Get a Different Perspective to Create a Standout Resume

Don’t be afraid to ask past colleagues (be wary of asking current colleagues, of course), family, friends, and those you volunteer with about what you have done in your various jobs (including volunteer work) that might be great to mention on a resume.  What have you been really excited about that you have discussed regarding work?  What projects do they remember you working on specifically?  Do they remember you winning any awards or recognition's?  What about a performance review that was particularly good?  Do they remember you writing any standout documentation (manuals, policies, tips sheets, website verbiage, etc.)?  Do they recall you training others in the workplace or giving presentations at work or in a volunteer capacity?   

It can very difficult for us to see our accomplishments.  Often the things we do daily are some of the most important information to include on a resume, but we just see it as part of our job. Getting another perspective regarding your career and your performance in various jobs can really help bolster the information you can provide on a resume.  To your job search success!  

Resume Tip: Action Verbs

Using action verbs on a resume should be something most people have learned by now, but I still see many resumes without these important, accomplishment oriented words.  Instead of saying "duties included" or "responsibilities were" to start bullets points on your resume, try using various forms of manage, create, implement, communicate, research, analyze, organize, coordinate, market, and coach.  In showing a potential employer that you actually did the task, not just talking about the task in general, you give them the vision of you having that real-life, on-the-job experience.  Be careful not to reuse these action verbs repeatedly; which means you will want to get out that old thesaurus or use the one in Microsoft Word to help you choose the right synonyms to develop a document full of diverse actions verbs.  If all else fails, go to Google and type in "action verbs" and you will see many lists for use by jobseekers writing resumes.  To your job search success!