About This Book

My goal in developing this workbook is to give you precisely what you need to write a top-notch, high-impact resume so you don’t have to wade through tons of books, making an already daunting task more complex.

My mission is to help you catapult your career as painlessly as possible via a simple how-to resume-building process, so that you can achieve the highest-level result possible by writing your resume yourself. My goal is to impart upon you the methods, techniques, and proprietary information I have successfully used in my private practice that have helped clients advance their careers and improve their quality of life, and to coach you side-by-side as you complete each step.

The amount of effort you put into preparing your resume is commensurate with the level of success you will achieve when you send it out. The greater the effort, the greater the interview results, and the more satisfied you can be with the type of job you land and, ultimately, your lifestyle. So pay particular attention as you review each step to make your resume the best it can possibly be! The end result will show prospective employers why you are the best candidate for the job.

As resume writers and career coaches, we take every little bit of information from our clients to capitalize on their strengths and their competitive edge; and we weigh every word in the resume before we consider it complete. So to get the most out of this process, take your time with each step to be sure you have left no stone unturned in making yourself shine!

All you need to do is follow each step carefully to develop your winning resume. And when you’re reading your final draft, don’t be surprised if you say, “Wow! I’d hire me!” as clients of professional resume writers often do.

Let’s get started on your road to success!

INTRODUCTION:

How to Use This Book

I have written, designed, and produced numerous promotional materials and sales tools for businesses and individuals over the past 19 years. I actually came into the profession of resume writing and career coaching out of designing and writing brochures and self-promotions for businesses. My nature is to tackle challenges through creative problem-solving techniques. So when family and friends came to me to write their resumes, I automatically wrote and designed them as I would any other sales tool—around the product (the applicant), the market (the profession), and the targeted audience (the prospective employer).

I wrote the resumes by infusing the number-one marketing technique: selling the benefits of the applicant’s (the product’s) services by showcasing why they were an asset to prospective firms. Then I designed their resumes to match their targeted audience (the employer).

These family members and friends instantly received job interview calls. At first, I chalked it up to luck or being in the right place at the right time. However, when the results continued to be the same every time, I realized it wasn’t luck at all. What I didn’t realize at the time (because it was an innate and subconscious process from my advertising experience) was that selling benefits was a success quotient—for not only businesses, but for job seekers as well.

After becoming very involved with resume and career organizations, I found that my colleagues were in fact doing the same thing...selling the benefits of their clients’ services to meet their targeted audiences’ needs. And this is one of the reasons resumes prepared by expert professional resume writers are far more successful than resumes written by applicants on their own. I want to pass that knowledge on to you, so that you, too, can prepare a highly successful resume that sells and showcases the benefits of your product and services... you!

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO PUT TOGETHER

A WINNING RESUME

The Step-by-Step Resumes process contains everything you need to write your resume like a professional resume writer—one step at a time. It includes all of the worksheets, assessment tools, and instructions you will need to craft a winning resume specific to your profession—without having to do a lot of reading or research. You will also find the worksheets and Resume ClipBullets™ on the CD at the back of the book.

Easy-to-follow instructions are right where you need them: when you are completing a particular step. This workbook contains in-depth but very concise information (no fluff—only what you need to know) so that you can define and target your goal, assess your skills and attributes, document your responsibilities, identify your achievements, write your professional summary and cover letter, design your resume presentation, and pull it all together to develop a successful resume that gets interviews. It includes hundreds of industry-specific keywords, action verbs (your bullet starters), and descriptive adjectives and adverbs to write your resume effectively...everything you need to build your customized, interview-generating resume.

Step-by-Step Resumes is meant to be used as a worksheet process; so please delve right into the worksheets, and don’t hesitate to write in the book. Or you can pop the accompanying CD into your computer to locate and complete the Achievements worksheets and ClipBullets™to build your resume.

Once you complete the assessment tools and worksheets, I will show you how to convert your answers into resume bullets and transfer the information over into your final resume format—bullet by bullet. This is the same process that professional resume writers use when we consult with clients in our private practices, and the techniques we use to create their customized resumes. You are basically getting into the mind of a professional resume writer and gaining the inside knowledge and expertise, which you can use to your advantage.

Completing this process thoroughly will provide you with an extremely professional resume that can help you significantly increase your interview odds. It will also prepare you for interviews because many of the questions you will answer during the resume process will be asked by employment professionals.

WHAT DOES A SUCCESSFUL RESUME CONTAIN?

Most job seekers write task-oriented resumes and do not document their responsibilities and achievements around their targeted profession. By contrast, a successful resume does the following:

1. •Targets employers’ needs.
   

2. •Targets your goals and desires.
   

3. •Contains powerful marketing phrases.
   

