How Personal Should a Professional Resume Be?

When it comes to writing a professional resume, it can be difficult to know exactly what personal details you should include and which you should leave out.

While it’s obvious that you need to include things like your phone number and email address, how personal should your professional resume really be? And are employers even interested in your personal pursuits?

Photographs

Should you include a photograph in your professional resume? Most of the time, this is not recommended. If you’re thinking something along the lines of, “it will be great for the employer to put a face to my name,” save this for the interview.

At the initial application stage, employers are not interested in what you look like, and unless you’re applying for a modelling or acting job, there’s no reason they should be. In addition to this, photographs can be rendered irrelevant if the resume is printed on a poor quality paper, photocopied or scanned into a database. Your face could end up distorted, or absent all together, and the photography efforts will be wasted.

Hobbies & Interests

Unless you are a graduate with little or no work experience, it is generally not relevant or advisable to include hobbies or interests.

If you do choose to include them, ensure they are tailored to suit the position. If you’re applying for a job in a design company, for instance, you may want to include hobbies like, “blogging about web design” or “attending art and design exhibitions” etc.

Email Addresses

If you don’t have a professional email address, get one. Having addresses with Google, Yahoo, Hotmail and other web-based companies is acceptable (though Service Provider addresses can be more reliable), as long as your email prefix is professional. Email addresses that use your name, for instance, are ideal (barryjones@gmail.com), but if you have an address like “ilovedogs@hotmail.com” this is not going to make a very professional or mature impression.

Resume Designs

Ever heard the expression, “less is more?” At all times, the design of your resume should be professional not personal. This means staying away from colours, fancy fonts, animated designs and other decorative images and graphics. Even a border can detract from the formality and professionalism of your document. Instead, stick to black and white, and remember that simplicity is best.

Do you require someone to write your professional executive resume?

At Resumes Australia, we specialise in writing executive and professional resumes for hundreds of candidates across Australia each year.

Regards,

Is a Skills-Based Resume Right For Your Career?

What Is a Skills-Based Resume?

Skills-based resumes differ significantly from ordinary, professional resumes in that they are not presented chronologically. That is, they do not list your experience from the most recent position to the oldest position.

Instead, they focus on portraying your skills and talents in a highly attractive way that will stand out in the eyes of employers and search consultants. The emphasis in a skills-based resume is on your skills and competencies, rather than on your work history.

Why Use a Skills-Based Resume?

Skills-based resumes (which are also sometimes called ‘functional’ resumes) are best suited to candidates who do not have the right amount of relevant experience in a particular area or industry.

This might include:

• Candidates who are changing industries or career paths and whose skills are predominantly transferable, rather than industry-specific
• Graduates or students who haven’t yet gained much formal or relevant work experience
• Candidates who have been consistently working, but whose experienced is varied; for instance, they might have held multiple temp or casual roles in a short period of time
• Unemployed applicants who have been out of the industry or job market for a long period of time

If you fall under one of the above categories, a skills-based resume may be ideal for your career and can mean that your talents are showcased in a way that is more beneficial to your situation.

How to Format Skills-Based Resume?

The best way to format your skills-based resume is to group your abilities and any experience using particular ‘skills’ headings, rather than listing your chronological employment history. Sample headings you can use include:

• Leadership Skills
• Technical Skills
• Personal or Behavioural Skills
• Key Competencies
• Qualifications & Training
• Work Experience
• Key Achievements

You should be as honest as possible when deciding what skills to include in your resume; don’t include skills that you don’t possess or portray your skills as ‘advanced’ when they are more ‘intermediate’ or ‘basic.’

When deciding which of your skills to include in your documents, ensure that you review the job advertisement or description. This will tell you exactly what the employer is looking for and will give you a clear idea of which of your skills you should emphasise over others.

Explaining Your Skills

All of this information should culminate in your document to give readers a strong idea of the overall value you can contribute to a business. However, your skills-based resume needs to be more than just a series of lists if you are going to be successful.

