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Creating a résumé or CV is central to the search for a job, but is something most of us hate doing.  Unfortunately, very few people are adept at presenting themselves in the best possible light and this can mean their application is rejected at the first hurdle.

One of the biggest mistakes most people make is sending out the same résumé for every application. It’s a big temptation – you’ve spent hours getting the details and layout just right, or perhaps you’ve paid a considerable amount of money to have someone write it professionally. The trouble is, each résumé needs to be tailored to the job in question, and it’s vital that you do this if you want to stand out from the crowd.

What does tailoring a résumé mean? It simply means writing it specifically for the post you are targeting. To do this you must recognise the keywords the employer will be looking for and relate them to your own experience. Keywords will be found in the job description and person specification, or in the job advertisement and on the company website. They describe the skills, qualifications and experience needed for the post. Keywords should stand out on your résumé – don’t forget that in the first round of the selection process, résumé s are usually only given a 20 second glance. So if the interviewer doesn’t see what he’s looking for, your résumé is destined for the shredder.

Here’s an example of targeting: let’s say you are a secretary who speaks several languages and can take shorthand in all of them, but are applying for a job in an office where only English and audio are used. Languages and shorthand, impressive as they are, would not be the most prominent skills on your résumé. Instead, you would focus on the skills required, which might be fast typing, advanced Excel or Powerpoint. Languages and shorthand would be mentioned briefly, perhaps under the heading “Additional Skills.”

Another common mistake, usually made by older applicants, is including their entire work and educational history. It’s usual (in the UK) for CVs to go back only 10 years in terms of work and if you have a degree, school qualifications can be omitted, unless specifically requested or relevant. Employers occasionally ask for a full CV, in which case you do have to include everything.

Choosing the wrong format can also condemn your résumé to the bin - different styles work best in specific situations. Many people stick to the chronological résumé, but this is not always the most appropriate. It works well if you have been steadily progressing up the ladder in a particular career, or if your most recent jobs are likely to impress the company you hope to work for.

A skills-based or functional résumé is great if you have gaps in your work history, as you can use it to highlight the fact that you have exactly the skills the employer is looking for. It’s also useful if you are moving to a new career or area of work and your work experience isn’t completely relevant.

A targeted résumé is aimed at a precise job or career, for example if you retrained as a teacher in your 30s or 40s and were applying for a teaching post, your work-related heading might be “Teaching Experience” and your main skills would all be relevant to teaching, for example using IT in the classroom and curriculum development. For soft skills, such as communication skills and team work, you would use examples from your teaching career.

You may need to have different styles of résumé for different applications. If we use the previous example of the secretary, she might have had a series of language related jobs and is now applying for linguist and non linguist posts. She could choose a chronological résumé for the language jobs and a functional résumé for the others.

To sum up, individualise every résumé for the job concerned, choose the most suitable format for the situation and remember: keywords must jump out at the reader in the first 20 seconds.

© Waller Jamison 2005

A sample letter to use as a guide when preparing your follow up letters can assist your job search, save you time, and make you look very professional.  Take a look at the following, and use it as a guide when preparing your own follow up letters.

SAMPLE FOLLOW UP LETTER

Date
Decision Maker, Position
Company
Address
City
State, Zip code
Dear (use name),

I wanted to touch base with you concerning my recent application with your company.  Knowing you are busy I’ve enclosed another copy of my resume for your review.

My interests and work experience are in the areas of sales and sales management.  Having worked with Xyz company for the past seven years as a sales representative, I have strong experience and believe I could be a strong asset to your organization.

I would appreciate the opportunity to visit with you in person, and will call next week to check on your availability.

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
John Doe

Resume enclosed

Use this sample as a template, and change the relevant portions of it to fit your own skills, experience and interests.  Customize it, and send it out a week or ten days after you send out every resume, to each company that you’ve applied to.  Following up is a skill that many people fail to learn, and it can make all the difference in getting an interview.  Experiment with it, put sentences and paragraphs into your own words, and make it read like you wrote it.  Don’t get the impression that the letter must be used “as is” without changes.  It is a sample, or a template if you will, and is designed to be a guide for you to follow, not the end result itself.

This sample letter can also be used when applying online through the various job bank services on the Internet.  They all have a place for a resume and cover letter.  A week or ten days after applying, it doesn’t hurt to apply again, using the sample as a guide in the space normally reserved for a cover letter for your second application.

In addition to the follow up letter, your personal marketing toolbox should include other essentials.  These should include a well written resume, plenty of copies on good quality paper, a sample cover letter you can use for customization, copies of your reference sheet, a salary history, plain paper photo copies of letters of recommendation from previous employers, a sample thank you letter to use after the interview, and a job acceptance letter template you can use when you get hired. 

