MacLeod Career Management, Inc. Resumé Services

Our staff has written hundreds of resumés for our clients. We can either
give guidelines, edit your existing resumé, or completely write your resumé
for you. Our unique approach ensures that your resumé will sell you in the
best possible way. Below are some of the general guidelines to consider in
writing your resumé:

Quality
We are very particular about the resumés we write, and you should be, too. When you send a resumé to an employer, it must be perfect. With the resumé, you are essentially saying to an employer, "Here's what I can write about a topic I know well - myself - and with unlimited time and resources to write it. This is the best I can do." If the document has errors, or is poorly or awkwardly written, then your best is not that good-and what does that say about your work quality on a day-to-day basis?

Guidelines
An effective presentation of your resumé is crucial to getting the job you want, yet many persons write without first thinking of what they're trying to accomplish. Try asking yourself these questions:

What is the purpose of the resumé?
The real of purpose of the resumé is not to get the job, but rather to get an interview. After the interview, the resumé doesn't have as much impact on the final decision. It should sell you to the employer enough for them to want to talk to you. The resumé is NOT like a job application, on which you list your work history with dull facts about menial tasks performed. It is an advertisement for you.

How long will the reader be looking at the resumé?
Not long. Some studies show that the first review of the resumé only lasts 7 to 30 seconds! Look at your resumé and ask, what will their eyes see if they are only looking for 7 seconds? Emphasize what you want them to see: not the section headings, or company names, but your selling points, and your job titles. If they're reading filler information, then they aren't reading the things that sell you.

Is my resumé appealing?
It should have enough white spaces, it should be easy to follow, and no single paragraph should be so big it looks like work just to read it. It needs to be inviting to the reader and aesthetically appealing.

Are there "red flags" or problems in it?
Gaps in employment, job performance problems, personal and other issues that may scare off an employer should be omitted or disguised. If you have an issue that needs to be discussed, save it for the interview, when you get a chance to explain it.

There are several particular approaches that we find effective to help distinguish your resumé from others. For instance:

Resumé Software and Templates
Most resumé writing programs and word processing application "templates" are cookie cutter approaches that you may want to avoid. While they can especially be helpful if you have trouble using the computer, certain problems are also created by them. They tend to be inflexible in their format, and thus may not be of the style and outline that sells you the best. Resumés created from templates also look alike, and yours may stand out more if it is an original creation.

While we don't use templates, it is great to get ideas, key phrases, and inspiration from existing resumés. We have hundreds of resumés for clients to look over, and these can be emailed in MS Word format to clients to use as a starting point for their own resumé.

Objectives
We use Summary Statements, rather than Objectives. Objectives tend to be too narrow, and thus limiting, or too broad, and thus useless. There is a trend toward eliminating the Objective altogether. We have formats for writing Summary Statements that are effective in describing you.

Accomplishments
In the body of the resumé, we focus less on tasks you've performed, and more on your accomplishments. You should avoid using passive terms such as "responsible for…" or "duties included…". Instead of simply including a cut-and-paste of your job description, identify the accomplishments you've had. For many people, it is difficult to identify those accomplishments. Our format for identifying and incorporating them into the resumé greatly increases the impact it has on the reader.

More
Other issues we can help with include the preparation of a resumé that will be scanned, how to prepare a resumé that willl be emailed vs. snail-mailed, how to choose the style that's best for you, how to write a C.V., and other considerations.

We have hundreds of samples that we've written, and key phrases and concepts applicable to nearly any industry. Ask us how we can make a resumé for you that helps you get the job you want.