It is vital to demonstrate in your resume how you have used your skills in particular situations to achieve something or produce a winning outcome for the business. Hence, you will need to expand on each skill that you present and spell out to the reader how your talents were valuable in past situations.

Do you need a skills-based resume or a more traditional resume? Contact Resumes Australia for further resume writing information or visit: http://www.resumes-australia.com.au

Regards,

Beyond the Resume: What Other Documents Are Essential To Your Career?

Having an engaging and professional resume under your belt puts you in a highly beneficial position when it comes to job searching. But many candidates repeatedly assume that a resume alone is enough to secure a role in a competitive marketplace.

But the most successful candidates in the executive space are often the ones who have gone beyond a resume to develop a comprehensive career package that includes a range of documents, all of which can be vital in the job search and interview phase.

While a resume is perhaps the most important document you can invest in over the course of your career, what other documents and materials can also push your career forward and give you a distinct advantage over other, job-seeking candidates?

1. Cover Letters

Cover letters are of utmost important in any job application and many recruiters and employers consider cover letters just as mandatory as resumes. While your resume portrays your experience, it is the cover letter that highlights precisely how your skills and talents relate to the position at hand.

Thus, every cover letter you write must be different. It must be tailored to the specific job you are applying for and it must address the selection criteria or the requirements listed in the job advertisement.

If you simply have a generic cover letter than introduces your basic skills and your reasons for looking for work, you will need to upgrade your document so that it is much more impressive, appealing and competitive.

2. LinkedIn Profiles

LinkedIn is an extremely powerful job searching tool and today, almost 100% of recruiters and employers are on LinkedIn. Many recruiters and employers also make first contact with new candidates via LinkedIn and use your profile in lieu of a resume.

Hence, your LinkedIn profile carries just as much weight as your paper resume and it should be given the same attention and investment. A pristine LinkedIn profile should be:

• 100% complete and up-to-date – don’t leave sections blank or with only a small amount of information and detail; also make sure that your work history and skills are updated to the present time
• Comprehensive and exhaustive, covering all of your skills and experience; unlike a resume, a LinkedIn profile is not targeted at a particular position, so it must emphasises your value in a rounded and all-inclusive way
• Keyword centric; while you don’t want to become a victim of over-using keywords, including the relevant keywords in your profile will ensure you show up in online search results. If you are unsure of how to use keywords correctly in your profile, talk to a professional resume or profile writer.

3. Selection Criteria Statements

Accurately addressing the selection criteria of any opportunity is one of the most significant tasks in securing a new role. Responses to selection criteria are often used exclusively to shortlist applicants, so your document must be exceptionally relevant and convincingly written if you are to secure an interview.

The key benefit here is that even if a position doesn’t have a formal selection criteria, your application will still stand out if you address the requirements and demands of the job advertisement in the same way. Investing in a worthy selection criteria document also means you can re-use some of that content in your other documents, such as your resume and cover letter.

4. Corporate Biographies

You may not think you need one, but a corporate biography can give you a distinguished edge over other executives.

Corporate biographies are the perfect way to give recruiters a concise, quick look at your professional background and will provide insight into who you are as an executive and what you have accomplished throughout the course of your career.

What should you do with your corporate biography? Your biography can be published anywhere you like; it can be placed on your company website, it can accompany content you write or it can simply form a part of your online profiles and brand.

5. Digital Resumes

A digital resume – which uses images, dialogue and text to present your professional personality to a recruiter – is a creative and innovative tool that will differentiate you from your rivals and give your applications a unique edge.

A digital resume can be a great way to put a ‘face’ with your ‘name’ and give recruiters and employers a more personal introduction to your abilities and talents. A digital resume shows that you can communicate and articulate well and creates the impression that you are truly a refined and forward-thinking executive candidate.

If you decide to invest in a digital resume or CV, you will need to select the services of an experienced and professional company who can guide you through the writing and presentation process and also ensure a highly polished and remarkable final result.

Learn more about how Resumes Australia can help you manage and drive your career through intelligent documentation and winning career strategies.

