WHAT NOT TO PUT ON A RESUME

• The word "Resume" at the top of the resume
• Fluffy rambling "objective" statements
• Salary information
• Full addresses and zip codes of former employers
• Reasons for leaving jobs
• A "Personal" section, or personal statistics (except in special cases)
• Names of supervisors
• References

ACCURACY/ HONESTY/STRETCHING THE TRUTH

If you are not really exceptional at doing this job or at least potentially exceptional but inexperienced, maybe you are applying for the wrong job. Why would anyone want to spend their days doing something they did not excel at and didn't really enjoy? Push the underlined text below and your computer will waft you off to a Rockport Institute web page that tells you about our programs and services for people who do not want to spend their life as a career zombie, stuck in a boring, lifeless job where each day you wish you were somewhere else.

I'M NOT SURE I'M EXTRAORDINARY AT ANYTHING

You have a bigger problem than simply writing your resume. Anyone who has this concern has done a less than perfect job of choosing their career direction. Let's take a look at your situation from a new point of view. What an employer pays you for is to perform some special function or functions. Everything one might do at work, from flipping burgers to understanding the most obscure abstract data, is a specific work function. Most careers involve combining a few different functions together. Everyone is born with a certain degree of talent for each of the hundreds of possible work functions. Think about it for a minute. Notice that there are some things that seem to come easily to you and others that are much more difficult to deal with. Your innate talent for any specific function may be 100% or only 1%. Almost every person is naturally good at some things, pretty good at some others, and not so good at yet other functions. Those people who are very successful, who have no trouble writing a powerful and sincere resume are people who have discovered what they are naturally good at. It is as simple as that. If you uncover your natural talents and pick a job that combines them well, you will greatly increase the odds that you will wind up both very satisfied and very successful in your work. Then, you can easily write a resume that honestly communicates that you are the best candidate for the job - because you know you are. The way to make this happen is to get some expert coaching in picking a career that fits you well. To find out more about Rockport Institute's Pathfinder Career Coaching programs, keep on reading this page. You will find links to various web pages.

QUESTIONS A PRO WOULD ASK YOU
 

What key qualifications will the employer be looking for?

What qualifications will be most important to them that you possess?

Which of these are your greatest strengths?

What are the highlights of your career to date that should be emphasized?

What should be de-emphasized?

What things about you and your background make you stand out?

What are your strongest areas of skill and expertise? Knowledge? Experience?

What are some other skills you possess - perhaps more auxiliary skills?

What are characteristics you possess which make you a strong candidate - things like "innovative, hard-working, strong interpersonal skills, ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously under tight deadlines"

What are the 3 or 4 things you feel have been your greatest accomplishments?

What was produced as a result of your greatest accomplishments?

Can you quantify the results you produced in numerical or other specific terms?

What were the 2 or 3 accomplishments of that particular job?

What were the key skills you used in that job - what did you do in each of those skill areas?

What sort of results are particularly impressive to people in your field?

What results have you produced in these areas?

What are the "buzz words" that people in your field expect you to use in lieu of a secret club handshake, that should be included in your resume?