I hope your "International Update Your Resume Month" is off to a productive start. In last week's article I outlined some necessary resume formatting guidelines. It is time to start implementing your resume content in a way that is engaging and strategic.

The true and less than inspiring statistic is that approximately two to three percent of all resumes that are sent to Managers and Recruiters are actually viewed. With a background that includes ten years in Corporate Recruiting I have to say that this statistic makes sense. A savvy Recruiter learns to scan a resume in 15 seconds and determine if it would be worthwhile to read further. This is why it is critical to craft a resume that is engaging and is in alignment with the job for which you are applying. Of course, this should only be done with the utmost integrity. I cannot stress enough the importance of not lying on your resume; if for no other reason than the fact that recruiters talk to each other and know how to collect information.

1. Professional Summary

Following the contact information on your resume provide a professional summary. Your professional summary utilizes strategic words to describe your overall background. It could be provided as a bullet list of 3-5 sentences. Because this is the first section of your resume it is your opportunity to immediately draw your reader in. Your first line should describe your professional self, dynamically. The first line of my recruiting resume reads: " Self-directed, resourceful talent acquisition leader with tenacity and business acumen." Anyone looking for a senior level recruiting professional will most likely keep reading.

2. Quantify

When you describe your professional accomplishments, wherever possible quantify them. Recruiters and Managers want to know how you positively affected the bottom line even in a non-profit setting. For instance, if you are a Project Manager quantify the amount of projects you managed. What kind of budgets did you manage? How many people worked on projects? How many of those people did you directly supervise? Wherever possible you also want to state how your work contributed to the generation of positive financial results. Even in a non-profit setting if you are providing direct service you want to quantify that. How many cases did you manage? What were your funding quotas and what percentage of your work helped meet those quotas?

3. Active

Your resume has to position you as an action oriented problem solver. There are simple ways to distinguish presenting information in an active or passive voice. In the active voice the subject is performing the action. In the case of writing a resume you are the subject. In the passive voice the action is performed upon the subject. This means you always want to present the description of your role in a job as "what you did" as opposed to "what was done." Here is an example: Active: "Executed comprehensive policies to manage production resulting in greater efficiency." In this active example there is an implied problem. The problem clearly was that production needed to be managed and greater efficiency achieved. The subject here solved the problem by actively executing policies.

4. Organization

Resumes are divided into various sections. If all the jobs you have had relate directly to the job you are applying for, your professional experience can all go under the heading: "professional experience," or "employment history." If you have had experience that does not directly relate to the job, you may divide your resume into sections titled, "relevant experience," and "other experience." Of course, the relevant experience should be presented first. List experience in all sections in chronological order starting with the most recent and ending with the oldest. If you are a recent college graduate volunteer experience is very relevant. Therefore, you can combine paid and unpaid work either as a student or volunteer in a section headed "experience." I had a client who landed a dream job after college based solely on experience from unpaid work he did as a student and volunteer.

5. Education

If you have had more than 5 years of experience education information can be provided after your experience. If you are a recent college grad place your educational background after your professional summary. You don't have to state your major. You can simply provide the name of school, degree attained, and years attended. For certain jobs it is strategic to identify your major. If you are applying for a finance role you definitely want people to know you have an MBA. If you are applying for a finance role you don't necessarily need to say that you have a degree in painting. If you have more than five years of experience and have had relevant training in addition to your education, place that in a section labeled, "Professional Training" after "experience" and before your "education."

Another type of resume less frequently used but very appropriate is called a functional resume. A functional resume primarily focuses on your professional skills more than job roles and experience. This is a particularly relevant resume when someone is transitioning into a new career. In this resume after your "professional summary" you will place a section titled "Professional Backgrounds and Accomplishments." In this section you will outline all of your professional work in an active voice and your professional accomplishments. Following this section you will create a section titled "Employment History" where you will list your jobs and companies in chronological order. However, in this section you will not provide a description for specific jobs. Then you complete the resume as outlined above.

If you are a professional with more than ten to fifteen years of experience you only need to provide up to ten to fifteen years of experience on the resume.

As illustrated by these strategies and suggestions it is clear that there are specific questions that the information on your resume will answer. These questions include who, what, when, where, and how. Who did you work for? What did you do? When did you do it? Where did you do it? How did you do it? Your resume should be succinct and focused. There should be an abundance of white space on your resume. The main purpose of a resume is to get you the interview. Once you are in the interview you can then do an in depth sell letting people know why you are the best choice for the position.

Good luck!

Copyright 2008. Jason Mannino. All Rights Reserved