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4th Edition, Volume 2 
Insider AdviceforResume Writing
“A resume is often the first  formal communication with prospective employers.” 
What is aResume?
 A resume hastraditionally meant abrief account of yourprofessional work experience andqualifications. However, in today’s job market,your resume must be much more. In order tostand out, your resume needs to be a demonstra-tion of your ability to fulfill acertain role and achieve results that will make a positive impact on thebottom line of a company. Before writing your resume it is essentialthat you know the career field youare seeking and understand theskills, abilities, and experiencerequired. You must analyze yourprofessional experience anddetermine which elements bestdemonstrate your qualifications forthe position. Your resume mustcommunicate your accomplishments,achievements, skills, abilities, and talents in a way that sets you apart from other candidates in yourfield. A resume is often the first formal communi-cation with prospective employers. Its purpose isto demonstrate the value you can add to thecompany, and convince them to invite you for aninterview. A resume is also a demonstration of thequality of your work. Be sure your writing is clearand succinct and that your resume has a profes-sional presentation. A resume will do two things for you during your job search. First, it will be a sales brochure,advertising the best reasons to consider you for aposition. Remember that, on average, a hiring professional will spend about 30 seconds review-ing your resume; so you have a very limitedamount of time to convince a prospectiveemployer that it’s worth his or her time to add youto the interview list.Second, your resume will provide a guide forthe interview. Employers often basetheir interview questions on the skillsand experience listed in your resume.Use your resume to lead interviewersto ask questions about your mostimpressive and relevant qualificationsor achievements. Prioritize the mostrelevant information at the top of your resume.
Writing a Winning Resume
 The first step in writing a winning resume requires you to definethe position or type of position you are looking for and assess your top qualifications. If you areapplying for several types of jobs, consider writing a different resume for each. Your resume will be most effective when you target a specifictype of job, and then describe how your skills,abilities, and experience qualify you for thatposition.For each job type, research the job responsi-bilities and requirements for the position. You
Interviews and Salary Negotiations
 
paign that increased orders by 30% in less thanone month.” This statement describes thesituation or challenge you faced (declining sales),the Action you took (developed a campaign), andthe Benefit of your actions (a 30% increase inorders). Always quantify or qualify the accom-plishments and achievements described in your Action-Benefit statement. When you are quantifying results, considerthe impact of your work in measurable terms andinclude the numbers, percents, dollars, and other values that represent your experience in the bestpossible light.
Before:
Supervised a large staff of retailemployees covering multipleterritories. Effectively managedbusiness unit P&L and consistently grew profits.
 After:
 Ten years experience managing 15employees across multiple territo-ries. Effectively managed P&L of $10 million business unit. Consis-tently generated 30-35% grossprofit. Alternatively, when you arequalifying accomplishments, consider describing the process, depicting the environment, andincluding the personal characteristics that a futureemployer would consider valuable.
Before:
Increased sales through cold-calling,follow-up, and account management.
 After:
Consistently grew revenue and profits ina rapidly changing environment throughaggressive cold-calling, persistent follow-up, and relationship-focused accountmanagement.
Prepare Resumes & Letters
“...a precise description of an action you took that  produced a tangible and measurable result...” 
can find this information by browsing through thejob advertisements for your occupation. Deter-mine what your responsibilities will be, what skills,abilities, and knowledge you’ll need, and whatpersonal and professional characteristics arerequired for success. Once you have determinedthe requirements of the position, analyze yourpast experience, accomplishments, education, andtraining for examples of work and personalcharacteristics and begin building your resume ina way that best demonstrates your ability tosucceed. The best resumes describe your accomplish-ments and experience in terms of an Action-Benefit statement, which is a precisedescription of an action you took that produced a tangible and measur-able result that benefited yourcompany.
Writing Powerful Action-Benefit Statements
 Action-Benefit statements useyour accomplishments and experi-ence to demonstrate the positiveimpact you can have on a company’sbottom line. An Action-Benefitstatement consists of:
 Action:
 A job responsibility or specific actionthat you took when faced with a situa-tion, problem, or opportunity thatenabled you to achieve a positive result.
Benefit:
 The positive result or benefit to theorganization, such as an increase inrevenue, a reduction in costs, streamlinedprocesses or systems, or improvedmorale. An Action-Benefit statement might read“Analyzed declining sales and developed cam-
 The best resumes describe youraccomplishments and experience interms of an Action-Benefitstatement...
 
to companies and time frames. This is usually thepreferred format if you are applying for a similaror more advanced position in the same field.
Use this format if:
 You want to highlight stability, consistency,growth, and development in your career. Your most recent position is the one most likely to impress prospective employers. You are looking for a similar or more seniorposition within the same industry.
 Advantages:
Enables an employer to determine,at a glance, where and when you’ve worked and what youaccomplished at each job.Is the most common and widely accepted format.Provides the employer with a clearsense of your career progress.
Disadvantages:
Limited work experience andemployment gaps are obvious.Could reveal a history of changing jobs frequently.Could reveal if you were in the same job too long or have held the same type of job too long.Does not highlight skills and accomplishments asmuch as it highlights work history.
Functional Format
If you are changing careers, or have gaps orother inconsistencies in your work history, afunctional resume is recommended. The func-tional format emphasizes your skills, capabilities,and accomplishments, and de-emphasizes yourjob titles, employers, and dates of employment. The functional format allows you to prioritizeyour experience and accomplishments according 
4th Edition, Volume 2 
“There are three basic types of resumes: chronological, functional, and combined.” 
 When writing an Action-Benefit statement, itis unnecessary to provide details on how yousolved the problem. You can provide this infor-mation at the interview. Focus on the results asopposed to the process. If your Action-Benefitstatements are powerful enough, employers willinvite you in for an interview just to see how youachieved the results.
How Long Should a Resume Be?
 A resume should be as long asneeded to list your best and mostrelevant qualifications for the job youare seeking. For recent graduates orthose with only a few years of experience, you should be able to putall your relevant experience on asingle page. If you have extensiveexperience in your field, you may require a two-page resume to list allof your relevant experience. Insteadof considering the length of yourresume, make sure that it is clear andconcise, and that the information isrelevant to the position you are seeking. The most important consideration for a resume isnot length, but whether it sufficiently describesyour best qualifications for the job.
What Type of Resume Should I Use?
 There are three basic types of resumes:chronological, functional, and combined. Thissection describes each type of resume and theiradvantages and disadvantages.
Chronological Format
Chronological is preferred by most employersbecause it clearly demonstrates your work history and professional growth. The chronologicalformat focuses on the chronology of your work history by highlighting dates of employment,places of employment, and job titles. This formatdirectly ties responsibilities and accomplishments
 A resume should be as long asneeded to list your best andmost relevant qualifications...
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