by Alex Samson

Created on: February 02, 2009

It's a sad but depressing fact that everyday hundreds, if not thousands, of well-qualified, ideally suited professionals slip through the recruitment net because of poorly constructed resumes that fail to sell their skills in what is an increasingly competitive market place. They've worked hard to earn qualifications, experience, and know-how, but fail to recognize the importance of effective window dressing. Your resume is your store window. On an average day a recruiter could pass many store windows looking for the ideal candidate, they are only going to have time to stop at the ones that show their wares clearly. How do you make them stop long enough to consider coming inside for a better look? Why should they employ you and not the next guy in the pile?

There isn't as such a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to writing a resume, after all no two employers are the same and no two applicants' life experiences are the same. There are however a few principles that are worth sticking to:

Details, details. Many recruiters complain about people putting too much information in their resumes, when in fact they probably mean too much of the wrong
information. Some information simply has to be included in your resume, otherwise it's just another piece of paper waiting to be filed in the trash:

Personal stuff. Who are you? Where do you live? How can we reach you? When were you born?

What have you leaned and where did you learn it? Always list you qualifications, starting with the most recent. Be careful not to list qualifications that are too old or irrelevant (nobody probably needs to know you have a bronze swimming certificate, for example - unless the role in question is a lifeguard position).

Skills and experience. What do you bring to the table? Again keep it relevant.

References. Always, always list at least two people who can back up your general greatness.

Size matters. In recruitment size always matters. Nobody wants to sift through a resume longer than 2 pages. This means condensing your career story down, which leads neatly to the next principle.

Relevance. With size in mind, always keep the resume to the point. This can mean having multiple resumes on file ready to be targeted at particular industries when roles that are of interest appear on the radar. After all, you wouldn't send an IT oriented resume with an application for a retail management position would you? Likewise, you wouldn't extol the virtues of a well organized stockroom if you were shooting for a position in a support center. Target your resume at the right audience; this means putting the right information in the right resume. It's a bit of a chore maintaining several different resumes, but it is a task that pays good dividends.

Aesthetics still count for something. The world is a fast-moving, utilitarian kind of place these days, but that doesn't mean that a well turned out document is a thing of the past. Ask yourself this, would you rather read a hand-scrawled, rambling note on the back of a napkin or the finished published article? It's true, your resume is just a two page summary of who you are and what you can do, but it is perhaps the most important two pages you may ever write. Give it the time and dedication it deserves by presenting it in a clear and concise format. Make it easy on the eye.

There's a well used clich (often the most important truths are, otherwise we wouldn't remember them) about resumes being your door into the job you want. Take pride in who you are and what you have achieved up till now. Present yourself in the best possible light so that you can take the next step on the path you want to take.

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