Writing the Main Body of Your Resume

Friday, September 28, 2007

Resuem Tips - Writing the Main Body of Your Resume

Source: www.professional-resumes.com

Writing the main body of your resume, detailing your responsibilities and achievements.

The main body of your resume will be the section that details your previous work history and the contribution you personally made to your place of employment.

As we have previously stated your resume should reflect an energy and vigour when you detail your responsibilities.

Use short sentences and common words. These communicate quickly and are easily understood. There is no need to include lots of lengthy words in an effort to sound more knowledgeable or experienced. This in fact can often alter the point you have tried to make and will often lead to confusion.

We recommend that you do not use words such as I, you, my, they, it, etc.

The personal pronoun I can make sentences seem unprofessional and if used very often within the resume can sound repetitive and boring

In order to get an understanding of why these words should be omitted see the examples below:

I was responsible for the collation of monthly sales data and the presentation of this data at monthly sales reviews.
It is far more effective to write this sentence in the following way.

Responsible for the monthly collation and presentation of sales data.
While both sentences effectively state the same thing, the second sentence is far more reader friendly and it conveys a sense of purpose and competence.

The tone of your resume should be conversational and formal, the same manner as you speak in everyday life. It should be easy to read giving your interviewer an insight into you as a person.

Detailing your activities should be brief but descriptive. See example below:

Performed administrative and secretarial functions for the Managing Director.
Scheduled appointments and maintained accurate confidential client files.
Coordinated multiple priorities and projects.
Managed hotel reservations and special events for visiting clients.
Provided exemplary customer service to all clients.
Coordinated and managed multiple priorities and tasks.
Performed financial functions including accounts payable and receivable.
Prepare confidential costing reports on a bi-weekly basis.
Provided telephone support to company clients.
Detailing your experience in the manner above presents a concise but clear representation of your daily activities and responsibilities.

This format will prove very effective and is highly successful amongst job applicants. Interviewers favour it as it creates a powerful image of the candidate and lends itself well to a successful interview.