Career Success Center

CREATING THE TARGETED SALES TOOL (RESUME)
You have created your Career Diary/Journal and made sure you are a match for the position. Now it is time to develop the powerful sales tool that will win you interviews. This sales tool is your targeted resume. Before you begin make sure you think about your resume as a work of art. There are some rules to follow but you can be creative or functional as possible to make sure you reach your target. Three things to think about when developing your targeted resume are:

1. What Components/Sections to include
2. What Format to choose
3. What is the best style

Components/Sections
Every resume needs to include certain categories of information for an employer to evaluate. Your resume should contain the following components:

Personal Letterhead (Contact Information)
Summary of Qualification
Experience
Education
Training
Awards & Honors
Skills
Associations & Affiliations
Objective

Personal Letterhead
Think about every business or organization that you have worked at or received a letter from. They have letterhead that professionally represents them and provides contact information. Since you are like your own business selling yourself to employers you need to have a header that professionally represents you. Your personal letterhead on your resume should include your name, address, phone number, and email address. When developing your resume, it is visually appealing to use a large font (18 - 24 pt size) for your name. Include your local address, phone number (cell or home) and email so that an employer can easily reach you. Great fonts for your personal letterhead include: Times, Times New Roman, and Palatino.

A quick note about email addresses. It is best and preferred to use a personal email address rather than your work one during your job hunt. Most employers are not interested in you being contacted by other employers through the email account they provide you. Consider getting a free email account or use one from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Make sure the email is professional and has your name or initials rather than nicknames, pet names or various letter/number combinations. Remember everything must be a professional representation of you. Also employers do consider that if you are using your work email account to job hunt and contact them then what will stop you from doing that if they hire you.

Summary of Qualifications (Optional)
If you had to describe yourself and why an employer should consider you for an interview in 10 – 30 seconds, what would you say? What you choose to say is what the Summary of Qualifications section contains. These are your top selling points in 3 to 5 bulleted sentences or a brief paragraph. The summary will catch an employer’s attention and make them want to read more. Other names for this section include: Profile and Highlights of Qualifications.

Experience
Many people call this section your employment history but I do not. This is your experience section rather than employment. Experience can be everything from your work and volunteer experiences to internships. Experience is experience no matter where you get if from. The way you structure your “experience” section will depend on the career field and job you are targeting and what you have done. Your experience can be listed by relevance or chronologically and include employer, position title, location, and dates employed. You should also you’re your duties and responsibilities, achievements, significant contributions, and demonstrated skills.

When describing your experience make sure you make it is interesting and clear as possible and remember to use active verbs to describe your experience. Use qualitative and quantitative results, achievements and success stories to describe your experience and contribution to the organization. Your experience should not read as a job description written by the human resource department but like an advertisement of what you have done, are capable of doing and can offer to a new employer. Make sure your targeted resume will make a distinction between you and other candidates and make an employer want to talk to you.

In developing a targeted resume you will want to divide your experience into targeted sections. For example, if you are targeting a job as a teacher and have both a teaching and business experience develop two sections. The first is “Teaching Experience” and the second can be listed as “Business Experience” or “Additional Experience” and will list all other experiences outside of teaching. This will catch the employer hiring teacher attention right away.

Education
In this section, include any information about your degree(s), certificates, licenses or any education received, including location (city and state) and when you graduated; date(s); major, minor, or concentration; certification; and academic awards and honors. Make sure you use the official names for schools, degrees, and majors/minors. If you have taken courses, conducted research and written major papers or worked on projects that are relevant to the job you are targeting then make sure you list them. This is a great benefit if you don’t have a great amount of work experience in the career field you are targeting.

Many people ask whether or not to include your Grade Point Average (GPA). The rule is to include your GPA if it is an asset which means that if your GPA is a 3.0 or higher. If the GPA in your major is strong, you can also include it.

Training
During our professional careers many of us receive training and professional development to increase our knowledge, advance our skills and improve our productivity. This section is where you will list any training that is relevant to the job or career field you are targeting. Also make sure you list all training that is transferable to any career field. This includes leadership, management, financial, communication, customer service and other training.

Awards & Honors
If you have received any awards or honors this is the place to show them. Some may be professional others may be for your work with a community or civic organization. No matter where they are from if they can demonstrate a record of achievement and accomplishment then you should list them. Any professional awards and honors, especially those relevant to the career field should always be listed first. If you have too many to list, pick those that are the most relevant and demonstrate your best. These will be the ones you may be asked about or can discuss during your interview.

Skills
This is the area where you list all of your skills. This includes computer, foreign languages, and any special skills relevant to career field you are targeting. With so many organizations using computers and various software applications it is critical to include your knowledge of computer programs, hardware, software, database knowledge, and/or Internet functions. If you have work with any specialized systems or equipment relevant to your career field make sure you list them in this section.

