Page 147 - Complete Idiot's Guide to The Perfect Resume

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Chapter 9 ➤ Step Four: You’re an Achiever!

If you’re a chronological resume writer, skip past the next few sec-
tions about the functional resume and jump into “Dynamite
Achievements” later in this chapter.

Functionally Sound
You’re still reading, so you must be a functional resume writer. Your Terms of Employment
achievement statements should appear under the appropriate skill
headings in the body of your resume. Check out the next functional Professional Experience is the
resume template to see what I mean. name of the midsection in the
chronological template shown in
Do you have a feel for where your achievements are going to be this chapter (which contains your
listed? Good. Now read on to learn some important things about work history and achievement
creating the skill headings for your functional resume. statements). That section may
also be called
Functional Help Professional
Accomplishments
One of the key advantages to using a functional resume is that you
Career Achievements
define yourself by your skills, rather than by your former job titles.
That’s why it’s an especially good format for career changers and Achievements
those with tricky employment histories. Selected Accomplishments

The way to put the spotlight on your skills in the functional resume Experience
is to create skill headings, which appear in the body of the resume.
The purpose of using the skill headings is to help the potential
employer quickly identify you as someone with the talents
needed to do the job. (Don’t forget you have to make a good
impression during an initial eight-second scan!) If you keep your
skill headings brief and put them in bold or large print, the
employer will quickly define you by your skills, rather than by
your previous job titles.

One Plus One Is Enough Job-Hunt Hint

To figure out what skill headings to put on your functional resume, Depending on what you list in
imagine that you are an employer who is writing an ad for the job the Work History section of your
mentioned in your Job Objective statement. What skills would you functional resume, consider nam-
list as requirements? ing this section one of the fol-
lowing:
Let’s say you’re the manager of a retail store, and you’re looking for
Work History
a Director of Customer Service. Your help-wanted ad might read:
“Applicant must be skilled in supervision and customer service.” Employment History
Now step back into the shoes of the job seeker. Supervision and
Relevant History
Customer Service would be the two skill headings you should use
History
on your resume.
Experience
Career History

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