Every great resume is a marketing tool for the person it represents. It should be appropriate and specific to your unique situation. Not a tool ineffectively designed to follow the usual rules and tips we so often read and hear about though employment grapevines and experts. Not a historical outline or accounting of jobs we have held in the past and the various tasks associated with such.

A great resume is an advertisement. It says, “If you buy this product, then you’ll be the recipient of all these amazing benefits”. A great resume highlights the scope and depth of your experience and it communicates a strong persuasive reason to the potential employer to covet your services. Great resumes also pave the way to engaging and memorable interviews. A well-designed and creatively crafted resume will prompt the interviewer to hone in on the specific areas most relevant to the position and will allow you to focus on those particular areas during the interview. Once you adopt a more forward thinking, sales oriented way of portraying your experience; you can begin crafting your great resume.

The presentation, layout, and language you use to communicate your value through your resume are particularly important

There are two things you can be sure the hiring manager will do upon reviewing your resume. First, he/she will start at the top and work their way down, and they will read from left to right. Second, the first impression you create will have the greatest impact on their opinion of you and this will be the perception used to filter all the rest of the information contained in your resume. The old adage “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” is so true. So why not grab their attention before they ever begin to read.

In my opinion, to create a great resume, it’s critical to concentrate on your layout and the language and verbiage used within it to entice the reader to continue reading. As I have suggested previously in my post “Resumes, moving from Fair to Flair” one of the most successful resumes I have ever developed was presented in a “Newsletter” style and format. I have used this particular resume since my mid-twenties and have received feedback from many hiring professionals that the layout was indeed so intriguing and unusual they were immediately prompted to place it in the stack that made the first cut without too much evaluation on content. To me, that speaks volumes for designing a resume that is atypical and non-conforming.

As you begin to layout your resume, keep in mind what I stated earlier. You can be guaranteed that the hiring manager will do two things read from top to bottom, left to right, and immediately have a first impression of you.

You will want to ensure they know who you are by developing a unique header, with all the typical information associated with who you are; your name and contact information including your address, phone number(s), e-mail address. It’s not necessary to associate individual labels with address, phone, and e-mail information as these can be inferred. Be sure to use the same heading on your references page, cover letter and thank you letter or on any other correspondence you may send. This way, you develop a consistent brand or image to the hiring manager, and this also accommodates quick and ready access to your contact information depending on which document the hiring manager may be currently assessing.

Next you’ll want to focus on the particular section headings you will use throughout your resume. Section headings include your employment information, education, community activities, volunteerism, etc. Section headings are important as they enable the reviewer to quickly perceive and determine the relevance and importance of the information from their perspective. Remember, hiring managers are inundated with resumes to review and evaluate. The last thing they want to do is read a lot. Again, try to envision your resume from their point of view.

Thinking about your section headings and the length and layout of your resume with help you with developing the language you use to sell yourself throughout your resume. Evaluate your past employment and the hard and soft skills your have developed throughout your career and life. Many candidates underestimate and thusly understate the value of experiences garnered both personally and professionally by not spending quality time thinking about past experience and future goals.

Ask yourself these questions as you evaluate your experience:

• What was the purpose of this particular function/job/task/project?
• What was the relevance of the function/job/task/project?
• Was there a particular benefit or achievement realized during or at the conclusion of the function/job/task/project?

You can apply these questions to your career; education, community involvement projects, hobbies, and volunteerism activities to advertise your unique qualities and sell yourself as the candidate most likely get the interview! Remember, a great resume is an advertisement. It says, “If you buy this product, then you’ll be the recipient of all these amazing benefits.”

Whether you are writing copy, preparing a resume, composing a cover letter, writing a business plan, or coveting the content and the on-line success of those popular web-sites and blogs you visit everyday.

“Life is not fair…get used to it”

I visit web sites and blogs on a regular basis in an effort to develop a broader sense of illumination on how I can convey my message in a significant, meaningful way. What have I discovered, that true success is not something we duplicate by copying what others do but rather creating our own buzz, our own unique style and unforgettable delivery of our message. You make your own breaks by exploring those areas external to your own comfort zone or what is accepted (as long as it’s legal). You are your best selling asset when you flee from those self-inflicted boundaries we all impose on ourselves.

The same is true with writing your resume…

You can apply all the rules and standards we all see that are “accepted” and still not be successful in the delivery of your message. No matter what it is. Here’ a classic illustration of one of the most successful resumes I have ever developed. No, I am not going to entice you to buy it or show you a template of my own…I am going to give it to you. Only I am going to deliver it via a written idea, and let you explore your own possibilities with it. I spoke of it briefly in my post “The Unique You in your Resume” It’s about how you can deliver not only verbally, but visually and memorably.

We’ve all seen the typical resumes…they are everywhere, right? You can download them for free, you can pay for them, and you can pay someone else to create them for you. Have you ever thought of presenting your unique qualifications and talents in a way that nobody, or at least nobody in my experience, has seen?

Take at look at a newsletter that captures your attention, or the design of a magazine article that grabs you and ask yourself…why couldn’t I present myself to a potential employer in this way? Who says I have to use the standard accepted formats and designs? “They” do…but who are “They?” Industry professionals? Perhaps. Human resource experts…Yes, those too. Someone who wants to sell you his or her service, yes, thousands!

