Susan Ireland, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Resume, has now produced over 40 videos that help people with their resumes and cover letters. I’m so proud of her. You go grrrl!
Since one of my greatest skills is knowing what I do know and what I don’t know (and admitting when someone else knows a lot more than I do), I usually send people to Susan’s site when they’re looking for help.
As a nice sample of the easy-to-understand advice she gives, here’s one of her many videos.
This one is simply called: 5 Resume Tips. Basically she tells us:
- Your resume is about your future, not your past.
- Resumes are not a confessional; choose what you write so it supports your current job objective.
- Fill resume with achievement statements, not “boring job description statements”.
- Never include tasks you don’t want to repeat in your new job.
- Don’t lie – no matter how tempting!
Pretty good basic advice for anyone, I think.
If you need more help, her site offers plenty of resume and cover letter tips, as well as various samples depending on your particular situation.
Although your resume and cover letter are only part of the story, they’re the parts that sell you and get you in the door! So try your best to make them the best representation possible of who you really are, and not just a good- enough-for-now afterthought. 
Good luck with your job search!
Ronnie Ann
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For more on resumes and cover letters from the Work Coach Cafe:
How a New Resume and Cover Letter Got Her the Job Interview!
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New Work Coach Cafe Policy:
Sorry but I’m no longer able to answer all questions. Short ones have a better chance, but I still might not get to your question. Feel free to browse for answers in Career Topics & Archives or by using the Work Coach Cafe search. Good luck!
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I really like your advice that a resume is about your future not your past, because as a recent college graduate with little work experience that really gives me hope. However, how does this translate into a physical manifestion on the resume? I feel like I understand what you’re saying, but still kind of am clueless how to incorporate this into my own resume, because when it comes take to write or edit my resume it seems to be that the past or lack thereof is always affecting my future.
Hi Lekeisha,
When I say your resume is about your future, I mean you take whatever experience you have (paid or volunteer) and tell it in a way that aims you toward what you’re looking for. When we’re first starting out of course, most of us only have a limited story to tell with our resume, but we should still do all we can to paint the picture in a way that gives us the best chance to get the job we want. And your cover letter can help you with that.
Although I don’t give individual advice any more (see end of post), for more thoughts on this, you might want to check this out:
Resume Help
Good luck!
Ronnie Ann
I totally agree that lying on the resume is a big no no. There is a better way to market yourself without lying. You can use your cover letter to at least explain gaps of dates in your resume when you were unemployed, you could mention any seminars you attended during that time. If you lack a skill that a company requires, you could mention some related skills you have and any transferable skills that you know can help you learn or be trained faster for a skill they require. Any of these are better than a lie on your resume; sometimes even a convincingly and passionately written cover letter can land you the job. Most employers appreciate initiative and character more than skills or educational background.
Thanks for the good advice, JITP. You’re so right. A good cover letter can make all the difference.
Here’s a post that might help people with both their resumes and cover letters:
10 Things I Look for When I Screen Resumes and Cover Letters
Ronnie Ann
Sadly, even though I structure my resume as “What I can Do For You”, the layers of recruiters I have to go though to get to the hiring manager are more interested in my past. In fact they are obsessional about this, to the point of focusing on ‘gaps’ where I took training (when I decided on a career change), built my house, and buried my parents and settled their estate. They seem hung up on continuity and on ‘progression’.
When I do get through to the hiring manager thigns are very different!
Excellent points, Toronto. This is a good reason to use social media and research to find the right person to contact from the git go. Good luck getting yourself to the job you want. And don’t forget to have a great story to explain the gaps – and to structure your resume to de-emphasize them as best possible. I’ve had MANY gaps – and I always got new offers. (Although admittedly some took a while before they came my way.)
I know you can do it! Good luck.
Ronnie Ann
Hi Ronnie Ann,
Great article, but I have a question. You say not to mention tasks we don’t want to repeat in our new job. But what if we’re looking to change careers? In my case, I’ve only been out of college for a couple of years, and had to take a job doing sales & marketing, but I’d like to find a job writing, which is my real passion. I studied English, but don’t have experience in publishing, copy editing/writing, etc., although I have done some free-lance writing.
The point is that since I’m young and have little professional experience, not mentioning sales positions I’ve had will leave my resume looking bare. How would one go about tackling this problem when building a resume?
Thanks for all the great articles, this website has been a great resource for me!
Hi Patrick!
Relatively quick response (compared to the complexity of a full answer) in honor of my new policy…
Tasks are what we do within a job. You don’t leave out the job – you just do your best to highlight those tasks and skills that most are in synch with the job you want now!
In your case, think about what a job in writing entails (good chance to research and also find folks for informational interviews since writing jobs are almost never just writing) and then look carefully (creatively) at your past jobs, By using your writing skills, you can best aim your resume in that direction using what we call transferable skills (ones that can be used in your next job even if it’s different). You may also need to quickly do some volunteer or temp work to add some real writing skills to your experience.
Best of luck!
~ Ronnie Ann