |
| PROFILE (Management) |
- Extensive Background in Line Management Positions.
- Strengths in Sales, Marketing and Distribution, Supplier Relations,
and Customer Relations.
|
| EXPERIENCE SUMMARY (Management) |
- Strengths include all aspects of operations management:
distribution, plant operations, quality assurance, technology
management, and labor relations.
- Experienced in working closely with executive management team to
revitalize operations, motivate staff and maximize productivity.
- Success with managing rapid growth and turnaround situations.
|
| PROFILE (Finance) |
Skills encompass financial analysis, forecasting, financial
management, cash management, accounting control, policy development
and implementation. Diversified experience with a major accounting
firm. CPA.
|
| QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY (Finance) |
- Over 10 years of progressive experience in financial institutions.
- Positions required knowledge of total bank operations and involved
the hiring, training, supervision and evaluations of employees.
- Areas of interest include: commercial lending and business
development.
|
| CORE COMPETENCIES (Sales) |
- Relationship Building - Proven ability to build rapport and
develop long-term relationships with existing and prospective
clients.
- Project Management - Experienced in budgeting, report
writing, customer profiling and problem solving.
- Organizational Skills - Able to manage multiple tasks
simultaneously and complete projects in a timely manner.
- Sales Management and Leadership - Skilled in team building,
training, development and motivation.
|
| SUMMARY (HR) |
- Experienced human resource professional with solid skills in HR
administration, policy and procedure development, recruiting
(traditional and electronic), hiring, training, employee relations,
corporate communications, contract management, and affirmative
action.
- Solid knowledge of state and federal employment/unemployment laws,
EEOC, ADA and OSHA regulations.
- Proficient with HRIS and Microsoft Office Systems with the proven
ability to quickly master new software applications.
|
| PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY (Government/Administration) |
- Senior level administrative and management skills developed
through extensive service in the public sector.
- Advanced knowledge and exposure to all aspects of city and county
government administration and policies.
- Skills in program development and direction, budget development
and administration, public/community/media outreach and relations.
- Excellent trainer, speaker, motivator and team builder.
|
| QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY (Political
Campaign) |
- Campaign strategy planning with specific emphasis on image
development and communications design.
- Advanced skills in paid and media management.
- Proven experience in design and development of successful
grassroots organizations.
- Ability to manage a successful campaign on a limited budget.
|
| SYNOPSIS (Healthcare
Administration) |
Expertise includes strategic and structural contributions in
managed care environments, initiation and control of organizational
change, initiation of healthcare alliances, negotiation of contracts
and memorandums of understanding with clinical and business partners,
and knowledge of governmental issues regarding the current healthcare
environment.
|
| PROFESSIONAL PROFILE (Healthcare
Administration) |
- Areas of Expertise
- Surgical Services/Outpatient Services
- Managed Care
- Resource Management
- Utilization Review/Quality Assurance
|
| EXPERIENCE SUMMARY (Healthcare) |
- Creative and visionary program development and implementation,
including turn-around management when needed.
- Collaborative decision-making and consensus building with internal
constituents.
- Design of programs and policies, which serve marketing priorities
as well as cost control and quality assurance goals.
- Development of quantitative/qualitative measurement tools to
establish statistical control of medical service operations.
|
| AREAS OF EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE (Public
Relations & Communications) |
Strengths include communications project management, excellent
written and oral communications skills, and organizational
follow-through. Technical skills include proficiency with several
publishing software packages and ability to design web pages.
|
| TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE (Computer) |
- Expertise in needs assessment and programming in several C++ and
Visual Basic.
- Good working knowledge of PASCAL, Clinical Analysis and SPSS.
- Solid experience in database architecture, systems analysis/design
and testing.
- Experience with MS Windows Server.
|
EXPERIENCE SECTION
-
Consider categorizing your experience using headings such as Banking Experience,
Sales Experience, International Marketing, Public Accounting Experience,
Research Experience, or Public Service Experience.
- List jobs in order of interest to the targeted employer. For most professionals
with a logical career path, the experience section lists jobs in reverse
chronological order.
- However, if another chronology will serve you better,
reorder the jobs.
- Introduce each position with job title, organization name, city, state, and
dates of employment.
- Describe your responsibilities and achievements, the skills you gained, and the
impact you had in your work experiences. Highlight skills that are valuable to
employers. List most important job responsibilities first.
- Use quantitative descriptions when possible and refer to achievements and
accomplishments.
- Describe your skills and responsibilities with action verbs and for enhancement,
add adverbs.
| VERBS |
|
|
Accomplished
Administered
Advised
Analyzed
Appropriated
Articulated
Collaborated
Compiled
Conducted
Contributed
Coordinated
Created
Designed
Developed
Devised
Directed
Edited
Ensured
Established
Evaluated
Exceeded
Executed
Facilitated |
Formulated
Generated
Guided
Implemented
Improved
Increased
Initiated
Launched
Maintained
Managed
Maximized
Negotiated
Orchestrated
Organized
Originated
Oversaw
Pioneered
Planned
Prepared
Presented
Produced
Projected
Promoted |
Provided
Published
Reconciled
Reduced
Reorganized
Reported
Represented
Researched
Resolved
Restricted
Revised
Schedule
Selected
Served
Spearheaded
Strategized
Streamlined
Structured
Supervised
Trained
Troubleshot
Utilized |
|
ADVERBS |
|
|
Effectively
Efficiently
Consistently
Personally
Successfully |
|
|
|
EXAMPLES OF QUANTITATIVE/QUALITATIVE STATEMENTS |
-
Plan, manage, and monitor sales campaigns for key markets that generate combined
revenues of
$13 million per year.
-
Consistently rank in the top 10 of 100+ sales representatives in the Midwest.
-
Trained and mentored inexperienced employees who want on to earn
"outstanding" marks on performance reviews.
-
Promoted from entry-level position to store manager within one year.
-
Controlled departmental costs to perform at 10 percent under budget.
-
Implemented tracking systems that increased productivity 20 percent in one year.
-
Created a sales training program that was presented to 350 new sales trainees.
-
Converted manual accounting system to fully computerized system, resulting in a
six-figure savings to company.
-
Implemented promotional programs that tripled sales performance within two
months.
-
Standardized budgeting and financial reporting for five branch banks.
-
Received _______ Award for ____________________.
|
EDUCATION
As a rule, the Education Section comes after the Work Experience Section.
Exceptions to this rule might be: You went to a name brand school, you have a
very recent degree, or you are in medicine or academe.
List your degree, month and year of graduation first, followed by your major(s),
minor and any special concentration or emphasis. Complete this information with
your institution, city, and state.
CERTIFICATIONS
Include other certification information as appropriate to your education or
profession.
Examples would include: CPA, CFA, insurance licenses, health professions
licensures or certifications, etc. List only current certifications.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
Include memberships, offices held, and other involvement related to your
profession. If you have an extensive list of presentations/publications, consider separate
categories.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
List community organizations if you have been an active member. Include offices
held, committees, responsibilities, and results of projects and activities. This
illustrates leadership qualities and how you spend your time. List significant
offices held first.
REFERENCES
-
Employers are usually considered the most significant references. Their names
should not be used, however, until they have agreed to serve as your reference.
- List at least three and no more than five references. In most cases, references
will be telephoned about your ability to serve in the new position.
- Choose your references wisely. Many times a name on your reference list or a
conversation with one or your references will be your ticket to the interview.
|
