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Advertising
Everywhere we look, we are bombarded by advertising in print, on-line, on billboards, in our
mailbox, and even in the sky attached to small airplanes during a football game. What is the point
to all of this? The people purchasing the advertising are trying to capture your attention and
communicate a message. They are also trying to shape your behavior based on the message.
Advertisements always tell a positive story. In a similar way, the resume and cover letter are also
advertisements. They need to communicate a positive message about your skills and experiences
to the target job market. The message must be clear. They must draw attention and motivate a
response. Hopefully that response is to arrange an interview.
Product Research:
To do this, you must first know your product. The process of identifying the P.E.A.K.S., or your
personal characteristics, experiences, accomplishments, knowledge and skills, helps you to begin
crafting your positive unique message.
Each of you has a different set of life experiences, characteristics, skill sets and areas of
knowledge that make you unique.
• When writing your resume and cover letters, consider the story that only you can tell.
What's your story?
Market Research:
Writing good advertising depends in part upon previous knowledge of the target market. In the
same way, without a complete understanding of the audience you are trying to reach, it is
impossible to write a truly effective resume or cover letter. Without such information, your
resume simply becomes a listing of facts rather than a carefully crafted tool that communicates a
specific message to motivate the behavior of a specific audience.
Purpose of a Resume:
If you haven't guessed it yet, the primary purpose of a resume is to gain an interview. It will not
get you the job, but a good resume is critical to opening the door to an interview. The resume
should communicate a strong advertising message: "If you buy this product (me), you will get
these specific, direct benefits." When you craft your resume, the resume should not simply
inform. Instead, the resume should generate interest and persuade an employer to contact you.
Writing a resume with this purpose in mind, results in a more effective document.
Plan First:
Before writing a resume, you need to ask yourself the all important question, "What would
make someone the perfect candidate?" Applying Covey's principle of seeking first to
understand, makes it easier for your message to be understood.
• Stop here and start on your journal assignment for the week. After you have
completed the exercise, put your work away and then pick up with the remaining lecture
notes.
In the Rockport article, Part 2, they suggest that you "Plan First". In your
journal, brainstorm your answers to the following question, "What would
make someone the perfect candidate?". (Base this on your knowledge
about what skills, abilities, personal qualities, education etc. are needed
in your area of interest. If you are not sure, spend some time researching
your career area before you start this exercise.) Prioritize your answers
based on which qualities or abilities your think would be most important
to the hiring manager.
Then, starting with the most important quality, fill in as much as you can
with brainstorming about why you are the person who best fulfills the
employers needs. Write down everything you have ever done that
demonstrates that you fit perfectly with what is wanted and needed by
the prospective employer. Do this by reviewing your work history,
education, extracurricular activities, honors, special skills etc. Be sure to
include things like the projects, accomplishments etc. that you have in
each of these areas. Think broader than what you have listed on your
resume and include everything that comes to mind.
• Assertions Section - Here you make statements that communicate about what abilities,
personal qualities and achievements you have that would immediately generate interest in
the target employer.
• Evidence Section - Here you support your assertions with specific information such as
information about the jobs you have held, the education and training you have
accomplished etc.
Resume Specifics:
Identification
This is where you list your pertinent contact information. While this is very basic, this should be
the first thing that an employer sees on your resume. Make sure that the information is correct
and will be correct for at least 6 months after you distribute your resume. The information that is
critical to this portion is:
• Your Name
• Mailing Address
• Permanent Mailing Address (NOTE: only if different)
• Phone Number (NOTE:Include the number where you can leave a professional voicemail
message if you can't answer immediately.)
• Email Address (NOTE: Make sure your email address sounds professional. Cute email
user names are not appropriate on a resume.)
Assertions Section
1. Objective
As part of the assertions section, the career objective should focus on your particular target area
by including mention of information such as career area, position title, type of organization or
functional area. A targeted resume always has a targeted objective on it. If you are focusing on a
few different areas then you will need to have a resume specifically written for each area. It is
impossible to write an effective, generic objective. Objectives like, "MBA seeking entry level
position where I can utilize my interpersonal skills", are not going to capture appropriate
attention. Instead, focus on specifics of what you want and what you bring to the table:
For example:
2. Profile/Summary
The next area in the assertions section should contain several brief statements that summarize for
the readers your specific qualities and achievements that will be of interest to them. This section
serves the purpose of telling them the overall story of your most important qualifications. When
written well, the summary should motivate the reader to want to continue reading your resume.