Associations & Affiliations
For every profession imaginable there is usually an association or organization that represents the interests and professional development of individual involved in that industry or career field. If you are not involved in one of these then you should definitely consider joining. These organizations provide a great network, professional and career development. If you are a member of these professional associations then this is where you should list them. Only list the organizations that are relevant to the career field you are targeting.

Objective (Optional)
Objectives allow employers to immediately identify the kind of position you are targeting. Many people use the cover letter rather than using an objective because the first sentence in the cover letter tells the employer the position applying. If you are looking for jobs in a number of different fields it is better to develop your resume without objective statements. The one thing to remember is that the objective, if used, should be targeted to the job or career field. Do not write an objective that is generic, vague and meaningless.

Resume Formats
The next step in this process is to begin formatting your resume. The targeted resume is not just a piece of paper listing your work history. A targeted resume is:

An advertisement that sells you to employers of interest
Your representative who tells employers the benefits of hiring you
A work of art that can be created

There are several formats that are standards in writing your resume. Some are straight to the point and have stringent guidelines while others provide you the flexibility to create a resume that is unique and creative but wins the interview. When deciding on your format make sure you base your decision on what is best for your targeted job search. Because a format is popular or commonly used does not mean it is best. Think about what format will get quickly get an employers attention and represent you the best. This will be the format you select. Consider using the following the resume formats:

Chronological
Functional
Combination
Targeted
Creative
Curriculum Vitae
International
Chronological Resume

The chronological resume organizes your work and educational experience in reverse chronological order from most current to least current. The chronological resume is a common, popular format that is very familiar to employers. This format is effective when you are applying for jobs within your career field and there is a clear record of advancement and achievement. With this resume you provide detailed job descriptions in your work experience
A chronological resume is advantageous when:

Your work history and achievements demonstrates steady progress and advancement
Your recent jobs are impressive
You are staying within the same career field or industry
A chronological resume is not advantageous when:
You are changing career fields
You have changed jobs frequently
You have large gaps in your job history.

Functional (Skills) Resume
The functional resume focuses on transferable abilities and relies on skill-based sections to demonstrate qualifications targeted towards particulars positions and career fields. The functional resume focuses less on job titles, employers and dates and more on skills. You will not describe each work experience as you would in a chronological resume, instead you group everything into skill headings based on what the employer wants in a candidate. These skill sections may include: leadership, research, management, financial, computer skills, etc.

After your skills are cover you will develop the work history, education and other sections demonstrating how you used or developed these skills. This format is highly effective for:

Career changers
First time job hunters
Persons re-entering the workforce after a long absence
When your training and experience do not match the qualifications for the job.
Job seekers with varied work backgrounds or little direct experience for the type of job they want.

The functional resume provides job seekers the opportunity to demonstrate how their skills, work experience, and accomplishments would be beneficial to the targeted employer.
The functional resume is advantageous when you:

Want to highlight your skills and competencies that are transferable to various career fields, industries and organizations.
Want to emphasize skills that were not used in a recent job.
Want to focus on skills and accomplishments rather than an employment history.
Are changing careers or re-entering the job market.
Want to market skills and experience gained through coursework, internships and/or volunteer experience.
Have a variety of unrelated work experience.
Want to downplay or hide gaps in employment history.

The functional resume is not advantageous when you:

Want to emphasize promotions and career growth.
Have significant work experience in a career field and employers and experience should be highlighted.

Combination
The combination resume combines the best aspects of the chronological and functional formats. This resume may include a skills summary, description of work experiences, and other sections found in one or both formats. The advantage of the combination format is that it can simultaneously highlight relevant skills, work experiences and education. This gives the targeted employer an understanding of your duties and responsibilities as well as the skills and credentials. All job seekers can use this format and if done correctly it can be very effective in winning interviews.

Targeted
The targeted resume focuses on building a resume that matches exactly what an employer is looking for in a candidate. As the employer scans or reads a targeted resume they will see everything they are looking for in a candidate. Summary of qualifications, education and other sections are used but the key to the targeted resume is that it breaks work experience into relevant sections based on the career field being targeted. Experience is listed based on relevance to the targeted employer and career field. If you have significant accounting experience and are targeting an accounting position then you will develop an “Accounting Experience” section. In this section you will list your accounting experiences in order of relevance based on employers needs and wants in a candidate. A targeted resume will also list skills, training and education relevant to the career field and the employer needs and wants.

