Seven Steps to Successful Resume Writing

Free Resume Articles : Seven Steps to Successful Resume Writing by Abegail

HOW can you get a good job if you take resume writing for granted?

If you don't know the ABCs of resume writing, how would you be able to prove to your prospective employers that you are what they are looking for: Imagine, you can't even present or advertise yourself through a resume?

Believe it or not, but learning the intricacies or resume writing can make a big difference in your career path. The resume that you make not only tells who you are in a nutshell�"it has also the power to magnetize job interviews or totally ruin your chances of having a brighter future!

Remember that resumes determine who among the hundreds of applicants that are applying for a particular position would get a job interview. If you don't want a human resource staff to either screen you out or throw your resume over the paper shredder again, then now is the right time to become skilled at resume writing.

The first rule in resume writing: What you think, you shouldn't only speak it out eloquently, but be able to write it down clearly as well. Use nothing but effective and understandable words possible.

Follow the KISS principle, which could either stand for Keep It Short but Striking or Keep It Short Stupid! Make your resume very readable as possible: Pack it with aplenty of white spaces to comfort the eyes of the recruiter who would read it. When it comes to resume writing, remember that "less is more."

Get rid of highfalutin words. Resume isn't a venue to be humble, but it's also not the proper place to inform an HR staff that your intelligence quotient is superior or above superior. Do not use terms or jargons that even a high school student won't understand.

Avoid the "I disease." One of the important protocols in resume writing is never include "I" from your sentences. Removing this pronoun prevents wordiness and saves space. But write from the first-person point of view, as if you are giving a direct report towards your target employer.

Be precise in describing work experiences and/or achievements. Stand out from the hundreds of candidates�"do not just be one of them! In resume writing, you can include facts and figures. Why say "supervised proofreaders when the supervisor isn't around," when you can tell "supervised 10 proofreaders in the absence of the supervisor?" The hiring staff must get to visualize your feats. Using words like "few," "many," "a couple of," "very," "much," "some," and so on is also a big no-no.

Use the active voice form of verb instead of passive voice. The former is shorter and more direct than the latter. What more, the active voice is more effective and forceful and tends to keep all the sentences clear and concise. Deleting helping verbs such as has, have, had, may and might as well as articles a, an and will also strengthen your resume writing skills. Be watchful of your verb tenses. It's common sense to say that all your previous duties and responsibilities should be in the past tense, and your current tasks and feats in the present tense or form. Wrong verb tenses are eyesores on resumes.

Proofread, proofread and proofread! Detect and correct all kinds of mistakes�"grammatical, misspelled words and typographical errors. If you aren't sure of your final output, you could ask a friend to proofread your resume for you.

About the Author
Abigail is a 26 year old who really loves writing. Experienced, versatile freelance editor able to transform lackluster writing into polished, effective communication tools. Skilled in Resume Writing, copy editing, developmental editing, proofreading, copywriting, and editorial production.

Source: Free resume writing, job resume information at goarticles.com

How To Make A Cover Letter That Shines

Free Resume Cover Letter Articles : How To Make A Cover Letter That Shines by Mario Churchill

Once you have your resume lined up and in perfect working order it is time to work on your cover letter. For many job seekers this is more nerve wracking and sweat inducing than creating any resume ever thought about being (not that resumes actually think but you get the picture). The truth is that there has been much less educational time devoted in the past to perfecting the cover letter. In days long ago it was perfectly acceptable to have a one-size-fits-all approach to cover letters. Those days are now long gone though and a new way of thinking is in order when it comes to creating a cover letter for your resume that truly shines among the other lumps of cover letter coal.

The problem today is that job seekers are facing more competition than ever before. Even more problematic is that workers are now more than ever being forced to compete on a global scale rather than a merely local scale. This means that the same jobs that may have had 10 or 20 applicants before are now receiving hundreds of resumes and cover letters on a daily or even weekly basis. For this reason alone you must learn to create a dynamite cover letter if you ever hope to have your resume read and make it to the interview portion of your job search experience.

There are a few things that you can do that will guarantee at the very least a second glance for your cover letter. First of all, make it short and sweet. There are far too many applicants who try to put their life stories in their cover letters. Quite frankly, hiring managers do not want to deal with too much information. Cover letters that are longer than a page are quite often fodder for the paper shredder and never make it past the initial once over.

