| This post is part of our series on free resume help. Learn why the format of your resume (and cover letter) is important.
You can’t judge a book by its cover — but you can, and will, judge a resume (and cover letter!) by its appearance. A recruiter’s first glimpse at your resume can make or break your chances of getting that resume read — and seriously considered. A professional resume writer is skilled at formatting your resume to maximize three things:
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Career
In a professionally written resume (whether it is a green resume or a general professional resume), the accomplishments for each of your previous positions will be clearly highlighted to facilitate resume-skimming and get readers’ attention. Clearly defined accomplishments help readers see at a glance the nature of your achievements — and your potential value in a new role. But the accomplishments themselves are only half the story — the way those accomplishments are conveyed is almost as important. Here are 3 examples of how your key accomplishments can be transformed with the dynamic, targeted writing and presentation in which a professional resume writer specializes.
Example #1
BEFORE:
I helped my company bring in about $750,000 in new revenue.
AFTER:
Generated $750K new revenue by forging C-level relationships in high-potential markets.
Employing a professional resume writer is your best bet for developing a dynamic, attention-getting document that will get your foot in the door. In the meantime, however, there are a few things you can do to tweak your existing resume and put yourself on the path to resume success. These 5 tips will help strengthen and clarify your accomplishments and tighten your resume’s focus.
1. Separate your tasks from your achievements.
One of the best quick improvements you can make to your resume is to clearly separate your day-to-day tasks from your achievements for each of your job positions. If you’ve used bullet points for every item within a job description, put your day-to-day tasks in paragraph form, and save the bullets for the accomplishments. If your resume is bullet-free, tease out your achievements and make them stand out with bullets. If a reader has just a few seconds to skim your resume, make it easy for him or her to find your accomplishments fast—don’t bury them in a sea or words or a forest of bullets.
With all the discussion surrounding the US economic stimulus package, which will nudge into Europe and the rest of the globe in the coming months, I have been tracking the job boards on sites like CleanTechies to see if I can spot a trend in the sort of people that are being attracted to clean tech organisations around the world.