Resumes
Resumes are not just a record of your work experience, they are marketing documents. You are trying to sell your skills to an employer. Like any good salesman, this means that you do not want to mislead the employer, but you absolutely should focus on your most impressive skills and experience.
The purpose of a resume is not to get you a job. The purpose of a resume is to get you an interview.
What makes a great resume?
A great resume begins with a careful reading of the job description. Each resume you send out should reflect the requirements and wording of the job description. If your work experiences cannot honestly reflect the requirements in the job description, then it is probably not worth your time to apply.
Preferred qualifications are skills that are not required. You may still be able to make a strong case for yourself even if you do not have the preferred experience.
Do not get hung up on a fancy format. The most important thing is whatever format you use, it is easy to read, contains bulleted lists, and has a moderate amount of white space.
Chronological resumes are preferred by most employers. If you have a spotty, inconsistent, or short work history, a skills section within a chronological resume is usually to your advantage.
The experience section of a resume should not just contain a description of your job duties. It should include a short description of job duties when those duties are not clear from the title. More importantly, for each job you should be answering the question, what did I do in this job that someone else doing the same job might not have? You are establishing your experience AND differentiating yourself from others with similar experience.
What next?
Be persistent. Job searches take time. If you have sent out 10 resumes and gotten no calls back, it does not mean that your resume isn’t working. It can take employers a long time to make a decision about who to interview. Sometimes jobs are posted even though they already know who they are going to hire. Sometimes jobs are posted in case they have an opening in the future. It’s discouraging and can make you doubt yourself. It can often feel better to go back to writing the resume instead of continuing to submit applications. Seek advice of people you trust, but keep applying! You do not get jobs for which you do not apply.
