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Resume Tips from Yana Parker

Resume writers are masters of the summary! Yana Parker, master of the resume and author of Damn Good Resume Guide, Resume Catalog, Ready to Go Resumes and Blue Collar & Beyond, has given JobStar permission to share a summary of her tips!

Visit Yana's Damn Good Resume Site for more!


5 Key Concepts for Powerful, Effective Resumes

  1. Your resume is YOUR marketing tool, not a personnel document.

  2. It is about YOU the job hunter, not just about the jobs you've held.

  3. It focuses on your future, not your past.

  4. It emphasizes your accomplishments, not your past job duties or job descriptions.

  5. It documents skills you enjoy using, not skills you used just because you had to.
Dividing Line

10 Steps in Creating a Damn Good Resume

  1. Choose a target job (also called a "job objective"). An actual job title works best.

  2. Find out what skills, knowledge, and experience are needed to do that target job.

  3. Make a list of your 2, 3, or 4 strongest skills or abilities or knowledge that make you a good candidate for the target job.

  4. For each key skill, think of several accomplishments from your past work history that illustrate that skill.

  5. Describe each accomplishment in a simple, powerful, action statement that emphasizes the results that benefited your employer.

  6. Make a list of the primary jobs you've held, in chronological order. Include any unpaid work that fills a gap or that shows you have the skills for the job.

  7. Make a list of your training and education that's related to the new job you want.

  8. Choose a resume format that fits your situation--either chronological or functional. [Functional works best if you're changing fields; chronological works well if you're moving up in the same field.]

  9. Arrange your action statements according to the format you choose.

  10. Summarize your key points at the top of your resume.

Yana says: In REAL-LIFE resume writing, we DO skip around.
So don't worry if YOUR resume comes together in some other sequence--as long as you do #1 and #2 first!