inluminent

The Rockport Institute has a six-part series on how to write a resume. (hat tip to Angie McKaig for the pointer.)

Their advice is fantastic, and capitalizes on the idea that you should do “active personal marketing” with your resume:

THE NUMBER ONE PURPOSE OF A RESUME

The resume is a tool with one specific purpose: to win an interview. If it does what the fantasy resume did, it works. If it doesn’t, it isn’t an effective resume. A resume is an advertisement, nothing more, nothing less.

A great resume doesn’t just tell them what you have done but makes the same assertion that all good ads do: If you buy this product, you will get these specific, direct benefits. It presents you in the best light. It convinces the employer that you have what it takes to be successful in this new position or career.

It is so pleasing to the eye that the reader is enticed to pick it up and read it. It “whets the appetite,” stimulates interest in meeting you and learning more about you. It inspires the prospective employer to pick up the phone and ask you to come in for an interview.

I would recommend this series of articles to anyone looking for a job change or career change.

Part two of the series says that resumes are scanned, not read. I’ll agree with that point completely. I generally spend less than 15 seconds with each resume that I receive on the first pass. If nothing in the resume grabs my eye, I throw it away. If something catches my eye, I put it in a pile of resumes to follow up on later.

Parts three and four give a lot of great tips on writing a resume, some of them are especially powerful:

• To write an effective resume, you have to learn how to write powerful but subtle advertising copy.
• If you are applying for several different positions, you should adapt your resume to each one.
• The resume is visually enticing, a work of art.
• All the basic, expected information is included.
• A resume should be targeted to your goal, to the ideal next step in your career.
• Shorter is ususally better.
• Telephone number that will be answered. (I’d add that your email address better be a good one that won’t bounce too.)

Part five covers ‘choosing the right job’ and is an advertisement for Rockport’s services, and part six is a great list of power words that should be used over other passive words that might crop up in your resume.