Q: What is the most imortant persuasive essay you will write after graduation?
A: Your resume and job application letter.
If you think learning how to write a persuasive essay is a waste of time, then stop and think of how well you have to sell yourself. In today’s article we are going to take a look at resume writing.
Resume Writing Pet Peeves
“If you’re using your company’s job description, you’re missing the point of your resume,” says Paul Schmitz of Hufford Associates. He adds that those skilled in resume writing know how to note their specific achievements and highlight accomplishments in a particular position. Far too often, people are misguided in what they think hiring managers are looking for and they miss the ball completely. Resumes can be too vague or inflated, or full of gaps. Other times, they’re too specific and filled with technical jargon that makes little sense to the outside world. To help job seekers, we’ve compiled some of the biggest mistakes people make on their resumes.
John Logan is a human resources manager for the ZS Associates management-consulting firm in Princeton, N.J. and he shares some resume writing tips to help job seekers stand out from the pack. “I find that most resumes do not provide enough details for me to understand the scope of the candidate’s work,” Logan complains. He says that a good resume will detail specifics, such as the number of people supervised, the size of a project budget, sales figures or the estimated cost savings. “Anytime you can quantify your accomplishments, you give them more credibility,” explains Brian Howell from The QWorks Group. Some estimates say that at least 40% of your bullet points should have measurable metrics in them. Think in terms of comparative sales volume, the number of people you hired or led, the amount of money you saved, your success in completing projects based on goals, revenue-generating initiatives, process improvement and cost containment.
With so many job applicants these days, many larger corporations are running resumes through keyword-searchable computer databases to weed out some individuals. “Job-seekers should know the key skills and software packages and list them as appropriate,” says John Logan. However, he carefully adds that using the right keywords “will get a candidate into the search pool” but will not necessarily get them the job. “There is still some art in the employment process,” he says, adding that employers will personally go over their final applicant pool in some detail. In your resume writing, you should list computer programs, action words and nouns that are important to your industry. Often, reading job descriptions in your field for some time will give you a clue as to what employers are looking for. Ultimately, the entry level jobs will be given to those who know what employers want.
Perhaps the biggest mistake people make in resume writing is failing to proofread properly. The best way to lose a job opportunity is to turn in a resume littered with spelling, typographical and grammatical errors. “Poor spelling and grammar … is particularly worrying,” notes Pete Follows, senior consultant for SaccoMann. “If a candidate is not giving due care and attention to a document to improve their own personal circumstances, what care would they take with documents with less personal significance?” It’s also irritating when job applicants fail to include proper contact information, such as a phone number where they can be reached and a professional-sounding email address. Whether you’re looking for a paid internship or a new job opportunity, you need to put your best foot forward by following these simple tips.
Thanks to Thomas Bronson for the article.
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