Key Points to Guide You

I own a business called Shimmering Resumes that offers resume services and career guidance. I hope you'll also check out http://www.shimmeringresumes.com. I believe this blog will explore a great deal of territory that my business cannot do on a daily basis. However, an executive whose resume I consulted on a few weeks ago, suggested I offer some basic guidance here for those who are struggling with a resume. I'm happy to do so.
To have impact, your resume must vividly state your accomplishments, not just restate your job description. Here are a few tips:

• Stress achievements that increased revenues or saved money or time.

• Underscore your most vital tasks, even if they weren't your main ones.

• Think in terms of larger meaning. State a problem, your solution, and the results.

• If you enhanced processes or products, show how your contributions improved the company.

• Quantify. “Supervised 50-person department” is better than “Supervised a large department.”

• Don’t offer negative information.

• Drop phrases like “responsible for.”

• Check job performance reviews for comments on your value.

Use these points as a checklist for your current resume, or as a guide for developing a new one. I think you'll get better results.

The Starting Gate

Your resume is one of the most important documents of your life. It matters in many ways. It can help you or hurt you. It can open doors to a brighter future. It is the documentation for the answer you give to the first question strangers ask each other: "What do you do?"
A resume can help you take steps toward improving your life. It is the vehicle that can take you from one job to another. It can advance you from a disappointing career to fulfillment in your job. In short, a resume matters.
Yet many of us ignore it until we face a crisis. Even then, we fail to treat it as the vital paper that it is. I urge you to take it seriously. Your resume can change your life.