Resume Writing

Step by step approach

By
Fran Moga
SBA Career Services
Step 1

 Assess your interests, skills, knowledge,

and abilities.
Step 2
 Set clear career goals.
 Choose a Job Objective
 A clear objective can be written in 6 to 10
words.
 Clear and simple job objective makes
resume writing easier.
 Don’t “puff up” your objective with
overused phrases.
TIP: People who take the
longest to find a job often
have unclear goals.
 There is no Fairy Job Mother.

 You need to know what YOU want and

take action on your own behalf.
Step 3
 Know what is needed to do the job you
choose as your job target.

 Make a list of your strongest skills or

abilities that make you a good
candidate.
 List should include at least 3 or 4 skills.
Step 4
 Identifying your accomplishments

 Use the PAR Approach

 Problem – Who, what, where??

 Action – what you did

 Result – quantify when possible

Step 4 con’t

 Use the recognition approach

 Were you chosen for a particular new

assignment.

 Awards for advancement.

 Feedback on performance evaluations or from

peers.
Step 4 more
 Use the “So What?” approach

 What would have happened if you did

nothing?

 What is different as a result of your effort

Step 5
 Describe your accomplishments

 Create a simple powerful action statement.

 Put action words at or near the beginning

of the line.
 TIP: Start with an ACTION
and end with a RESULT
 Increased average monthly sales from
$1,500 to $3,000.
 Inventoried, reordered and maintained
attractive display materials.
 Developed new production process
which improved productivity 40%.
Step 6
 Make a list of jobs you’ve had in
chronological order

 List most recent first, then in descending

order the other jobs you have held.

 You only need to go back 10 years.

Step 7: Education and
Training
 Degrees or certificates
 Highest degree 1st
 Omit AA & High School
 Relevant workshops or seminars
 Internships
 Practicum
 Step 8: Summarizing Key
Points
 A good summary should include these key
points:
 Number of years or months experience in your
chosen field of work.
 An accomplishment or recognition that “says it all.”
 Your education or special training in that field.
 Your skills, talents, or special knowledge related to
the job.
 Something about your personal work style.
 Step 9:
Choosing a Resume Format
that fits your situation.
 Chronological - Good choice if staying in
the same field, not as focused on you .
 Functional - Good choice when you
want to make a significant career
change.
 Targeted - Variation using both styles
with a specific target in mind.
Step 10: Assemble Your
Resume
 Objective - if you choose to select one
 Summary statements
 Education / Training - GPA
 Main body: Work history or functions
 Affiliations/Awards
 Interests
Electronic Resumes
 Scannable resumes
 focus on keyword recognition
 filled with nouns and short phrases
 incredibly bland for the scan
 e-Mail or Internet resume
 saved as an ASCII or text only file
 use fixed width typeface