The following are examples of what you can include. This information is quoted from the
Rockport article:
• "Account Representative with more than 3 years of experience increasing sales revenue
with an organization in the financial services industry. Particularly skilled at building and
maintaining strong customer relationships. Excellent interpersonal and analytical skills."
• "Creative problem-solver with special strengths in consultative scheduling, strategic
planning and customer focus."
• Want to Learn More? For more examples of summaries, please see the Summary
section of the Rockport article in Part 2: How To Knock The Socks Off A Prospective
Employer.
The final component of the assertions section is that of the skills and accomplishments. This
continues the type of information written in the summary section but with much greater detail.
The goal is to still persuade the reader that you are the solution to their employment problems by
communicating the important message, "If you buy this product (me), you will get these specific,
direct benefits." Depending upon the format of your resume, chronological, functional or a
combination, this information may be in a separate section or organized as a description of each
position held.
PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
Operations/Strategic Leadership
NOTE: If this format is used, there is usually a separate section that lists the employment history
after the highlights section. The minimum information to include is: position title, name of
organization, location of organization and dates of employment. Positions would be listed with
the most recent first.
Key contributions:
NOTE: As an option with this format, keywords or industry buzz words can be included at the
beginning of each description to further organize the information. Keywords also help the reader
to capture information about your skill area quickly. See the following example:
Key contributions:
Evidence Section
1. Education & Training
In this section, new graduates will want to the basics of their educational credentials by including
the following:
• Name of Degree
• Date of Degree
• Name & Location of Institution
• Concentration/Specialization/Major/Minor
Optional Items:
2. Experience
S = Situation
What was the situation? What was your goal? What did you want to accomplish?
T = Task
What was the task at hand? What were the hurdles, obstacles or constraints that you faced?
A = Action
What were the actions that you took, step-by-step to achieve your goal? If it was a group project,
what actions did you take to manage the group process?
R = Result
What was the outcome or result of your actions? What completed the task? What was the
measurable/quantifiable result?
3. Optional Categories:
There are a variety of other categories that can be used to provide further evidence of the
assertions on your resume. Depending upon your background, you may choose to highlight any
of the following on your resume:
• Activities
• Awards
• Computer Skills
• Hobbies
• Honors
• Languages
• Leadership
• Memberships & Affiliations
• Presentations
• Professional Activities
• Professional Development
• Publications
• Scholarships
• Special Projects
• Special Skills
• Travel
NOTE: Remember, everything you choose to include should relate to the key characteristics of
interest to your employment job target. If it's not relevant in some way to your objective, then do
not include it.
At the end of your resume, you may choose to also include the phrases:
The design elements used in a resume can help to highlight key information and create a
professional impression. Typically whatever is placed on the top two-thirds of the first page is
going to get the most attention which is why having a strong objective and summary section is so
important. Length can be from 1-3 pages overall. Most people will range from 1-2 pages for most
people. Those working in an academic environment will use a curriculum vitae format for their
resume which has no page number limits. It is usually helpful to have both a 1 page "executive
summary" resume and a two page extended version that gives more detail. If you use more than
one page, be sure to include your full name as a header on the top of the second page for
consistency. The use of bold, italics, underline, bullets, different font types and sizes can all
be carefully used to create specific effects. The important thing to remember is to use white space
throughout the resume so that it is easier to read and to be consistent with all formatting choices.
Aside from making it visually appealing, resumes can also be more effective by using appropriate
power words to express your message. Be sure to begin each sentence describing your skills and
accomplishments with one of these action verbs.
Your Resume
Now that you have done the journal exercise and have reviewed how to write a resume, it's time
to update your own. You may find it easier and more effective to start writing it like you've never
written one before, using your former resume as a reference. Incorporate the new information that
you uncovered as part of your journal assignment. Check to make sure that your resume is
targeted and is compelling to the target audience.