Writing Persuasive Cover Letters

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Winning Resume in Seven Steps

A resume is your first introduction to an employer. It must be an impressive one so that yours would stand out in the pile and would make the employers notice you and be interested in knowing more about you in the interview stage.

1. Statement of purpose is the first piece of information on your resume. Make it clear, precise and targeted towards the job you are applying for. If it is an executive assistant position you are after, say so in your statement of purpose. This will help the hiring committee connect you right away to the role being advertised.

2. Summarize the proficiencies that will make you stand out among the rest of the applicants. In a precise, targeted way lay out what is unique about you. You may also state your educational credentials such as M.A., B.Ed., M.B.A., etc. This could be done in a short paragraph format.

3. State about ten of your key proficiencies as they relate to the job. These could be in a bulleted or a numbered list format. The intent here is to give a snapshot of who you are and why you are the best candidate for this job. It lays out right there the ten key skills the employer is looking for. Job postings relating to your area of expertise may come in handy in this case. You can scan them for what kind of skills employers are adding in the job ads and select a few relevant to your back ground. If you are more of a technical expert you may want to list your command over required technical skills or if you are in the field of human resources you could list ten or so competencies relating to that particular field.

4. Next comes another crucial part of the resume where you are going to give details regarding your work experience. Try to give just enough information so that the readers are going to have a clear picture of the extent of your experience. Do not make it confusing or extra-long or short. Solid facts and figures are precisely what you need. For example, let them know how much money you saved through careful planning and budgeting or how you managed a team of a certain number of professionals and accomplished tasks in a timely fashion. Facts and figures add weight to the achievements and make them way more impressive and outstanding.

5. Work experience may be followed by education and training. This section will be simple and straight forward. List all the degrees or qualifications relating to the job. Do not make it complicated or confusing by giving too much information here. Any professional training relevant to the job will be very helpful and must be presented in a way that it will not be missed.

6. If you have affiliation with a professional body or if you have some publications relevant to the job you are applying for, you may want to add them right after the education and training section. This could be entitled as other relevant qualifications.

7. You may conclude the resume by adding your interests or hobbies. It is not a compulsory item but could add another dimension to the resume. If you have a unique interest or if you have worked hard to achieve a certain level in a sport, you could add it to the resume. It could be another way of connecting with the hiring authority. However, stay away from mentioning any interests that may be political or controversial.

Resume writing as any other skill becomes better with practice. Also, there could be many different ways of doing a resume. You could decide on one that may be more suited to your personal style and needs. In general, do pay attention to the proper use of language and grammar, overall structure of the resume and content that you are adding to it. The more effort you put into it the better it will be and the hiring committee usually is able to recognize an outstanding resume. All the best with your job search.