HOW TO WRITE A DYNAMITE RÉSUMÉ

In a perfect world, no one would need a résumé.

The candidates most suited to a particular job would simply be summoned forth to interview, based on their reputation and word of mouth referral.

Employers would carefully make their hiring decisions based on the candidates' verbal account of their past performance, without regard to any kind of written documentation.

And companies would grow and prosper, having selected only the best and brightest from a large pool of qualified talent.

Right. And now the reality:

• Employers are so inundated with résumés, it often takes weeks, or even months to sort through them all to identify the candidates they deem qualified.
    
• Despite the administrative headaches and delays caused by processing résumés, companies rely heavily on the résumés they receive to screen for potential candidates.
   
• Given the choice of two candidates of equal ability, hiring managers will always prefer to interview the one with the most artfully constructed and attractive résumé.
   
• For that reason, candidates with superb qualifications are often overlooked. And companies end up hiring from a more shallow pool of talent; a pool made up of those candidates whose experience is represented by powerfully written, visually appealing résumés.

Of course, many of the best candidates also have the best résumés; and sometimes, highly qualified candidates manage to surface through word-of-mouth referral. In fact, the referral method is the one I use to present talented people to my client companies.

But unless you can afford to rely on your "reputation," or on the recommendation of a barracuda recruiter, you'll need more than the right qualifications to get the job you want -- you'll need a dynamite résumé.

In today's competitive employment market, your résumé has to stand out in order to get the attention of the decision maker and create a strong impression. And later on, when you meet the prospective employer face to face, a strong résumé will act as a valuable tool during the interviewing process.

Truth in Advertising

In addition to providing a factual representation of your background, your résumé serves as an advertisement of your availability.

Although there's no federal regulatory agency like the FDA or FCC to act as a watchdog, it is ethical common sense to honestly and clearly document your credentials. In other words, don't make exaggerated claims about your past.

The best way to prepare a dynamite résumé is not to change the facts -- just make them more presentable. This can be accomplished in two ways: [1] by strengthening the content of your résumé; and [2] by enhancing its appearance.

Remember, your résumé is written for the employer, not for you. Its main purpose, once in the hands of the reader, is to answer the following questions: How do you present yourself to others? What have you done in the past? And what are you likely to accomplish in the future?

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