Regards,

How to Write a Corporate Biography

Corporate biographies are extremely useful tools that can be published almost anywhere you choose, from your resume to your LinkedIn profile to your company website. You can also use your biography to promote your talents at conferences and other public relations events or in industry publications and reports.

Like writing a resume, however, composing a corporate biography is often a challenge. It must be accurate and succinct and it must successfully portray you as a compelling leader.

Begin With Your Value Proposition

The opening paragraph of your corporate biography should explain who you are, what you do and why you are so highly valued as a leader in your industry. You should highlight your key competencies for the reader and spell out what makes you a unique innovator and front-runner in your field.

You can also use the introduction to communicate your overall objectives and what you hope to achieve in the industry long term (alternatively, you can also leave this until the end).

Dive Into Your Achievements and Contributions

There are many ways to approach the juicy content that makes up your career. You can use the body of your biography to describe your career ‘story’ and how you came to be or (if you are trying to keep your biography short) you can instead focus solely on emphasising your key achievements and contributions to the industry. Of course, you can also create a combination of both (story + achievements).

Try to be as detailed as you can here, using concrete ‘facts’ to illustrate your expertise. For example, you could mention any prestigious companies you have worked for, conferences you have spoken at or locations around the world you have worked in. You can also mention any awards or commendations you have received.

Go Out With a Bang

You can communicate a wealth of facts or details to readers at the end of your corporate biography, but two approaches I recommend include:

• Ending with your future goals, your vision or the ‘next steps’ of your industry mission – what’s upcoming on your agenda as an executive or leader?
• Finishing with your most recent accomplishments, such as a global seminar you might have presented at or an article you might have had published

Both of these endings create the impression that you are actively influencing and contributing to your industry and that you are consistently working to progress your value as an executive.

As time moves on, don’t forget to update your biography with any new ‘next steps’ or accomplishments.

Biography Language

Like any professional document, the language you use in your corporate biography should be formal and professional.

Depending on your target audience, however, you can tweak your language slightly to alter the ‘image’ your biography creates. For instance, if you were to give a talk to a group of school students, you might want to come off sounding a little more ‘fun’ and ‘outgoing’, rather than ultra-corporate.

You should also write your biography using the third person. For example: “John Smith is the CEO and founder of…” or “In 2005, John joined…”

Working With Your Corporate Biography

Once you have the initial account of your corporate biography created, it is much easier to rework it into different versions that vary in length or detail.

You can expand on your biography to create a longer story about your success (keep this around 1 page) or you can shorten your biography into a ‘snippet’ that can be used at the end of posts or articles you write or on your social media profiles.

Resumes Australia works with executives and CEOs on a range of career documents, including corporate biographies, resumes, cover letters, branding documents and social media profiles. Visit Resumes Australia to learn more.

Regards,

7 Leadership Qualities You Must Have On Your Resume

If you are searching for senior and executive positions in the Australian marketplace, you will be familiar with how competitive the landscape is.
With networking platforms like LinkedIn bringing more executives, search consultants and head hunters together, executive positions are becoming more difficult to obtain – and your resume or CV must execute the right strategies and display the right leadership qualities in order to impress employers.

1. Global Expertise

As we continue to become a more globally focused society, expertise and knowledge at the global level is becoming a highly sought after skill, when it comes to senior positions. Seeing beyond the confines of the local or even the national market and into the international domain – alongside the ability to take businesses into this domain – is something every leader now needs to be able to demonstrate. Ensure that you highlight your global expertise, marketplace knowledge and international acumen on your resume.

2. Cross-Functionality

Organisations are not simply becoming more global, but are also looking for ways to become more efficient. Achieving more with less is a huge focus for many of today’s top companies. Cross-functionality is crucial in the business world and involves being able to lead not only in one area or at the highest level, but also across multiple sectors or functions within the business.

3. Innovation

For any leader, the capacity to drive change and growth is a given, but it’s still important to include on your resume. Great business leaders stand at the helm and turn the ship, but also decide where to go and what strategies are needed to get there. When it comes to resume writing, look for ways to emphasise how your innovative qualities have shaped products, services, business performance, people performance, marketplace success or even influenced and met broader industry demands.

