Friday, December 26, 2008

New Trends For Old Resumes

By Craig Calvin

If you still think of your resume as simply a historical document of your working life it may be time to revamp your thinking and your resume. Studies show that the average resume gets only about 15 to 30 seconds to drive its point home and to, hopefully, impress your future employer. Today, resumes are leaning toward a hipper, more progressive tone. They play down age, and play up achievements using monetary gains and savings to accentuate the positive.

Selling yourself to a business is what it is all about and in today's market, employers relate to value proposition. That's a term that job seekers would be wise to incorporate into their resume to help sell themselves. It relates directly to tangible results the employer can expect from you, whether from cost cutting measures, or sales promotions you've led, bosses today want to see more money on their bottom line.

The old fashioned standard one-line objective statement has also long gone by the wayside. It has been replaced with a detailed resume summary near the top of the page. This paragraph cuts to the chase and directly expressses your goals and values to the company and how you can achieve their goals.

Play up your experience and down play your age. You don't want your old style resume to present you as too old for the job. Older applicants sometimes aren't given fair opportunities, though probably not often on purpose. If the boss is 20 years younger than you, then he may shy away from hiring someone who he considers old. Despite age discrimination laws, this still does go on and you can't afford to draw unwanted attention to your age if you are older.

So, how do you overcome that? You can begin by omitting the date that you graduated, and by including the jobs that you've held over the past 5 to 10 years ~ rather than the past 30. Use a vibrant, energetic tone, with words like "progressive", "results-oriented", and "savvy". Perhaps, one of the best ways to convey your value is to keep your skills (i.e. computer, and software skills) updated to a current level. Be sure to let your potential employer know that you are willing and capable of learning new technologies and skills quickly. Finally, skip the dreary rundown of your past employment listing your duties and responsibilities. Employers want you to highlight achievements you made while you at past jobs.

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment