Mine Yourself - Tips From The Top

One of the first things you should do when you sit down to write your resume is ask yourself the following question; what can I offer an employer?  Many people I work with draw a blank a step 1.  The reasons for this range from the fact that the job seeker has never before actually had to think about their marketability, to a lack of understanding as to what an employer would find useful or interesting.

Having spent 10 years recruiting for some of the world’s most respected companies, one of the key gripes I used to hear from hiring managers about job seekers was their inability to actually communicate their worth in-person and on a resume.

Essentially, writing a good resume is about mining yourself for information, digging deep to identify skills and being able to draw a parallel between those skills and the needs of the employer.  It certainly is easier said than done.  Here are some tips to get you started;

1)      What is the scope of your current role?  In no more than 4 sentences, write this out.

2)      Identify the core functions of your role such as Sales, Administration, Training..etc

3)      Sketch out a step-by-step guide to one of your busier days.  What do you do?

4)      List your key achievements in this role. Did you make money? Save money? Improve efficiencies?

5)      Repeat for each job.

If you want to inspire the person reviewing your resume then make sure you present your skills and experience in a clear and accessible format.  No-one really wants to read through every line item in your document to build a picture of what you could bring to their company.  Make it easy on them and they’ll spend more time reading your resume.