4. Adaptability

All strong leaders understand that not everything is in their control. As much as they can take a company to new heights, being subject to industry fluctuations and trends is still part of an organisation’s everyday existence. While it is fine to claim you are an “adaptable” leader, it’s how you deal with these fluctuations and trends that will truly make your leadership skills stand out. In your resume, make sure you demonstrate how you maximised the opportunities brought on by industry trends and how you adapted to grow and succeed.

5. Technology-Driven

Technology can be the comforting pillar of a successful organisation. Being in touch with technology and up-to-date with its challenges is crucial for any contemporary leader. While in the old days it may have been acceptable to simply step back and rely on those under you to understand technology, technology today is becoming increasingly significant in all areas of business, from finance to marketing to finding new ways to grow within the given market.

Correspondingly, many more executives are embracing technology now more than ever; they are actively participating in online communities like LinkedIn and Twitter and they’re utilising everything from blogs to digital strategies to automated machinery in order to improve productivity and evolve the ways their business operates. Does your resume accurately reflect your grasp and understanding of the technology required in your industry?

6. Social Intelligence

Every business is about relationships, whether it is between managers and employees, executive and colleagues or leaders and customers. Social intelligence is often an underrated skill when it comes to describing yourself on a resume. Yet, no matter how great you are at innovating and problem solving or decision-making, you’ll never get your strategies off the ground without exceptional social intelligence and influential people skills. Real leaders don’t sit behind closed doors; they’re out on the floor, motivating, inspiring and enacting change. When resume writing, consider how your social intelligence has specifically impacted your career or advanced your leadership talents. Remember, leadership is about people, not about businesses.

7. Love the Hard Yards

The best leaders are firm, but fair. They are people drivers, yet they also know how to make tough decisions and they can agree to the necessary compromises without ruining relationships or hindering progress. As a leader, it’s vital that your resume shows how much you love the hard yards of running a business. Leaders who see hard times and difficult decisions as opportunities rather than setbacks or threats are more likely to capture the attention of employers. If your resume looks like you’ve had it easy over the past few years, revise and include details on how you’ve driven companies through tough times and emerged with a win on the other side.

Resumes Australia is a leading executive resume writing service open to all executives through Australia. Contact Resumes Australia today to learn more about our leadership resumes.

Regards,

Resume Writing Tips for University Graduates

If you have just finished a university degree or if you’re nearing the end of your studies, you are probably beginning to think about employment in the ‘real’ world.

One of the biggest tasks ahead of you will be putting your resume together.

A powerful resume can greatly increase your chances of success in the competitive recruitment world.

But with hundreds of graduates like yourself starting to search for employment, how do you make your resume stand out?

Customise Your Application

One of the biggest resume writing mistakes many graduates make is to simply create one resume that they use for every single job application. In some instances, this might just be acceptable, but if you are applying for a multitude of roles, it’s important to customise your application to suit the job description and the employer.

One job advertisement might value sales skills in a small team environment, while another might be looking for someone with an eye for technical details, who can thrive in a corporate environment. When resume writing, ensure you address these individual criteria to increase your chances of success.

Emphasise Your Education

One of the first things recruiters will be drawn to in your resume is your relevant education, especially if you are applying for jobs in a specialist field. While you may have undertaken a range of studies at university, ensure that you emphasise the education that is most relevant to (a) the job you are applying for and (b) your desired career. This advice particularly applies if you completed a broad degree, such as a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science.

Focus on Transferable Skills

You may not have a substantial work history as a graduate, so in lieu of this, your resume should focus on your transferable skills. These skills can relate to communication, problem solving, sales, strategy implementation and so on, and can come from any area of your life, such as work experience, volunteer work or even your hobbies. Ensure that you provide specific examples of your transferable skills and check that they directly relate to the job description.

