Building Your Resume

The Body of the Resume
Experience / Employment History / Skills
In this section of the resume, you will tell the potential employer what companies you have worked with and the positions you have held. You will also give a brief history of your responsibilities and accomplishments that correspond with each job. The key here is brevity. Brevity is very important because a wordy document could lose the reader, be an irritant and/or lead the reader to think you will not get right to the job.
Hiring managers may scan over your resume for buzzwords and phrases that quickly identifies you as a possible good fit for the position. A wordy document gives greater opportunity to say something you should not. Finally, this section of your resume is to show what you did, where you did it and when you do it. Not how you did it. A more detailed explanation on your work history is what takes place in the interview not on the resume.
Buzzwords are important because when you submit your resume on line, some organizations use a computer application that scans for such buzzwords that match their needs as they are down loaded and absent that kind of connection, your resume may not go any farther.
Some examples of buzzwords and phrases you should consider using are, implemented, developed, coached, led team, coordinated, organized and managed.

‘How to layout your employment section’
Arrange this section of your resume in reverse chronological order beginning with your current or most recent position.
There are several possible layouts for this section and any one of them would do just fine. It is very important to be consistent, if you have several jobs to list, each one should follow the same format. Here is an example of a basic layout that works well:

COMPANY NAME
(Big World Sales Corp.)
Your Position Dates you worked (from – to)
(General Manager) (June 2007 to May 2010)
List your duties, responsibilities, results and accomplishments here.
When speaking about your results and accomplishments, include numbers and percentages.
Example;
‘Oversee hiring, training and development of 235 associates’
‘Implemented sales contest that led to $350.000 increase for the quarter’.
‘Reduced overall expenses 6.0% for the year by coaching team on improving controllable expenses ’.
Using brief concise sentences include all positive results for each position you list. Give the most information for your most recent job and any of the positions most relevant to the position you are seeking. One important point to remember when creating this section is you should consider all possible skills you may have used. For example, if you were a part of a team although not the leader but were instrumental in reaching a goal, you should include it as an accomplishment (Teamwork).
If you have held several jobs, you need only focus on the last ten years depending on how long you have been in the workforce. However, be prepared to talk about older jobs if asked.
If you have very limited job experience or just completing school, focus on the education section making sure to include any additional training classes you have taken. In this case, you should also put more emphasis on what type of position you are looking for in your Objective Statement.
Look for my next article, which will cover the final two sections of the resume that are the simplest and easiest to create.
The Contact / Identifying Information and The Education sections.
Here is a link to my last article for your review. The Arc of Success: The Objective Statement
Control your own destiny
Ty Ferrell