| Having trouble detailing your career within a resume? | | | | CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY |
| You're not alone. Presenting a CLEAR MESSAGE | | | | Recruiters/hiring managers are primarily concerned |
| about what skills and successes you can bring to the | | | | with positions you've held over the past 10-12 years. |
| table is challenging, to say the least. It's also critical to a | | | | Therefore, listing positions from most recent on back is |
| successful job search. These expert tips are a good | | | | an effective approach. Furthermore, your last 3 |
| place to start: | | | | positions should be given greater priority than older |
| 1) CREATE A TARGETED OPENING | | | | ones, which can often be consolidated within an |
| Jumping into your work history without an introduction | | | | "Additional Experience" section. This keeps things clear |
| greatly lessens the impact of your resume. Worse, it | | | | and controls clutter. |
| can cause confusion in recruiters/hiring managers, who | | | | 3) SEPARATE JOB RESPONSIBILITIES FROM |
| want to ascertain your unique attributes AS SOON | | | | ACCOMPLISHMENTS |
| AS POSSIBLE. Make their job easier (and increase | | | | Effective organization of information, both for |
| your response rate when submitting) by creating a | | | | readability and impact, is the key to a great resume. |
| targeted opening. | | | | Nowhere is this more important than your work history. |
| - Analyze postings for jobs you're interested in to | | | | - Begin every position with 3-4 lines describing UNIQUE |
| identify 3-4 in-demand skills that you possess. Now | | | | RESPONSIBILITIES. Utilize active language and avoid |
| create a brief paragraph highlighting these at the very | | | | listing tasks taken for granted, such as attending |
| top of your resume. This serves as a | | | | meetings, etc. |
| POINT-OF-ENTRY for readers to delve into your | | | | - After describing responsibilities for every job, create |
| work history. | | | | a "Key Accomplishments" section (or similar) listing |
| 2) LIST YOUR WORK HISTORY IN REVERSE | | | | successes in bullets. Utilize metrics wherever possible. |