Can you help me with my resume?

Writing professional resumes with focus and clarity

Writing a professional resume is simple, right? All you need do is list your career history, education and references and off you go. Wrong!

A professional resume should be written specifically for your target market. Every job you’ve had or award you’ve received may not be relevant. For any one job, an employer may receive hundreds of resumes and may not spend time on a resume that includes irrelevant information. Ensuring your resume is concise, relevant and readable is the first step.
 
For those of us who are not natural born writers or human resource professionals, the task of selecting the right information and writing about ourselves in a way that is engaging and appealing to a potential employer may seem a difficult one. We can teach you techniques that will help you make dramatic improvements. The cornerstone of a good resume is a clear objective. Once you have a focused idea of what you want to achieve, you become clearer about the relevant skills and experience and the task of creating a resume becomes an easier one.
 
It is a good idea to have someone look over your resume before you submit your application. Spelling mistakes and formatting errors can make you look unprofessional, even if the job you are applying for requires no writing skills.

Some resume writing basics are:

• have a clear objective
• remember that the goal of your resume is to secure an interview
• use “action words” (verbs) frequently
• highlight your strengths at the beginning of the document (most resumes are reviewed in under a minute)
• only include information relevant to the position; do not include negative or irrelevant detail.

Lee Hecht Harrison’s Career Transition assistance includes seminars and guidance on how to develop an appropriate communications strategy, which includes writing professional resumes, cover letters and other such job-related communications.