Employment History

If you have held down a job or any other type of work whilst completing your education (e.g. volunteer work, internships), it is important to include these when resume writing, even though they may not be completely relevant to your long-term career.

Past jobs will show future employers that you do have some experience in the workplace in which you have developed your skills and a work ethic.

Include Keywords

Today it’s highly likely that your resume will be submitted via an electronic database. Hence, keywords should form an important part of your resume writing.

Including keywords in your resume will increase your chances of being found if the recruiter/employer conducts an electronic search when trying to fill a position. Your keywords should match the ideal position/s you want to obtain; other keywords can also be included with your skills, competencies and education. Think about what an employer would need to “type in” if they wanted to find your resume in their system.

Career Objectives

At Resumes Australia, we advise our executive candidates to omit any career objectives at the start of their resumes, as these rarely add value to the document.

However, as a graduate with little work experience, you may want to include a brief statement that will give the employer an idea about your career goals and how you plan to develop your career in the long-term. Once again, make sure this is relevant to the position you are applying for.

Get Online

Once you have completed the resume writing process, the next crucial step before you begin applying for jobs is to get yourself online professionally. LinkedIn is the ideal place to start, so ensure you create a LinkedIn profile for yourself that matches your resume, and outlines your skills and experience.

Need help with your graduate resume writing? Resumes Australia is a professional resume writing service that works with many candidates – from graduates to senior executives – to produce crisp, effective and influential resumes that secure first-time interviews.

If you’re keen to stand out against all the other graduates in your field, Resumes Australia is the place to be.

Regards,

Resume Writing & Photographs – Do They Go Together?

Are you including a photograph with your resume?
One of the key questions I’m often asked in managing an executive resume writing service is whether or not candidates should include a photograph as part of their resume application. There are many myths and assumptions surrounding this practice and although there are sometimes good reasons to include a headshot with your resume, there are far more negative reasons and outcomes that a photo can produce.

At Resumes Australia, we strongly advise our candidates NOT to include a photograph or headshot when it comes to resume writing.

The Resume-Photograph Myth

Some candidates feel that a photograph provides their application with a “personal” quality, allowing the recruiter to put a face to the name, or that their professional appearance will somehow affect their success and gain them an interview.

But these assumptions are largely unsubstantiated and rarely have we heard of a candidate being successful with an application simply because of the way they look. It is important to remember that it is not your appearance that pushes your career forward, but your achievements and experience. Your persuasiveness in a resume should come from the document itself – not from a photograph.

Why No Photographs?

Resume writing and photography do not usually go together. Here’s why:

No Value

Unless you’re applying for a role as a model or an actor or something similar, there is no need for an employer or recruiter to know what you look like in considering you for the position. An employer may look at your photograph and think, “this person looks suitable” or “this person doesn’t look like they could handle this job” – but where’s the proof in these ‘guessing’ statements?

An employer’s decisions should be completely based on the way your skills and experience are outlined in your professional resume. A photograph is going to have no influence over whether or not you can do the job, and it doesn’t add any value to your application.

Wrong Impression  

If you do include a photograph in your professional resume, how do you also know it is not going to create the wrong impression with the employer?

You have no way of knowing what sort of impression your photo will create and this can lead to your photo strategy backfiring completely.

It can lead to employers refusing to give your application a second glance, despite your skills, and can create just as much distaste for your application as your hopes were for success. A recruiter or an employer might think, “this person doesn’t look professional” or “does this person really think their looks are going to get them the job?!”

As a result, your resume may be summarily dismissed and you may miss out on valuable opportunities that you would ordinarily be ideal for and – zip! your career prospects are reduced to zero.

Poor Applications

Poor quality photos can lead to a poor quality application.

Let’s say you are applying for a corporate role and your resume is not well written. In addition, you decide to include a headshot of yourself from your last surfing holiday. A recruiter would most likely view this as a poor application – the resume is only slightly convincing, but the photo makes you look completely unprofessional. The result? The rejection pile.

Are There Any Circumstances When Photographs ARE Acceptable?

