RESUME WRITING TIPS: Before you write your resume
To outdistance your job-seeking competitors, follow this best practice... before writing your resume. Make a list of 10-15 (or more) mutual good-fit employers to target.
Research them to determine what makes you uniquely qualified to help them meet their current challenges, for market intelligence, and to uncover relevant keywords and phrases. Use this information to create content for your brand messaging and career marketing materials (resume, biography, LinkedIn profile, etc.) that will resonate with those target employers.
Be Specific About Your Qualifications
When applying for a position, prepare a cover letter that picks up 3 - 4 key qualifications listed in the job description and be very specific regarding what you can offer pertaining directly to those qualifications.
Match Your Resume to Your LinkedIn Profile
Make sure your resume is online! Once you have your perfect document in place, update your LinkedIn profile so it matches, include your job information on Facebook and Twitter, start an About.me page, or create a professional blog for yourself where your resume information can be posted. When employers search for you online (and they will!), it will be a tremendous help to make it easy for them to find the same information confirming what they're reading on your resume.
Not a Laundry List
A resume should not be a laundry list of "stuff" you've done. It is a marketing document that should address the target employer's needs by including your specific skills and accomplishments. Before writing a resume, study job descriptions and collect as much information about organizations that interest you as possible. Then, you can make a clear case for why you are the perfect person to address and solve that company's challenges.
