Does Your Resume Tell It Or Sell It

Does Your Resume Tell it or Sell it? by Randi Bussin | Aug 18, 2005 | Newsletters | 0 comments Welcome to the premiere concern of Aspirations! a publication of Aspire! I even have launched this article as a approach to share profession recommendation and knowledge with you and to also spotlight career success tales. Aspirations! will deliver relevant timely profession info and advice to your e-mail account each few months. “Resume Writing Strategies,” “Techniques for Work-Life Balance” and “How to Transition to a Nonprofit Career” are a number of topics I will address. I am additionally interested in listening to about matters you would like lined. Just drop me a observe at with your ideas. Do you understand somebody who would profit from Aspirations!? Please send me names and email addresses of colleagues/family members who would enjoy receiving my communications. The first five individuals to email me five friends/colleagues who would get pleasure from receiving our new sletter, will win a free copy of Best Resumes for $a hundred,000+ Jobs by Wendy Enelow, an award-profitable author on resume writing, cowl letters and common job search advertising techniques. Just ship your folks/colleagues names to This issue of the e-newsletter focuses on resume writing â€" that always-dreaded marketing tool that's so essential in the job search process. Learn the way to write powerful accomplishment statements by studying this month’s guest article, “Does Your Resume Tell It Or Sell It?” by 5-time Best Resume award winner Louise Kursmark. Get my really helpful list of finest websites and books on resume writing. If you are interested in receiving my FREE tip sheet on Writing Effective Resumes and Creating Accomplishment Statements, send me an e mail at and I will ship you the tip sheet ASAP. Good luck crafting your own resume and advertising supplies, Best regards, Randi Bussin Aspire! Fulfilling career ambitions If for any purpose you now not wish to rece ive my newsletter, you'll be able to unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the link at the backside of the page. Does Your Resume “Tell It” or “Sell It”? Resume writers have a look at a LOT of resumes, and viewing dozens every week, lots of or even 1000's a yr, makes it simple to identify frequent flaws that may make or break your job search. One of these flaws is the over-reliance on “telling it” â€" over-detailing job duties and position descriptions â€" and never enough on “promoting it” â€" speaking the worth you offer by highlighting the advantages and results of your actions. In most cases, a quick job description is sufficient to “set the stage” for your achievements. Employers understand the frequent job duties of most positions, so there’s no have to list the small print of your day-to-day routine. Instead of using area on the page to inform readers what they already know, use the “promote-it” strategy to convey the importance of what you did. Com pare the relative influence of these two descriptions: TELL-IT STRATEGY Sales Engineer Directly answerable for Chicago territory gross sales. Expanded and maintained customer account base, as well as promoted new hardware and software to accommodate all upgrade and repair needs. Communicated issues and utility queries to technical support group, and in addition acted as the liaison between buyer and home office. Communicated interfacing and inter-networking needs for growth and integration. Wrote product introductory presentations and maintained a mutually beneficial relationship with prospects. Exceeded sales quotas constantly. SELL-IT STRATEGY Sales Engineer Transformed underperforming Chicago sales territory right into a revenue powerhouse, achieving 250% sales growth in first year and remaining in top 5% of all company Sales Engineers yearly thereafter. Maximized territory potential by way of aggressive and chronic performance of sales and prospecting functions. Developed robust buyer relationships constructed on problem identification and answer promoting. Created new product-info displays that were so efficient, they grew to become firm requirements and have been used to train all new sales employees. To use the “sell-it” technique, dig deep into your experience to find numbers and results that prove your skills. Downplay the details of WHAT you did and as a substitute talk WHY you were hired, WHY you were profitable, HOW MUCH you benefited the corporate, and a touch of HOW you achieved outcomes. USE NUMBERS TO ADD CREDIBILITY Which of these statements sounds extra credible? When you add particulars â€" specific numbers, percentages, will increase, and reductions â€" your readers can assign much more worth to your achievements because they've a exact image of the advantages you attained. Never falsify or exaggerate your achievements, but do have a look at numerous areas of your background to find the true success tales and context that shall be power ful in your resume and interviews. For instance, in case