10 Tips for Winning Resumes

Analysts are predicting unemployment rates may hit 10 percent by the end of 2009. While finding a new job in this squeezed economy will be challenging, it is not impossible. Jobs are still waiting to be filled. Take a look at this top-10 list for creating a resume and finding a job in today’s challenging job market:

1. Be patient. In a healthy economy, it takes – from start to finish – about three months to find a job that is a good fit. In today’s squeezed job market, it may take four, five or six months. That’s why it’s always a good reason to be looking for a new job before it’s urgent.
2. Spend time on a company’s Website before you even send a resume. Determine the normal protocols for submitting (snail mail, fax, electronically), and then use the company’s preferred method. It’s also a good idea to get a feel for the corporate culture as you scour the company’s Website. A cultural “fit” is essential.
3. Put keywords in both the cover letter and resume. Most likely these keywords can be found in the job description. Make sure a large percentage of the prospective company’s keywords appear in the submitted resume and cover letter (providing, of course, you have these skills). For instance, if the job description mentions Excel or HTML, then these keywords should appear in your resume under a Computer Skills heading.
4. Submit a cover letter, whether it’s required or not. Go the extra mile. Job seekers should tell the prospective employer what position he or she is applying for, where they heard about the job and bring to light anything that helps them to stand out above the rest of the applicants.
5. When putting together a resume, spend the bulk of time on content rather than design, and make sure you create two versions – a plain text version (ASCII) as well as a standard version (with design elements, such as bullets, rules, italics). Fortune 500 hiring professionals said the best resumes are easy to read, logical, accurate, demonstrate a familiarity with new technology and results-oriented.
6. Make sure your language suggests that you are a doer and not a paper pusher. Verifiable numbers and accomplishments make more of an impression than hype. Nouns are good, verbs are better – numbers and promotions sing.
7. Keep resumes brief. A one-page resume is sufficient for a recent college graduate. If your qualifications are extensive, save some of this information for the interview.
8. Check everything. Ask someone else to proofread your resume and cover letter before you hit Send. Do not rely solely on spell check, either. Everything must be 100 percent free of errors.
9. Follow multiple leads and be persistent. Sometimes it takes several attempts to get inside the doors of a larger company, so express interest in that specific company. And always target the resume to a particular job opening, which means the resume is a constant work in progress – tweaked each time a job is applied for.
10. While waiting to get the new job, take additional classes and join professional organizations. If your computer skills are sketchy, take a class to brush up on MS Office or some other Web-based technology. Join an industry association, even if membership is Web-based. Join your alumni association. Tell people you are looking for a new job.