4. •Relays your qualifications in a compelling way.
   

5. •Engages the reader and maintains interest through content and design that have impact.
   

6. •Plays up your strengths and minimizes weaknesses.
   

7. •Incorporates relevant information and omits irrelevant information.
   

8. •Omits negative red flags and converts them into positive assets.
   

9. •Identifies and correctly targets key transferable skills (those you’ve used in one position or profession that work well in another).
   

10. •Incorporates effective marketing, design, and presentation strategies.
    

11. •Portrays how you can help prospective employers reach their goals.
    

12. •Demonstrates the fit between your qualifications and the employer’s needs.
    

13. •Ensures correct placement of relevant qualifications.
    

14. •Incorporates industry-specific keywords and language.
    

15. •Meets current resume-writing standards.
    

16. •Uses CAR (Challenge-Action-Result) statements in quantifying your accomplishments.
    

17. •Utilizes the most suitable resume format for you.
    

18. •Turns bland responsibility bullets into action-packed achievement bullets.
    

19. •Gets interviews—and a lot of them!
    

WHAT ARE THE 10 STEPS?

Following the 10 steps in this book will guide you in developing a winning resume. The 10 steps in this resume-building process are as follows:

Step 1: Assess Yourself

Step 2: Set Your Resume Strategy

Step 3: List Your General Information and Job Responsibilities

Step 4: Identify Your Achievements

Step 5: Put Together Your First Draft

Step 6: Round Out Your Resume with ClipBullets™

Step 7: Write Your Cover Letter

Step 8: Create a Personal Brand for Your Job Search

Step 9: Pull Together, Edit, and Design Your Resume

Step 10: Ready Your Resume for Job Boards and E-mail

Along the way you’ll encounter personal assessment tools, resume strategizing methods, specialized skills by profession (keywords), action verbs, numerous worksheets for your specific situation, Resume ClipBullets™ with easy fill-in-the-blank answers, writing and editing guidelines, resume format templates and how and when to use them, professional summary foundations, cover letter templates, sample resume designs, and resume and cover letter samples.

This how-to resume process will allow you to incorporate cutting-edge professional resume-writing strategies without having to be resume-communication savvy. If you don’t think you have the writing skills, achievements, or confidence to do this, don’t worry. I will show you simple methods and techniques I have successfully used for my clients throughout the years; and I will help you write your resume. In the end, I will even critique it for you personally if you’d like (complete the order form at the back of the book and send it to me for your critique).

The process is easily adapted to each profession and precisely customized to each individual, whether you are a file clerk or a chief executive officer. Everyone who completes this process—no matter how similar their positions are to each other—will end up with a very different, unique resume.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF COMPLETING
THIS 10-STEP PROCESS?

The information and guidelines in this workbook have helped job seekers do the following:

1. •Increase their interview odds
   

2. •Heighten their confidence level
   

3. •Gain renewed enthusiasm for the job search
   

4. •Feel empowered in the interview stage
   

5. •Land the position they seek sooner
   

6. •Obtain higher salaries
   

The assessment tools and worksheets in this book will help you discover the following:

1. •All of your personal attributes and how they help you in your profession
   

2. •Your areas of expertise (also known as keywords)
   

3. •How to develop an effective, targeted resume strategy
   

4. •Your achievements: what you accomplished, how your achievements benefited your employers, and the tangible results of your efforts
   

5. •How to identify and quantify your achievements in a compelling way
   

6. •How to be objective about yourself and sell that precious commodity called “you”
   

7. •Industry-specific action verbs to jump-start the bullets in your Professional Experience section
   

8. •How to develop your competitive edge using personal branding strategies
   

9. •How to infuse expert resume-writing techniques and meet resume-writing standards
   

10. •How to choose which resume format to use for your situation
    

11. •How to write a compelling cover letter
    

12. •How to design a professional sales tool that stands out from the crowd
    

13. •How to craft a winning, interview-generating resume that gets calls
    

HOW DO I USE THE WORKSHEETS IN THIS BOOK?

Step-by-Step Resumes contains worksheets specific to many types of job functions, responsibilities, and achievements for many professions. To use the components successfully, you will select and complete the appropriate general worksheets along with the worksheet components that are specific to your field. As you complete each worksheet, you will build upon your resume; and in the end, all of the pieces will come together.

Using the Assessment Tools

You will find assessment tools to help you determine your targeted goal, your personal attributes, and keywords to complete your resume professionally. Taking a personal inventory of all of your skills, talents, and attributes will also serve to build your self-confidence during the interview stage (a very positive “side-effect” of going through this process!).