Creative
A creative resume is the most unique and risky formats of all resumes but it can work in winning the interview. This format allows the writer to use their imagination, originality and creativity to attract an employer’s attention. These resumes can take the form of brochures, newsletters, and portfolio’s. Some have been even as unique as cereal boxes with the candidates picture and skills on the box with the resume on the back. Some keep standard sections on the resume but use specialty paper with borders and backgrounds. The creative resume is usually best used in professions where creativity is valued in such as advertising, marketing, graphic design, art, media, etc.

Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Curriculum Vitae’s are specially designed resumes used by people in academic, scientific, research, and medical communities to apply for positions and are commonly used by persons with doctoral or advance degrees. CV’s as they are commonly referred focuses on an individuals, education, research, publications, presentations as it relates to a specific career field in chronological order. While resumes are usually 1 – 3 pages, CV’s can go from 5 to 20 pages depending on the extensive nature of the work, experience, research, publishing, etc. A well-written and formatted CV is the key to securing an interview with a search committee. Depending on the position being targeted applicants are sometimes asked to include transcripts, teaching evaluations, research, writings, proposals and other samples of their work along with their CV.

International Resume
For an increasingly number of people there is a growing desire work in another country. With many companies becoming multinational there are opportunities in everything from teaching to working in business. The rules for applying to international jobs often times varies from country to country. In Europe some countries like the United Kingdom use resumes while others like Germany use CV’s. Many countries do not use the regular resume format that gives your work experience and education in a brief 1 to 2 page persuasive summary. International CV’s often give personal details, including name, address, date of birth, your telephone number (with international access code) and your civil status. Before applying for an international job be sure you find out and understand the application rules and procedures of the targeted country. From there develop your International CV following the guidelines of developing a standard CV.

Now you are into the final stages of developing your targeted resume when you are ready to apply for the position. Technology advancements have resulted in employers having several ways to accept resumes/application materials from candidates. These include:

Mail – Regular mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, FED EX or other mail delivery services.
Fax – Sending your resume from one fax to the employers listed fax number.
Email – Sending your resume via email to the employers listed email address. Make sure you use a email address that you developed that represents you professionally. Do not use your work email or any address that has nicknames.
Online Applications – Many employers now use online applications where you can cut and paste your resume into text fields and submit it to the organization. These applications may be on the organization’s Internet site or on online job search engines like Washington Post Jobs, Monster, Hot Jobs, and Career Builder. Candidates can also post their resumes on these job search sites for employers to review and to make it easier for you to apply for positions.

Depending on the way an employer wants you to apply will depend on the style of resume you will send. There are several styles to consider:

Presentation
E-Resumes
Scannable

Presentation
The presentation style resume is used when you have to apply via mail, fax or email your resume as an attachment. It should be visually appealing, have a professional layout and standard fonts such as Times, Times New Roman, and Helvetica for headings and content. When choosing font sizes consider using between 10 – 12 point for content and 14 – 16 point for headings. There is no one right way to develop a resume but do make sure that your resume is easily scannable and readable and appealing to the eye. Never underestimate the power of a visually appealing resume. Just like a great looking brochure or car catches your eye, a great looking resume will do the same.

When sending your resume via mail make sure you use 8.5 x 11 bond, linen or cotton fiber resume paper. Many office stores will paper designated as resume paper. When selecting color make sure you choose neutral colors such as white, beige, or light gray. Also send your resume in a letter size envelope where you do not have to fold the resume. If you plan to fax your resume make sure you print it out on white paper and send a cove sheet along with your resume and cover letter.

When applying via email make sure you attach your documents to the email. You should also consider pasting a text version of your resume and cover letter into the body of the email. This brings up to our next resume style, E-Resumes.

E-Resumes (ASCII Text)
The advance of technology has resulted in the new ways for candidates to apply for positions. Now applications can be receive via email and through online application systems. E-Resumes are used to apply to both. An E-Resume is a plain text (.txt) or ASCII text resume that can be read by any computer no matter what operating system, word processing program or database being used. ASCII stands for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange and it is a plain format containing no bullets, no fonts, no graphics, etc. When applying using email or online applications you can paste your E-Resume into the body or text field.

Scannable
Scannable resumes are those suitable for scanning by an OCR (Optical Character Reader) scanner. If a company is using scanners they will usually indicate that you follow a particular format. Make sure you do this. For many organizations using scanners if one mistake is detected the resume may not be scanned properly and thrown out. There are a couple things to remember when developing a scannable resume.

Do use white paper
Do not use fancy fonts and graphics
Keep all text left justified
Use common headings such as Summary of Qualifications, Education, Skills, etc.
Make sure you use common fonts like Times, Times New Romans and Helvetica and point sizes from 10 – 12.

Well you know have what you need to develop a targeted resume. It is not the easiest process but if done correctly it will yield some great results in your job search and will be well worth it. Remember targeted resume win interviews with employers, generic resumes don’t.

Happy hunting!!!

Derrick T. Dortch