If you are submitting a resume for a position based in another country, you may be required to include a photograph with your application. In circumstances where the employer has specifically asked for a photograph, you should comply with their request.

In addition, as mentioned earlier, if you are applying for a job where a certain type of physical appearance is required for the job, such as modeling, acting or being an extra in a commercial, the foregoing comments obviously do not apply.

Another exception, is where a corporate resume may benefit from high impact formatting, which unlike a standard resume, will creatively showcase your experience, capabilities and potential, in a visually high impact manner. Utilising impressive strong visual communication, including corporate photographs, your background can be presented with ingenuity and flair that highlights your creative capabilities.

Resumes Australia is a leading resume writing service that provides expert and qualified resume advice and career coaching solutions to many executive candidates across Australia.  Learn more about our resume writing packages today!

Regards,

When You Don’t Want to Be A Senior Executive

Climbing the corporate ladder and becoming a high profile senior executive or industry leader is not for everyone.

There is a great deal of pressure being at the top and sometimes, candidates are content to stay in a mid-level position.

How do you know when you don’t want to be a senior executive and what can this mean for your career?

1. Are You Senior Executive Material?

Before you begin applying for those big promotions and senior executive roles, you should consider if you are really senior executive material. You will need to seriously think about whether you can handle a large amount of pressure, constant demands, important decisions, long hours and mammoth responsibilities. Most high-end executives are dedicated to their jobs and are often accountable for millions (or billions) of dollars.

If you gain more satisfaction from the day-to-day running of the business rather than making vital strategic, corporate decisions, you might be better suited to an intermediate management position than a senior leadership role.

2. Integrate Yourself Into the Business

Just because you don’t want to sit in the CEO’s chair doesn’t mean that you can’t be highly valuable to a business. Integrate yourself into your company by becoming a specialist in local operations, developing your expertise in processes and product knowledge, and establishing yourself as an indispensible asset.

Becoming a company expert will ensure you can go far in your job and career, without necessarily having to climb further up the corporate ladder.

3. Develop Your Transferable Skills

Being an exceptional manager or mid-level executive is all about knowing where your skills and values lie. You may not want to increase your salary by climbing the corporate ladder, but you will probably be able to improve your remuneration by changing companies or even industries.

Developing transferable skills is crucial in progressing your management future, and will give you the flexibility to shape your career despite not wanting to step up into senior leadership roles.

4. Tailor Your Professional Resume

If you do find yourself wanting to change companies or even industries, your resume will be a significant tool in taking you where you want to go.

You should ensure that your professional resume highlights your transferable skills, emphasising your talents in mid-level management, and your capacity to successfully transform business operations. As a general rule, avoid any terminology that will portray you as a rising executive or an experienced senior leader; this can confuse employers about your intentions, or convey that you are over-qualified for a mid-level role.

5. Be Clear In Your Goals

Finally, be clear about the fact that you want to remain in a mid-level position and that you prefer not to accelerate your career upwards. This should come across in your professional resume, your job applications, and also in your interviews and your career strategies.

Are you keen to be a mid-level executive?

Resumes Australia provides expert advice to many candidates who are keen to develop their management careers and strive for success without climbing the corporate ladder.

Regards,

“What Do You Dislike About Your Current Job?”

What do you dislike about your current job?

If your professional resume is a document that can open doors for you, then the job interview is the event that will hopefully guarantee your success.
When it comes to interview coaching, I take my candidates through a series of interview questions, and one of these is: “What Do You Dislike About Your Current Job?”

There are probably a few (or many) things you dislike about your current role, but when you are asked this question in an interview, what is the best way to answer?

Take a Moment

Like all interview questions, you should take a moment to stop and think about what the employer is really asking you with this question. An immediate answer may spring to mind, but how much do you really want to disclose to this interviewer?

There are several reasons why recruiters and employers ask, “what do you dislike about your current role?” It might be because they want to gauge your attitude towards your employer in general, to find out why you’re looking for a new job, or to see if there is anything specific you dislike which could rule you out as a candidate for their position.