Take this tid-bit and explore your own possibilities and apply your own creativity and style. It may or may not work for you, but I, and others I have given this fresh, unique approach to have had remarkable success with winning an interview and capitalizing on its presentation in their interview.

Again, anything that is terrifically successful starts with an expression and idea extraordinarily unique and unusual. Risky, yes…but what do you have to lose? “Lifes not fair…get used to it” and capitalize on that truth with an outside-the-box idea.

For those of you who read my very long, first post about the history of what inspired me to start the-write-biz.com, I thought I would go ahead and layout some ideas you can use to nurture and develop your style of writing.

When you write, it is very different than when you speak. Oral communication is much more comfortable and easy because there are so many other attributes to speaking that help you to expressively communicate. We use body language and gestures, without even realizing it, which enables the listener to interpret and comprehend what we are communicating with depth, feeling and clarity. But with the written word, it is just that; written, no additional vibrancy or animation, gestures, vocal intonation or inflection and no body language. These are all rudiments in the art of oral communication and we all stand out at different levels. But even the most basic communications are enhanced by the characteristics we all possess when we speak.

We all talk, and we talk a lot, about 16,000 words per day. Needless to say we are pretty good at talking. Compare that to writing. When was the last time you wrote 16,000 words? Never…that’s what most would say, so, since we are all proficient talkers, we too can develop and grow to become capable writers with some creativity, practice and persistence.

One of my favorite ways to write is to write about something I love, which is one of the reasons I started the-write-biz.com. I love to write. What are you passionate about? What do you love? What are you an expert at? Think about this as every person in the whole wide world has something they enjoy or love or have a gift or talent for. When you discover what you are passionate about, start writing. Don’t worry about what it sounds like or what it looks like on paper. Just get your thoughts transcribed out of your mind and onto the paper.

One of the most important tools I used years ago to develop my writing was in a job I had as an administrative assistant. I worked for a man that was a very gifted speaker. As part of my job, I transcribed from a Dictaphone his letters, memorandums, correspondence and speeches. It was an invaluable tool for both him and me. He would speak into his recorder which allowed him to fluidly convey his thoughts and ideas directly and succinctly. I would transcribe and he would edit and re-edit until it was written exactly the way he intended it.

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile.” — Robert Cormier

That quote by Robert Cormier is altogether relevant and germane to any style of writing you set your mind to composing.

So whatever your reason is for wanting to become a more seasoned writer, use tools that will help you. Practice writing down interesting observations you make throughout your daily life. There are infinite topics to read and write about. Find something that interests you and start writing. Keep a journal or diary. Invest in a thesaurus. Speak to people you admire who are gifted writers and speakers. Read. Read something interesting and challenging everyday to develop your skill. Make it a practice to learn one new word and use it throughout the day. Your brain is a muscle, the more you use it the better it’s going to serve you in whatever you desire to achieve.

This post was submitted to the Home Based Business Group Writing Project

Background

Years ago, I worked with a very talented young man both artistically and articulately, who is now a popular local news anchor where I live. He is responsible, although completely unaware, that he was the one who turned me onto the idea. He was developing his own resume and shared its content and layout with me. I found his idea very eye catching and the way he presented his qualifications and experience extremely appealing on a number of levels.

Application

First, although he had plenty of education and experience to capitalize on, he managed to arrange it in a way that accommodated a one-page resume.

I prefer one-page resumes. Reason being, I have known many HR professionals and been responsible myself for hiring competent, creative, and innovative employees and understand how inundated you can be with resumes from 100’s of applicants depending on the competition within the particular field your hiring. It is a daunting task to sift though all the various candidates and determine who and who does not make the first-cut. I personally review resumes when I am in a position to hire new employees (I don’t believe that computers can identify those soft-skills that are so important to me as a hiring official). The qualifications all sound the same, the layout, the same…objectives, highlights, experience and the like, all start to run together and feel more like boring advertisements rather than lets face it, the sales pitch they need to be to get my attention.

Secondly, in coming to understand my own unique talents, knowledge, skills, and abilities, I find that if I am going to choose to work for someone, rather than myself, I want to work in a place that exudes a culture that aligns with my values and encourages innovation, creativity, and outside-the-box thinking. So, understanding what kind of person you are, your personality type, what kind of job or career gives you the sense of satisfaction you desire, and your own personal strengths is fundamental in the development of your particular resume. This is no easy task and requires a very honest, personal evaluation. If your not honest with yourself about your own perceived strengths and weaknesses, others will see though you.

So whether you are a number cruncher, in sales, human resources, information technology, management, training…etc. etc. etc., you must have a good fundamental understanding of who your are, and then develop your resume from that understanding. Think of it this way, you are the foundation, you don’t build a building without a blueprint, so spend the time developing the blue print for who you are and then lay the foundation and build from there. This will help you not only in the development of your own resume, it will also help you after you get though the door to the Human Resource or other hiring authority who will be interviewing you. If you aren’t what you convey though your resume, it will be apparent to any experienced hiring authority.