Using the Resume Strategizing Tools

Resume strategizing is your first and most important step. After you complete the resume strategizing phase, you will know exactly what your resume should include and exclude, and you will be on the right track when completing the worksheets. These tools include the following:

1. •Define Your Job Objective and Its Requirements (Step 1): For documenting the type of positions or titles you seek and the requirements and keywords of specific job openings.
   

1. •Your Work History Worksheet (Step 2): For listing all of your places of employment along with any additional experience you have in your targeted field in order to decide which positions to include on your resume and which to exclude.
   

1. •Your Resume Foundation (Step 2): After you have determined which jobs to include in your resume, you will compile basic information related to each of your employers so that you can easily determine which worksheets to complete in later steps.
   

Using the General Worksheets

Documenting your responsibilities and achievements is the next important step. Steps 3 and 4 include various worksheets to help you catalog your generic information, document your responsibilities, and identify your significant achievements. The first three of the following general worksheets are for all job seekers; you will complete the latter three only if they are applicable. Details on each worksheet are as follows:

1. 1General Worksheet (Step 3): For your generic information (personal, education, certifications/ licenses, employment, affiliations, related interests, and computer skills).
   

2. 2Job Responsibilities bullets (Step 3): Various exercises are included in Step 3 to help you develop your job responsibilities bullets, one by one.
   

3. 3General Achievements Worksheet (Step 4): Includes generic achievement questions that are applicable to almost any position.
   

4. 4Entry-Level/New Graduate Achievements Worksheet (Step 4): You will complete this worksheet if you do not yet have any job-related experience in your field.
   

5. 5Supervisory Achievements Worksheet (Step 4): For those who supervise others (with the exception of managers and executives).
   

6. 6Management and Executive Achievements Worksheet (Step 4): Powerful achievement questions for all who are in a management capacity.
   

7. 
   

Using the Achievement Worksheets by Profession

Step 4 also contains industry-specific worksheets, which include questions relating to a variety of position types and business functions found in most workplaces. Please do not feel intimidated by all of the worksheets. They are all-inclusive so that everyone can use this workbook; not everything is applicable to everyone. However, it is a good idea to review each worksheet and answer all questions that are applicable to your positions and targeted job. You will later include the bullets that are applicable to your situation and list them in order of importance to your targeted profession.

Using the Resume-Bullet Conversions

Once you answer the worksheet questions, because the questions are formulated using resume-ready language, you can easily convert the questions and answers into final resume bullets. Step 4 explains how.

Step-by-StepResumes

Build an Outstanding Resume in 10 Easy Steps!

    SECOND EDITION

Evelyn U. Salvador

Certified Resume Writer and Career Coach

Step-by-Step Resumes, Second Edition

© 2011 by Evelyn U. Salvador. All rights reserved.

Published by JIST Works

Printed in the United States of America

15 14 13 12 11 10              9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

ISBN 978-1-59357-778-0

Contents

INTRODUCTION:

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

STEP 1: ASSESS YOURSELF

Define Your Targeted Job and Its Requirements

Assess Your Personal Attributes

Instructions for Assessing Your Personal Attributes

How Your Primary Personal Attributes Will Be Used in Your Resume

1. •  Your Personal Attributes
   

2. •  Your Primary Attributes
   

Assess Your Skills

What Are Keywords and Why Are They Important?

Your Areas of Expertise

Transferable Skills

Skills Assessment Areas

Skills Assessment Instructions for Compiling Your Areas of Expertise Section

1. • Keywords/Area of Expertise
   

2. • Computer Skills
   

3. • Profession-Specific Keywords
   

Compile Your Customized Areas of Expertise

1. •  Your Customized Areas of Expertise
   

STEP 2: SET YOUR RESUME STRATEGY

Decide What to Include

Outline Your Work History

1. •  Your Work History
   

Select Your Relevant Experience

1. •  Your Resume Foundation
   

Select Your Resume Format

1. •Reverse-Chronological
   

2. •Functional
   

3. •Combination
   

4. •Curriculum Vitae (CV)
   

STEP 3: LIST YOUR GENERAL INFORMATION AND JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

List Your General Information

1. •  General Worksheet
   

Write Your Job Responsibilities Bullets

Bullet Starters: Action Verbs

“Implied” Information

Quantify Your Job Functions

Gather Material for Your First Responsibility Bullets

1. •  Quantify Your Job Information
   

Write Your First Resume Bullet for Each Position

1. •  Thoughts to Include in Your First Bullets for Each Position
   

Document Your First Bullets

1. •  Your Final First Bullets for Each Position
   

Promotions: Your Second Resume Bullet

Write Your Second Bullet

1. •  Writing Bullets for Your Promotions
   

Use Action Verbs to Start Each of Your Bullets

About Resume Action Verbs

Instructions to Check Off Your Action Verbs

1. •  Action Verbs for Managers and Executives
   

2. •  Action Verbs for All Professions
   

Getting Creative with Powerful Action Verbs

Double-Playing Action Verbs

Start Your First Draft

1. •  Resume Draft Worksheet
   

STEP 4: IDENTIFY YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS

Achievements: The Most Important Part of Your Resume

What Do Employers Want?