Make your cover letter easy to read. Keep the paragraphs and sentences short with words that require no searching for the meanings. This does two things. First it makes your cover letter a little more likely to be read and second it makes you sound more natural than if you were filling your cover letter with ten-cent words. No one wants to need a dictionary handy in order to get through twenty or thirty cover letters during the course of a day.

Keep your cover letter positive and directed at what you have to offer the company for which you are seeking employment. Focus on the company and you are much more likely to appeal to the company. If you focus on your needs you are much less likely to be an appealing candidate for the position.

Present yourself in a personable light. Hiring managers are often choosing employees that will either work for or with them. Keep this in mind when creating your cover letter. You want to present yourself as someone that is fun and exciting to work with rather than a dry and humorless lump on a log that is not at all exciting to consider working with.

Be enthusiastic about the position and let them know you want the position and why you want the position. It's amazing how many people get what they want over those who try to earn it simply because they asked for it. Try it, you just might find that asking is all it really takes to get the interview. You might also be surprised at how few prospective employees neglect to ask for the interview. This means that doing so puts you in the automatic minority and gives you a much greater opportunity to get that which you seek.

There are many ways you can make your cover letter shine. The very best is by being yourself and allowing your voice and personality to shine through in the writing of your resume. This gives the hiring manager a great deal of insight into who you are as a person and how well you will fit into their organization. In other words by being yourself you are more often than not making a great first impression that will lead to an even better opportunity to shine during the interview process.

About the Author
Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over 200 articles on various subjects. For more information on write a cover letter checkout his recommended websites.

Source: Free resume cover letter samples, examples cover letter templates, job cover letter information at goarticles.com

Making Resume Cover Letter Writing (Almost) Enjoyable

Free Resume Cover Letter Articles : Making Resume Cover Letter Writing (Almost) Enjoyable! by Mario Churchill

Believe it or not you do not need to prick your fingertips with blood and use it as ink in order to write an impressive cover letter that will complement your resume quite nicely. In fact, if you are willing to look at the cover letter writing process in a rather unconventional light you just might find that the process can be almost fun in a challenging sort of way.

Most people fail from the start when it comes to writing a cover letter because they somehow miss the point of writing one all together. A good cover letter is not a summary of the resume at all. In fact, a good cover letter merely invites the hiring manger to read the resume rather than rehashing the bland details that are more often than not contained in the resume. Your cover letter should be anything but bland if you are hoping for results. Hiring managers sift through dozens if not hundreds of bland cover letters on a daily basis. If you want to create a resume that will stand out you need to create one that is fun to read. The best way to do that is to have some degree of fun while writing it. Yes, you did read that correctly, I said have fun with your cover letter.

Having fun while writing a cover letter shows hiring managers that you can have fun with some of the less pleasant tasks that will be required in the real working world as well and definitely sets you apart from those boring two-dimensional cover letters that are littering the wasteland known as the dead pile of cover letters. If you want a few extra brownie points you might try laughing while writing your cover letter chances are if you find it funny and entertaining so might the hiring manager that has been bored to tears for hours sifting through all the others.

The purpose of the cover letter is not to highlight your skills, education, or prowess in your field but rather to entice the hiring manger that yours is the resume he or she wants to pay attention to over the many others that have graced his or her desk. You are not likely to do this if your cover letter sounds like all the others that have come his or her way. Make it sound different, add your 'voice' to your cover letter and make sure it is your voice at its best. You want your cover letter to be an interesting and entertaining read that is actually true to who you are. Your personality should fill the page if you are really interested in landing the interview. Of course you will want to make sure you bring your personality along with you when the interview occurs so that they know you are one and the same person that wrote the cover letter.

If you are still too nervous about writing the cover letter to inject it with your personality you should change your mind set about your cover letter. The cover letter isn't about getting the job. That should never be the purpose of writing a cover letter. The goal of your cover letter should be in getting the interview. This takes a little bit of the stress off and reminds you that the job search process is much more than one thing though a great cover letter can definitely open the door to an interview you will need to shine in the interview as well. Do not hinge all hopes of getting the job on the cover letter though or you will find that you come across far too bland and are held back from showing the hiring manager that true appeal of your personality through fear.

Cover letters can be stressful but if you make them fun you will find that you procrastinate less and, more importantly, land more interviews when all is said and done. Hiring managers hire people to work with their companies and not a set of skills. If you keep this in mind it is much easier to write a winning cover letter and enjoy (well almost) the process of doing so.

About the Author
Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over 200 articles on various subjects. For more information on resume cover letter checkout his recommended websites.

Source: Free resume cover letter samples, example cover letter templates at goarticles.com