"Help Me Recruiter"-I Have Not Written A Resume in Years

Tara A out of Indianapolis writes…“Dear Recruiter Help!

I just found out I’m going to be losing my job due to a layoff and I have not written a resume in over 10 years where do I even begin to start?”

“Well Tara don’t panic I have an easy to use format but the first thing to focus when writing this resume is this is your branding tool to market yourself to employers. So when writing the resume you don’t just want to list what functions are of your job you did, but in what capacity you performed those activities such as how you performed and what you accomplished.

My suggestion before writing the resume is get a note book and start listing out your accomplishments, special projects you were on and what your role was. The reason I suggest a note book is so that you can brainstorm without worrying about the grammar and it will be in front of you. Once you do that then you can write the final draft of your resume.

Now as far as the outline, since you have so much experience you want to emphasize that over education because experience is what sells an employer. Here is the Format I suggest (see below).

1. EXPERIENCE: LIST YOUR (COMPANY/JOB TITLE)
2. NEXT LINE LIST YOUR ROLE SUMMARY
3. ACCOMPLISHMENTS: PUT IN CAREER HIGHLIGHTS IN BULLET FORMAT
4. NEXT LINE LIST IN BULLET FORMAT WHAT YOU DID IN AN ACCOMPLISHMENT
5. REPEAT FOR EACH JOB
6. EDUCATION: THIS GOES LAST AND ALSO INCLUDE SPECIAL SKILLS BELOW
Tara that should give you a good place to start good luck on your search! One last thing I want to leave you with, view this as a new opportunity to do something new and exciting instead of focusing on the negative of losing your job. Employers pick up on your attitude so if it’s a good one, they will be more interested in hiring you!

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