Drafting Your Resume

You will find that writing your resume will be easier if you sit down and think of why you are working on a resume first. If you don't have a job than the reason for writing your resume is easy, you need to work, but if you currently have a job and are making a weekly paycheck the reason for seeking a new job are often more complex.

Reasons that People Look For a Different Job

The most common reason that people start to look for a new job when they already have one is because they don't like their current situation. They are not getting any pleasure from going to work and the only reason they get out of bed in the morning is so that they will have enough money to pay the bills,

Other people start to look for a different job because they want to grow professionally and they don't feel that their current place of employment allows them to do that.

Some people start looking for another job because they have very definite career goals and their current job is little more than something to do while they looked for something that would put them on the correct career path.

Once you know why you are looking for a different job, you will be able to address those issues when you are drafting your resume.

Why Employers Want Your Employment History

Although a potential employer will want to know how well educated you are, they aren't nearly as interested in your education as they are in your employment history.

The first thing they are going to be looking at is how long have you been employed. They want to know if you are someone who is going to be around for a several years, or if you are someone that will only stick around until a better offer comes around.

In addition to wanting to know how long you routinely hold a job, you should also make sure that you include what your duties were while you were employed by a particular company. For example if you spent five years working as a stable, you should tell them that you taught lessons and managed the barn and kept the books or else the potential employer is going to assume that the only thing you did was clean stalls.

When you are writing your resume make sure you include the contact information of the person who oversaw you. If a potential employer is interested in hiring you they will want to speak to your former employers.

Other Information

In addition to your employment history and a summery of your life, you should also make sure that you include a list of your important life experiences and provide information about your educational background.

How to Draft a Career Objective for Your Resume

One of the things that you should include when you are writing your resume is your career objective. All you career objective is, is a simple statement of what your career goals are. It sounds like something that should be easy to write but most of us find that it is the hardest part of drafting a resume. It is hard to break down your goals and dreams into a few words.

The Length of Your Career Objective

Most career experts say that your career objective should be fairly short, no longer than two sentences long. It should be very simple and easy for a potential employer to read.

What It Should Say

Obviously everyone's career objective is going to be unique to them. However, that doesn't mean that there isn't a standard formula you should try to adhere to. The best career objectives are personal, not generic. They should be warm and friendly, you want to think of your career statement as your resumes opening statement, it's an introduction to yourself. When you are drafting your career statement you want to give the person who is reading your resume the sense that you are very committed to your goal. You need to really believe in what you are saying; if you don't believe it, how is a person who has never met you going to take you seriously?

When you are drafting your career objective it is really important that you are very specific. There are two reasons that you need to be specific. The first reason is so that your career objective doesn't sound generic. The second reason is so that the person who is reading your resume knows what you are actually applying for and that you didn't just turn in a form resume.

What You Shouldn't Write

There are a few things that you shouldn't put in your career objectives. You should not say that your objective is to get the job, the person reading your resume already knows that you would like the job or else you wouldn't have turned in your resume. You also shouldn't write that your ultimate goal is to run the company, prospective employers like to hire forward thinkers but they seldom hire people to fill their shoes.

After you have finished writing your career objective have another person read what you wrote. Have them pretend that they have never met you and ask what impression they would make based solely on your career objective.

Three Mistakes Not to Make When Drafting Your Resume

There is nothing easy about writing a resume. It doesn't matter if you are writing your own or if you are helping a friend write theirs, the entire process is stressful. Between the importance of the document and the sheer volume of information that you need to deal with it can make you vow to never switch jobs again,

The trick to writing an impressive resume is to know what mistakes you need to avoid making.

Personal Websites

Personal websites are becoming something that most of us now have. It is natural to think that you should include the address of your personal website on your resume. As of right now, you really shouldn't include this information on your resume. While we are on the topic you should also take a few minutes to make sure that your personal information is set up so that it can only be viewed by your friends and family members.

The only time it is okay to include the address for your personal website is if you have set up your website to be strictly professional.

Font Size

There are two common mistakes when people are trying to figure out what size fonts they should use for their resume. Don't try to use a giant font size in an attempt to make your resume stand out from all the others. This makes it look like you are trying to mask a lack of information.

On the other hand you shouldn't try to use a smaller font just so you can cram more information on a single page. Most people have a hard time treading small font and will discard the resume if they think it is too difficult to read. When you are typing your resume you should use Times New Roman and a 12 point font.

When you print your resume you should use a white paper and black ink.

Proofread

You would not believe the number of people who write incorrect information on their resumes. Most of these people don't even realize that they have done it. The best way to avoid mistake like this is to read your resume before you submit it so a potential employer. Make sure that you double check all of your facts.

If possible have someone else read over your resume. A different set of eyes is going to be more likely to catch typos and other mistakes that you might have made.