You’ll also need to practice your interviewing skills.  So you can see that while the follow up letter is valuable, there are many other things you need to have when job hunting if you want to look like the professional that you are.

The teaching industry is filled with competition for just a few jobs available in certain areas, so knowing how to write a resume for teachers is a very important part of getting in front of the school board and getting your own classroom.  I know this from experience as I am currently looking for my first teaching position having just graduated from college.  There really is an art to knowing how to write a resume for teachers.  Here are a few things I have learned.

What administrators care about on your resume is your teaching experience.  They also like to see any brief outlines of unique lesson plans or advancements that you have made in the classroom.  If you belong to any organizations, you should always include that on your resume as well as any achievements and awards you have been given as a result of your teaching career or your teacher education.

Always list what type of certification you have along with what grades you are available to teach and any endorsements you have gotten in your education.  If you have attended classes other than those required by your educational program, you should also include this information.

Some people, when learning how to write a resume for teachers want to show their creativity in the classroom on their resumes.  As long as it does not get out of hand, we think this could be a great way to set you apart from the hundreds of other applicants.  Maybe you will want to include a picture of yourself in the classroom or some pictures of you with your children.  Perhaps you want to include a border around the outside of your resume with apples or chalkboards.  If you are going to take a step like this, however, please be cautious and know where you are applying.  Often, small, rural schools prefer this type of resume rather than the larger ones, so keep that in mind!

Make sure that you also include any organizations you belong to and any offices you have held or are holding within these organizations.  For teachers, membership in the National Education Association, The International Association of Reading, and such can be very important.

Knowing how to write a resume for teachers is not much different than writing a resume for any other job.  However, you will want to include information on the resume that shows what you can do as a teacher and how you will approach the classroom environment.  Then you will know how to write a resume for teachers that can get you into the school and on to a great job!

When you have taken the time to write a resume that you are proud of, you will probably want to know how to write a reference page for a resume that will best reflect the unique qualities that you are able to bring to this job.  There really is no secret to writing a reference page, but there are some basic rules that you should follow.

When learning how to write a reference page for a resume, you need to make sure that everyone who you put on your reference page knows that you are using them as a reference.  You will want to have a diverse group of references that include professional references as well as personal references so that you can give your potential employer a great idea of who you are and what you are capable of. 

There really is no magic formula that can teach you how to write a reference page for a resume.  But there are some guidelines that you should follow.  First, as we have mentioned before, be sure all of your references know that they are being put down as a reference for you.  You should include all contact information on your reference page for the people who will be vouching for you.  If your potential employer wants to contact your references, they need to be able to actually contact them.  Make sure that the contact information you have for your references is up to date and current.

When you are trying to learn how to write a reference page for a resume, you should always include your name and contact information at the top of the reference page.  After that, you should list the people who will be your references along with their contact information.  Some people like to include a line that says why you are including them as a reference such as “This is my student teaching supervisor” or “This is my professorial mentor”.

It is a good idea to take and center all of the information in the middle of the page when you are trying to learn how to write a reference page for a resume.  You should, of course, include your own contact information at the top of the page to begin with.  Then, after that, list the people who will vouch for you as well as your abilities.

Hiring a resume service to put together your resume can be a really good idea – especially if you are not really sure how to make a resume that can accurately convey your experience and abilities.  Hiring a resume service can be a great move to help you project a professional image and help you get the job that you really want.  How do you go about hiring a resume service, though?

First, look in the Yellow Pages and see if there are any businesses that offer a resume service in your area.  You can also utilize the Internet since we are now living in the Information Age.  You can just e-mail the resume service all of your information and they put it together in a gorgeous format that is sure to impress you as well as any prospective employers.  Look to your community college as well for a resume service.  These types of services are often provided for free and are meant to help you craft your own resume with a minimum of involvement and just a little bit of advice.

Keep in mind that if you want to hire a resume service to make your resume, you will have to pay a fee for it.  If you think that the rates the resume service is charging is a little more than you want to pay, just move on to another one.  This writer once had her own resume service.  I learned by trial and error how much to charge people.  I also learned about the headaches of non-paying customers, but that is a different story!  At any rate, while times have changed considerably since I had my business, it is not uncommon to find a service that will ask for anywhere from $25 to $50 for a resume and then another $20 or so for a cover letter.

Now, you might be feeling a little sticker shock here, but realize that when you hire a resume service, you are getting a professional.  That means that the person who is doing your resume has had experience putting together winning resumes and you will have a quality product for your money.

If you are serious about getting the job of your dreams and have little to no experience crafting a resume, you may want to look into hiring a resume service to help you along the way.  All you need to do is give them pertinent information and then wait for the finished product to arrive in your e-mailbox.  After that, you take the beautiful resume that your resume service has provided, send it out to prospective employers and then wait for that phone call!