The Importance of Achievements

Achievement Questions on the Worksheets

Converting Your Worksheet Answers to Resume Bullets

Achievement Conversion Examples

1. •Example 1 (Service Positions)
   

2. •Example 2 (Sales Associate)
   

3. •Example 3 (Teacher)
   

Achievements Worksheet Instructions

1. •General Achievements Worksheet
   

2. •Entry-Level/New Graduate Achievements Worksheet
   

3. •Supervisory Achievements Worksheet
   

4. •Management and Executive Achievements Worksheet
   

5. •Administrative Achievements Worksheet
   

6. •Creative Achievements Worksheet
   

7. •Customer Service Achievements Worksheet
   

8. •Marketing Achievements Worksheet
   

9. •Production Achievements Worksheet
   

10. •Sales Achievements Worksheet
    

11. •Service Achievements Worksheet
    

STEP 5: PUT TOGETHER YOUR

FIRST DRAFT

Prepare Your First Draft

1. Write Your Professional Summary

2. Transfer Your Information

3. Start Your Bullets with Action Verbs

4. Expand Your Sentences to Include All Functions

5. Omit All Unnecessary or Redundant Words

6. Type Your Text into Your Draft

Write Your Professional Summary

1. •Professional Summary Foundation 1
   

2. •Professional Summary Foundation 2
   

3. •Professional Summary Foundation 3 (Management)
   

4. •Professional Summary Foundation 4
   

Additional Professional Summary Bullets

Standalone Sentences

Choose Your Format Template and Compile Your Resume

1. •Reverse-Chronological Format
   

2. •Combination Format
   

3. •Functional Format
   

4. •Curriculum Vitae (CV) Format
   

STEP 6: ROUND OUT YOUR RESUME WITH CLIPBULLETS™

Resume ClipBullets™: An Easy Way to Complete Your Resume

What Are Resume ClipBullets™?

Instructions for Using ClipBullets™

Resume ClipBullets™ by Profession

1. •Management and Executive Bullets
   

2. •Supervisory Bullets
   

3. •Administrative Bullets
   

4. •Creative Bullets
   

5. •Customer Service Bullets
   

6. •Production and Manufacturing Bullets
   

7. •Sales and Marketing Bullets
   

8. •Service Position Bullets
   

STEP 7: WRITE YOUR COVER LETTER

What Makes a Successful Cover Letter?

Writing Your Cover Letter

1. •Cover Letter Worksheet
   

Cover Letter Foundations and Examples

STEP 8: CREATE A PERSONAL

BRAND FOR YOUR JOB SEARCH

The Key to Your Success

What Is Personal Branding?

The Benefits of Identifying Your Personal Brand

What Can Personal Branding Do for You?

Personal Branding Exercise

1. •Your Assets/Features
   

2. •Your Benefits
   

3. •Your Competitive Edge
   

4. •Your Value Proposition
   

5. •Your Return on Investment
   

6. •Your Personal Brand Message
   

7. •Your Related Achievements
   

Ways to Promote Your Personal Brand

Visual Branding

1. •Occupational Icons
   

2. •Graphic Elements
   

3. •Color
   

4. •Font Selection
   

5. •Charts and Graphs
   

6. •Work Samples
   

Verbal Branding

1. •Personalized Slogans
   

2. •Testimonials
   

3. •Mission Statements
   

4. •Success Stories and Case Studies
   

Combining Branding Elements

Branding Worksheets

1. •Personal Branding Worksheet
   

2. •Testimonials Worksheet
   

3. •Your Success Stories or Case Studies
   

STEP 9: PULL TOGETHER, EDIT,

AND DESIGN YOUR RESUME

Pull It All Together

Edit Your Final Resume

Add Descriptive Adjectives and Adverbs

1. •Descriptive Adjectives List
   

2. •Descriptive Adverbs List
   

3. •Resume Completion Checklist
   

Designer Resumes: The Secret to Getting Noticed

Format and Design Guidelines

Select Your Resume Design

The Resume Designs on the CD

Select a Template Design

Designer Resume Gallery Templates

STEP 10: READY YOUR RESUME

FOR JOB BOARDS AND E-MAIL

Creating the Print Version of Your Resume

Creating the E-mail Version

Posting Your Resume to a Job Board or Aggregator

Creating a Web Resume or Web Portfolio

APPENDIX: SAMPLE RESUMES

INDEX