You Need a Great Resume

Yahoo's "biggest resume mistake you can make" is actually a set of three mistakes. In my mind, the key is the first one. It reads as follows:

1. Think Big

Whatever jobs you've held -- be it as an assistant or a CEO -- think beyond the everyday tasks of your position. Shares Milligan, "People get bogged down in the day-to-day details of their jobs, but when it comes to your resume, you've got to get out of the clutter and ask yourself, 'What does this work mean?'"

She continues, "If I'm hiring for an administrative assistant, I already know what one does. I don't want to see a resume that only says an applicant can type and answer a phone. You have to go beyond that to point out your specific strengths."

Start by having big-picture conversations about what you do and how it serves the organization as a whole. States Milligan, "If you're in a support position, consider how successful the person you support is and how you help her do her job better. What role do you have in her successes? Those are your accomplishments."

No matter what position you're applying for, I suggest you write a resume that is accomplishment-oriented -- one that shows you can deliver great results for the new company. How do you do that? By showing you've delivered great results in your past positions. And the way to do this is to write a winning resume and being sure to write it so that even minor accomplishments appear to be major successes.

Remember that much of job hunting is simply a marketing exercise -- marketing yourself as the best solution to their problem (which in this case is the need for a great employee.) Developing a resume that sells your skills is the first step in this process and can mean the difference between going to the next step (an interview) and getting a "dear John" letter in response to your application.

Comments

What if you have a menial job without benchmarks or performance reviews? How would you then demonstrate a benefit to employer?