Creating an Effective Resume
by Jeff Brown

Last month I listed a number of suggestions under the title “Building a Contact List”.  In this issue, I will be quoting from the same book Launch! because I think it’s loaded with good advice for job seekers.  Further, it’s written by someone who has actually hired thousands of people versus the academic types or those who just write books about how to find a job who really haven’t hired anybody.  This month, I am going to be quoting from Chapter 33 of Gary Sutton’s book Launch! which is entitled “Write the Resume That Opens Doors”.

In this chapter, his preface says, “Here’s how to write a resume that triples your response rate”.  Early into the chapter he says, “A resume’s job is to intrigue.  Tease.  Sell enough to get the interview without putting the recipient to sleep.”  Gary has good advice based on my opinion having been in various positions for 40 years where resumes were a key part.

1. Keep your resume to one page.
2. The most important line in the entire resume is your objective.  The tighter you define yourself, the better the responses will be.  If you cannot state your specific objective in 10 words or less, you are boring people.
3. Enclose a cover letter.  Repeat the objective and your single most powerful selling point.
4. Mail both pieces of paper flat inside a 9x12 white envelope.
5. Email the resume twice; once as an email and a second time as an attachment to your cover letter.
6. Set your name at the top in bold face and 2 points bigger than the rest of your resume.
7. Under the job history, set each job title in bold face.
8. PC skills matter but only list a few.
9. Any foreign language can be relevant so list it.
10. Eliminate adjectives but instead use action verbs.
11. Don’t say References Available On Request since that is assumed and it takes up valuable space.
12. Make a copy of your resume in the font you’ve picked and make a copy of that copy.  The point is to make sure that it is readable instead of just being fancy.

I hope you are finding this brief series of articles based on the book Launch! to be of help.  I welcome your comments, questions and suggestions.