your sales progress was solely 2%, sharing this bald quantity is probably not effective. But if the trade as an entire was down 10%, or if one of your key accounts shut its doors and also you had to replace 40% of your prior year’s sales with new business, your 2% will look rather more impressive. To be certain you possibly can confidently again up each quantity in your resume, put together for interviews by practicing transient tales that tell what you probably did, why you did it, and how results had been measured. In your resume, cover letters, interviews, comply with-up letters â€" in fact, at every stage and in each manner of communicating during your job search â€" concentrate on “selling” what you did, based on its relevance to business performance. Did you enjoy this text? Then I will ship you certainly one of my favorite titles for FREE! Aspire! will send a free copy of Wendy Enelow’s book Best Resumes for $on e hundred,000+ Jobs to the first 5 individuals to recommend 5 friends/colleagues to affix our e-newsletter list! Send email addresses and make contact with information to Online Advice and Tools â€" Resumes Career Journal /jobhunting/resumes This is considered one of my favorite sites for advice on the job search normally and more specifically on resume writing and cover letters. The Riley Guide /letters.html Provides up-to-date employment alternatives and job sources on the Internet. This is a widely known website beneficial by CEOTRAK and different govt career info sites, in addition to by college career facilities. About.com Job Searching Pages /od/sampleresumes A good supply free of charge pattern resumes and job search recommendation. The web site is comprehensive and easy to navigate. See the “Most Popular” links for more useful instruments. Jobstar /instruments/resume/index.cfm In addition to common resume information, it consists of hyperlinks to other sites and to main on-line resume databanks. JobWeb /Resumes_ Interviews Contains useful articles on resume writing written by prime profession coaches. Also includes a detailed list of motion verbs helpful in writing bullets. Dictionary Sites The significance of proofreading and editing can't be careworn enough. When writing resumes and cover letters, refer to those sites to check spelling, word meanings or to find just the right word! -w.com Merriam- WebsterOnLine Type the word you need to examine in the field at the top of the page. You can also use the Thesaurus function to provide you with completely different motion verbs for accomplishment statements. Quotes of Note “What IS a resume anyway? A Resume is a MARKETING PIECE â€" not a “career obituary!” â€" Yana Parker, author THE DAMN GOOD RESUME GUIDE “A human being must have occupation if she or he is not to become a nuisance to the world.” â€" Dorothy L. Sayers from “Work when you have the sunshine. You are answerable for the talent that has been entrusted to you.” â€" Henri-Frederic Amiel from Randi’s Recommended Reads Expert Resumes for Career Changers by Wendy S. Enelow and Louise M. Kursmark (JIST Works, 2004) Part of the favored “Expert Resumes” collection. A useful gizmo for profession changers. Includes one hundred eighty pages of pattern resumes, step-by-step advice on writing your individual resume and knowledge on digital sources. Get the Interview Every Time: Fortune 500 Hiring Professionals’ Tips for Writing Winning Resumes and Cover Letters , by Brenda Greene ( Dearborn Trade, 2004) Easy to learn, clear and concise. Recommended for these people who have no idea where to start. Includes recommendation from individuals who display screen resumes every day, and has over sixty pages of sample resumes. Best Resumes for $100,000+ Jobs , by Wendy Enelow (Impact Publications, 2002) samples of resumes for high-degree positions. Information on one of the best methods to spotlight your achievements. Winning Resumes , by Robin Ryan (Wiley, 2002) Good for peopl e beginning their career. Learn how to stand out from the group and market accomplishments. Provides detailed info on utilizing the Internet. About Aspire! Aspirations! is written and compiled by Randi Bussin, a career counselor and entrepreneurial consultant with 25 years of experience of company, nonprofit and entrepreneurial experience. She leverages her extensive background to help mid-career professionals and entrepreneurs make clear their aspirations, develop the “huge-picture” and set sensible targets in designing a career that displays their private values and passions. Through targeted coaching, she helps shoppers make steady progress and achieve their profession objectives. If you'll data on our services, please feel free to e-mail us at Send us an e-mail to get a free tip sheet! Write to for FREE tips on Writing Effective Resumes and Creating Accomplishment Statements. Sign up for our publication. · Click right here to register e-mail: phone: Email Address * First Na me * Example: Yes, I want to obtain emails from Aspire for Success. (You can unsubscribe anytime)