Professional Resume: How to Catch the Eye of an Employer

     More and more college graduates earn a degree and are unable to even receive an interview, much less a job. Without career experience, the value of a resume as a first impression to a future employer must not be undermined.  It takes job recruiters a matter of a few seconds to make an initial decision about bringing in a prospect for an interview. A well-crafted, functional resume describing work experience, education, achievement, and objectives must catch the attention of an employer through the initial selection process. Apkan and Notar suggest two types of resumes for recent graduates: functional and electronic formats. A functional resume emphasizes the applicant’s skills rather than work experience, while the new-age electronic form requires material to be typed in a simple paragraph format to communicate skills, experience, and abilities.¹ Writing an eye-catching resume takes some time in order to reveal your accomplishments both in life and in your academic career.

     Another key to a professional resume focuses on the applicant’s strongest qualifications being in direct correlation with the requirements of the desired position. This requires intensive homework on the organization in search of relevant knowledge and skills to catch the attention of the resume reader. Haseltine records in his job search basics that the most effective resumes are written with a target audience in mind. Resume writers must decide what to include and to what level of detail to emphasize to the reader because a resume is a strategic, self-marketing document.² A resume reader needs to receive the notion that the applicant knows as much as or more than the present employees of the company. This replicated knowledge, in addition to adequate skills, will set a resume apart from the rest on a professional level. The power of a good resume cannot be overstated in today’s job market.

References

¹Akpan, Joseph, & Notar, Charles. (2012). How to Write a Professional Knockout Resume to                Differentiate Yourself. College Student Journal, 46:4, 880-891.

²Haseltine, Derek. (2012). Job-Search Basics: How to Convert a CV into a Resume. Nature

 

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