Without relevant interviews, you will not be getting any offers. So in order to achieve this goal of getting a job offer, the compressed biography of your achievements must be stellar.
Keep in mind that this is a summary of your achievements, not of your life story. Most importantly, write a well organized, concise CV.
In working towards this goal, keep in mind the goal of your resume. This goal is to get you an interview. Be sure that your resume stays within those boundaries and is a neat and well organized document. In the same vein, keeping your resume neat and organized will ensure that you know the contents of your resume inside and out.
Too many college grads, especially, fill their resumes to hide any experience lacking, and upon landing an interview, hesitate when being asked specific questions about information included on the resume. Avoid this situation by arriving at the interview fully prepared to elaborate on anything you have included in the resume. A resume that sticks to the aim of getting an interview will be a resume that is carefully thought through and well organized, and which is focused on things relevant to your career past and career future.
Never lose sight of the objective of the resume. The main objective is to secure an interview. An effective resume conveys that the employer needs you. If you manage to secure an interview, you have won half the battle. Approach the interview as a live transmission and expansion of what has been stated in your resume. Do not view the interview as an hour of scrutiny upon your life and experiences.
Remember, your resume was good enough to be noticed, and your life achievements created the resume; thus you deserve the job. When composing your resume, review every point you have included, and check to see that it both states something positive about you and is said in an original way. Use words that indicate that because of you, things happen. Your presence was a catalyst in moving the company forward. Don’t be shy; the resume has no place for modesty, but it also has no place for bragging. In other words, your resume should turn heads, but never in doubt as to what have you said about yourself.
While achieving the goal of the resume – the interview, work to make an organized resume. Organization applies to all levels of the resume: the aesthetic format, the ordered placement of the facts, and the previous employments you choose to include. The aesthetics should be friendly to the eye, and help to draw attention to the most important points. Those that are most important should always be located nearer to the top. In other words, activities and employments that are most relevant and current should be listed first.
Bullet point formats are popular for their neatness and visual aid in drawing attention where it is due. Within each bullet point, include only the most applicable and important information that your future employer will want to know about your other jobs and activities. Keeping these points concise and to the point is helpful, as not much time is spent on reading a resume, so paragraphs describing a job will be skipped over. Concise points also help achieve the end of an aesthetically organized resume.
Every company wants well-organized employees, so showing off the bat that you are organized will be a benefit for you. No matter how gifted you are, if your resume looks like a crossword puzzle in its organization and format, it will be hard for the potential employer to see your talent. When your resume is well-written, clear, and organized, you are marketing to potential employers your writing skills along with good standards of neatness and organization. Having made this impression on paper will smooth your sailing for an easy interview, as the employer’s opinion of you will already be positive.
Once the interview date has been set, this is a time to calm your nerves instead of working them into a frenzy. Don’t forget that you are going on this interview because you have already impressed the employer. Your job now is to continue the positive impression already made, and to show your character, which can’t be shown on paper. The best way of continuing a positive impression is to be prepared to talk about yourself directly and in focus, just like your resume has.
When asked why you want to work in the specific career, don’t recount all the twists and turns in your life that have brought you to the conclusion; be to the point. Remember that you must be able to back up and expand on anything that you have included in your resume. Thankfully, that little piece of paper referred to as the resume has already accomplished quite a bit of work for you. It has informed the employer who you are, and what you want in a job. Now it is your turn to better acquaint yourself with who the employer is and what he wants in an employee.
View the interview with such an attitude: the chance for both potential employer and employee to learn more about each other.
The resume is your formal introduction to the career world. It discloses your talents to those who are seeking just such talents. To this aim, it is important not to lose sight of the goal of the resume. The resume lets the employer know who you are, why he needs you, and where he can reach you so that he can secure an interview with you.
Write your resume to reflect these goals, in a concise, organized and well-phrased document. Use this organized and well-phrased resume to your advantage at the interview, as the document is, essentially, the first impression that you have made. This is the manner in which you should view the preparation and presentation of your resume. Once at the interview, put a smile on your face and pat your resume on the back for the great job both you and it have already done – your dream career is now very near!
