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What's a Resume?

Your resume is like a movie trailer--if it catches your interest, you want to see the movie. The same holds true for prospective employers: if your resume piques their interest, they'll want to learn more about you. With that in mind, we've developed these pages to outline the things you can do to build a strong, effective resume Building an effective resume will help you better understand your habits, strengths, and weaknesses--and knowing yourself better will ultimately help you find the right job.

To make writing your resume as painless as possible, assemble the following information before you begin. Personal information such as name, address, phone, and e-mail address. Current job objective Education and training Work experience, including duties and dates of employment Accomplishments (particularly as they relate to work experience) Specific skills and abilities Information about software knowledge or machinery you can operate References A good resume will show the employer how hiring you will be good for his/her business.

Remember to showcase:

Your abilities
Your technical aptitude
Your goals
Your accomplishments
Your achievements and their impact
Think about your talents, skills, and abilities.

Think about the following:

What do you do well?
Are you detail-oriented?
A creative problem-solver?
Organized?
How will these talents help your potential employer?

Answering these questions will help you formulate your resume objective--a brief sentence or two stating

what type of job you want and what skills you want to utilize.
What type of job do you want?
What industries interest you?
What skills and talents do you want to use?
What do you want to learn?