Be Selective

You will need to be extremely cautious and selective when answering the “what do you dislike” question, since you don’t want to reveal any details that could potentially work against you and make you seem unsuitable for the role.

For instance, your first thought might be to say, “I hate the fact that there’s so much emphasis on team culture.” This may be fair enough, but in an interview, this answer could give the employer the impression that you don’t play well with others, or aren’t willing to work as part of a team.

Furthermore, if the company you are interviewing with is heavily team-focused, you won’t do yourself any favours with this answer. Instead, a better response might be, “my present company is great, but I’m looking for a position that offers more autonomy and room to develop my career as a leader.”

Keep It Professional

It’s important to remain positive and professional with your answers, as you don’t want to be seen as openly complaining about your current workplace. If you complain about your present company, what’s to stop you bad-mouthing your next company once you leave?

Keep answers professional and work-focused at all times. Do not grumble about what you hate, or how your co-workers irritate you, turn your negativity into optimistic answers about the company (not about an individual). For instance, if you dislike the fact that your boss is stubborn and bad at communicating, your answer might be, “my current workplace is not an environment that encourages collaboration or embraces new knowledge, which are factors that are important to me.”

The Right Answer

Just like most interview questions, there is no “right answer” when it comes to explaining what you dislike about your current job.

The key is to make sure that you accentuate your dislikes in a positive light, using any negative points to help you describe what you want from your next role and to drive your goals in moving forward with your career. Whatever you do, don’t complain about your company, and don’t say anything that will put you in an unfavourable light.

Resumes Australia offers comprehensive interview coaching, career coaching and resume writing services that can help you fast-track your career and land you that next important position. If you’re unsure how to answer interview questions, we can assist!

Good luck!

Resume Writing Tips: How to Describe Your Expertise

Expanding on your skills, which today are mostly referred to as expertise, in your professional resume is crucial.

As a leading headhunter, I have seen too many self-written resumes where the candidate has listed generic skills, such as “great at sales” or “managed a senior team.” While these statements might be true, they don’t add anything powerful to the resume, and don’t tell the employer anything beyond the basics of what you can do.

What’s the right way to exhibit your expertise in a resume?

Relevancy

Before you begin describing your expertise, you should ensure they are relevant to the position you are applying for. You should read through your professional resume again and make sure that the expertise and achievements listed in your resume correspond with what is being asked for in the job description. That is, they should directly tie in with what the employer is looking for.

For example, if the job advert for a Business Development Manager mentions “development of new sales policies,” does your professional resume adequately show that you can create and implement policies? Or is it just full of general sales and management expertise?

Understanding Your Expertise

When approaching employers and recruiters, it’s crucial to remember that your expertise is your main selling point. With your overall experience they are the elements that will market you as a suitable candidate for the role.

Anyone can assert that they are “hardworking” or that they are “great at management,” but it is how you have applied your expertise in past and present roles that is vital – this is what recruiters look for, and this is what needs to come through in your executive resume. How have you utilised your expertise in the corporate environment? How did they impact the business and help further your career?

Your Experience & Achievements

Your job achievements should be a direct representation of your relevant expertise. You need to highlight what the main purpose of your role was in the respective organisations you worked for, and demonstrate how your expertise contributed to the business.

You can do this by using the STAR Framework:  Situation – Task – Action – Result

Situation:    Describe a situation, set of circumstances, issue or problem you encountered.

Task:            Explain what you thought needed to be done to address the issue, problem or situation, why it was important and what your role was.

Action:        Describe what you actually did, how you did it, and the level or extent of your involvement in resolving the issue or dealing with the situation.

Result:        Detail the outcome, impact, result or benefit of what you did.

Using the STAR framework to expand your experience will bring value, strength and depth to your professional resume, reinforcing your expertise so that you stand out from other candidates.

Resume writing can be a challenge! Even more challenging is writing an executive resume that pertains to a specific job description and promotes your talents accordingly.

Resumes Australia has a wide range of resume writing services that will help you put together an outstanding professional resume.

Regards,