Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Society of Broadcast Engineers, inc.
Newsletter Article Submittal
Hello
:
If your local or
national members of, Society of Broadcast Engineers, inc., would benefit from the following
career-related article, please feel free to publish in your association’s news
letter, e-zine or website.
Permission to print
intact including ending attribution box.
Category: career and
job-search tips
Title: The Resume Pyramid: Building a Great Resume From the Top
Down
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
Resume Pyramid: Building a Great Resume From the Top Down
If you have
experienced writer’s block while trying to construct your resume, you might
find it helpful to think of your resume as a three-layered pyramid. All the elements of an effective resume will
fit within those three layers.
Layer #1: The Pyramid
Pinnacle: Your Job Focus
The
top layer of the pyramid is your career focus—the starting point of a great
resume. Think of a focused resume as the
opposite of a one-size-fits-all resume.
An early lesson I learned as a headhunter was that employers are
suspicious of candidates whose resumes don’t focus on one career
objective. They assume the candidate
doesn’t know what he/she wants to do, or that the candidate isn’t really very
skilled in either objective.
If
your career background allows you options for two or more career objectives,
that’s great; just make sure that you create a separate resume for each
objective.
Layer #2: The Pyramid
Midsection: Your Selling Points.
The
midsection of the pyramid is made up of the selling points that support your
career focus. Selling points are all the
qualifications that make you a strong candidate for your particular career
focus or objective. For example: the
selling points of a sales professional might consist of “New Account
Generation”, “Major Account Penetration” or “High Volume Closer.” Whatever your career focus, determine the
best selling points to prove that you match the qualifications for the
job.
If
you are attempting to cross industry or occupational lines in your next career
move, think of your transferable skills as your selling points. Communicating transferable skills allows
prospective employers to see your expertise and accomplishments outside the
context of your former industry or occupation.
Layer #3: The Pyramid
Base: Your Accomplishments.
The
largest part of a pyramid is its base; likewise, your accomplishments should
comprise the largest part of your resume.
Like a pyramid’s base, your accomplishments support your selling points,
which in turn support your focus.
Your
accomplishments illustrate the strength of your qualifications. Quantifiable accomplishments that relate to
bottom-line corporate objectives are more significant. If you express your accomplishments as
benefits rather than as features, they will appeal more to your readers.
Example
Feature: “Developed and implemented 24-hour pricing
turnaround.”
Benefit: “Increased sales closure rate 35% by
implementing 24-hour pricing turnaround.”
Thinking
of your resume as a three-layered pyramid will help you to break down the
complexity of your work history and simplify your resume content into a
concise, comprehensive marketing message that will capture the attention of
your next employer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deborah Walker, CCMC
Resume Writer ~
Career Coach
888-828-0814
Deb@AlphaAdvantage.com
Visit the job-search
article archive at www.AlphaAdvantage.com
Call for
FREE resume critique
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you
Deborah Walker, CCMC
888-828-0814
Deb@AlphaAdvantage.com