3 Easy Steps to Writing a Resume for Results

3 Easy Steps to Writing a Resume for ResultsResume writing is tough. I get itits not easy to write about yourself. A blank positiv document is often intimidating, but when its waiting to be filled with information about yourself it becomes even harder to get started writing a quality resume. I dont know many people who excel at writing about themselvesand Im a certified resume writer who works among a lot of professional resume writers. Even some of the best writers in the industry hire their colleagues when they need a bio written or their current resume or cover letter updated. No matter how good a writer you are, or how much human resources experience you have, personal branding for yourself is always difficult.Applying to jobs can be stressful enough, but if you have the added pressure of needing to write an entirely new resume or update a current resume to better fit the stelles you are now applying to, writers block is likely to appear. But your resume is the most important doc ument for securing career advancement, and its only natural to wonder how you can improve your resume.Writing a professional resume, especially an executive resume that stands out, requires that you do mora than just list out the jobs youve had and the responsibilities they entailed. Effective resumes send a strong message about the applicant and the value they can bring to a company.You have the relevant experience, and you have the accomplishmentsnow you just need to write it out and put it in a format that makes your professional experience impress a recruiter or prospective employer. Easier said than done, but I have some advice for how you can make writing a professional resume a little bit easier on yourself.So how can you make the daunting task of crafting your career history into an effective professional resume or executive resume a little bit easier? Here are three tips to help you out.Focus on FactsFiguring out how to focus on facts and figures in your resume can be diffi cult, especially if your professional experience hasnt been focused in an area like sales that can be easily translated into numbers. It can be ever so tempting to speak in generalities and hit on broad strokes from your career.If youre looking to just fill in a resume and use the right words, you might hop on Google, search for resume samples, look at a couple of websites and binnensee some vague statement on a resume sample and think to yourself That sounds goodand it could apply to my history and my strengths. Next thing you know, its on your resume. The only thing youve succeeded in doing here is making yourself look just like thousands of other candidates who went to a free resume site and copied a free resume. Youre not the only person doing thisand thats the schwierigkeit. Employers and recruiters can easily read thousands of resumes in a year, and maybe even hundreds throughout a single hiring process, and they know the clichs. Resist the temptation to use resume templates. It might be easy, but it will result in you creating a resume that is nothing but vague.Instead, focus on the facts that are unique to you and your experience. Tailor your resume to your professional experience and your accomplishmentsif you want your resume to stand out, you have to write an original resume (and cover letter) that directly addresses your work history, abilities, and your career goals.Before you get started writing out a draft of your resume, make some lists and brainstorm to come up with solid facts about your experience to include on your resume. Facts are going to be far more effective than buzzwords and fluff in getting the attention of prospective employers who are focused on hiring achievers. Try to answer the following questions about your professional experiences and accomplishments How much (money, time, resources)? How many (people, projects)? How often (times per day/week/month)?When you focus on the facts that are from your career and your career alone, its impossible for your resume to sound like anyone elses. There is no one else alive with your unique set of skills, experiences, or expertise.Hit Your TargetCan you write a general resume that you can use to apply to a variety of different types of positions? Sure, you can. But I wouldnt recommend it. The problem with writing a catch-all resume is that it wont catch ANYTHING. Unfortunately, coming off as a jack-of-all-trades means you look like a master of none. Thats not a good look to an employer. Generic phrases and broad descriptions of your work experience do not make an effective resume. An efficient resume, yes. An effective resume? Absolutely not.You need to position yourself so that a recruiter or employer will see the value in hiring you and the benefit theyll get from choosing you and your skill set over another applicant. To do this, you need to target your resume for a specific position, and write both your resume and cover letter in such a way that they provide the e vidence to show how youre the best candidate for that role, and that company.Show You Are an OvercomerIts fine that you met the minimal requirements and qualifications of the position. Almost any applicant can say that. How have you gone above and beyond in your professional life, though? If its hard to remember exactly what youve accomplished, think in terms of challenges and obstacles you ran into. No one has an employment history free of challenges.Now, Im not talking about dealing with an irritating manager, or a co-worker you just couldnt get along with. Im talking about solving problems for your companythe challenges you overcame that made a tangible difference in your companys performance, in your teams efficiency and workflow, or even a solution to a seemingly small problem that simply took your ingenuity and ability to see the problem to overcome it. An employer wants to know that you can take initiative, be creative, and solve problems for them. But just saying that you ca n do those things means nothing unless you have the evidence and tangible examples from your work history to back it up.Similar to my recommendation for listing out facts above, I recommend that you take some time before writing your resume to answer a few questions about your career and work experience in general, and then use what youve come up with to create a resume that is more narrowly focused. Thinking through the following questions can really help get your brain motivated to think in the way that you need to in order to write a resume that will work to get you an interview andhopefullythe job you are eyeing.Here are the questions you should answer within your resume about what youve successfully overcome in your career What are some challenges you faced during your time in the position? How did you address the obstacles you ran into throughout your work experience? What was the outcome? Did you overcome? Was it a success? Can you add the result to your list of achievements? Using questions like these helps to jog your memory about all those great things you accomplished in your past. Brainstorm and create a bulleted listput down everything you think is something that demonstrates how youve made a difference to your employer(s). These achievements should make you feel proud of your contributions throughout your career thus far. But whats even better is they create great substance for marketing your value to potential employers.Writing about yourself can be hard, but if you follow the three easy steps Ive outlined above youll be well on your way to creating a compelling resume that will generate interviews fast. If you decide youd rather trust an expert with the task of developing an interview-winning resume, please get in touch with the team of professional resume writers at Great Resumes Fast. Im happy to share about our 99.996% interview-winning success rate and how wed love for you to be our client, have a professionally written resume, and be our ne xt success storyOur team is made up of certified resume writers who come from careers as HR professionals and have experience within specific industries. We know how to use your individual experiences, goals, and professional brand to create a verrotten resume that potential employers will pay attention to. While we are professional writers, were more than a writing servicewe take the time to get to know you through a phone consultation and then shape a resume that works for you so you can achieve your career goals. From the written content to the type of resume and resume layout, from your work experience to your education and professional associations, we go above and beyond to personalize your resume and ensure its relevant to your strengths and your goals. Too many so-called professional resume writing services take the easy way out with surveys and resume templates. We never have, and we never will. Its why were one of the top resume writing servicesYou can contact us to learn more, or head over to our page of resume samples to see our work in action. Your resume is more than a documentits an investment in your future.Are you tired of your resume being rejected by applicant tracking systems? I know how frustrating it is to submit your resume and receive no response. I hate seeing qualified people never breakthrough the screening process. It shouldnt be that way. Thats why I created this guide and I encourage you to download the FREE PDF so you can start seeing better resume response rates