Writing a great resume requires careful balance. While you should utilize a style that employers will be familiar with, you also need to find ways to highlight your abilities. Imagine your resume as an important self-marketing tool. The sole function of the well-written resume is to convince potential employers that YOU are the perfect candidate for the job you seek. As a career coach, I've come across many resumes over the years. Interestingly, most people struggle with the "self-promotional" aspect of resume creation, instead preferring to list out the titles they held at each job in their career history, and describing the tasks they performed while working at those jobs. It's fine to let your potential employer know the responsibilities that have been entrusted to you, but don't leave it at that. You need to let them know exactly why you are a better choice than the next job candidate who comes along. That means offering tangible evidence of your value. Next time you think of something positive to include on your list of career accomplishments, figure out a way to position the statement so that it appeals to the reader from a standpoint of need. Here are some very straightforward examples of how to turn achievements at your job into value-oriented statements that will help market you to your future boss. List of Career Accomplishments:
- Consolidated budget, established sales projections for 2004
- Helped develop order processing and fulfillment procedures for new department
- Assumed temporary manager role during director's extended absence
- Responsible for daily customer service including communicating with vendors and troubleshooting order issues
