For this post, I decided to consult two of my favorite resume writers (Jill Grindle and Jeanne Knight) for advice on what is important to include in a resume in today’s job market. I have included their tips and websites below.

In addition to their comments, I’ll chime in with a Tip that relates to branding.

RANDI’S TIP: Be sure to include your Personal Brand in the top third of your resume, which is the most important piece of real estate on this document. This is especially true given that many resumes are being read on smart phones.  Your Personal Brand is what makes you unique and compelling and differentiates you from every other candidate applying for the job.

You want to avoid overused expressions such as “Accomplished team player” or “motivated team player”. Honestly, how does that differentiate you from anyone else applying for the same job?  Think CHEMISTRY-focus on WHO you are and HOW you do your work, what you are passionate about, your leadership style etc. Think IMPACT by quantifying the value you bring to an employer.

Resume Tips from Jeanne Knight, Career and Job Search Coach:

1) It is imperative that you, the candidate, are 100% clear on the job you want to do next. Being unclear, or open to too many possibilities, will result in a resume that is too general and too "all-over-the-place," and won't present you as a candidate with enough depth in any one area to be fully qualified for any particular job.

2) Once you are 100% clear on the job you want next, make sure your resume is targeted specifically to that job. Include only responsibilities and accomplishments that support your career goal and leave all extraneous information out. Remember, a resume is a tightly written marketing document... a sales tool... not a career biography. Treat it as such and you will be more successful in your job search.

3) You've heard it before, but it's worth repeating...  Make sure your resume includes specific contributions you have made to your employers, not just a bulleted listing of what you were responsible for. Companies and HR departments have their own job descriptions, so they know the responsibilities inherent in most jobs. What they want to know is, what did you actually DO? What did you contribute? What were your accomplishments? What are you most proud of that contributed significantly to a company's success?

4) No, a resume does not have to be one page. That was a "rule" that no longer applies in today's world. Your resume should be whatever length is necessary to paint a compelling picture of your greatest skills and accomplishments, as it relates to the job you want to do next. If it all fits on one page, fine. But if it takes 2, or even 3 pages, then take the space you need. Just be sure you have included ONLY the information that supports your next career goal.

5) Truly, review your resume again and again (and again!) for spelling, grammar and formatting errors. Every single resume I read from a client has some form of error on it...  A period where a period doesn't belong; a word that's been capitalized that shouldn't be; a run-on sentence that needed to be broken into two sentences, or at least separated into appropriate sections by semi-colons; and different fonts and font sizes in headings and other sections of the resume when the same font and font size should have been used. Improper grammar, misspelled words, outdated formatting and style, etc., can be the kiss of death for a resume, especially for someone at the senior level of an organization. Remember, your resume is the first impression a company has of you...  Make sure it's an impression that causes a company to want to talk with you!

Jeanne Knight, Career and Job Search Coach; website: www.careerdesigns.biz

Resume and Social Media Tips from Jill Grindle, Resume Write:

Tip 1 – Make your resume as targeted as possible to each position you are pursuing; the more focused it is, the greater the chance of success you have.

Tip 2  –  Keep your resume as succinct as possible while keeping your achievements and strengths prominent. With the use of PDAs, it is critical to keep resumes to two-pages or less. If you need to communicate more about your value proposition, consider using a one-page leadership addendum in addition to your resume.

Tip 3 – Leverage the power of the Internet and make sure you have a distinctive and memorable digital footprint. Use all the resources possible to get your name out in front of recruiters and potential employers. This includes LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and perhaps a blog. (Please note if you do employ social media, it is critical to keep your content updated regularly; otherwise it can have a detrimental effect.)

Jill Grindle, CPRW

www.astepaheadresume.com

Don't rule out older experiences, community service, or volunteer roles for your career change résumé. Review every possibility from your life and professional experience that could showcase the skills and experience you want a prospective employer to see.

One example is: Working on a board of a nonprofit and doing fundraising and development work can help show that you have good sales or client relationship and negotiation skills.

The same works for taking professional development or training classes or seminars. These will supplement your professional experience and show a hiring manager that you are sincerely interested in and committed to this new profession or industry.

And community service can work great to supplement your résumé. By engaging in community service work, you will show commitment, compassion, enthusiasm, and the ability to collaborate with a team to accomplish goals and objectives.

Altogether, if you have volunteer, professional development, and community service experience to add to your résumé, you will show a prospective employer that you will be a dedicated worker who strives to be the best.

Bragging a bit is a key ingredient of résumé writing, whether for a career reinvention or not. Your achievements tell the story of who you are, what motivates you, and how you have added value to previous employers.

Your résumé should be populated with strong achievements and success stories that demonstrate the various skills and attributes you would bring to a prospective employer for a new job or industry. If you are staying within your industry, your many achievements will be applicable.

It you're looking to change your industry, or job function, you need to do more work. First, you must develop your career achievements or career success stories, but then translate them into a language that a hiring manager in a new field can understand.

When thinking about how to accomplish this, I suggest that you follow the Problem, Action, Result (PAR) format and construct your stories as follows: First come up with a problem your company faced, then describe the actions you took to solve the problem. And, finally describe the results of your efforts.

But, doing so in a more generic way shows your new company or industry you can adapt to their culture and help solve their problems.

What are keywords, and why are they important when writing a career change résumé? A keyword is the foundation for how hiring managers search for and identify candidates in résumé databases.

When writing a résumé for a career reinvention, you want to be sure that your résumé is sprinkled with keywords that are relevant to your career goals and how you want to be perceived in the employment market.

Keywords should be included in the summary section at the top of the résumé. You also can include them in a bulleted format in a separate section about your competencies, strengths, capabilities, and professional qualifications.

So what exactly are some good keywords? How about : client relationship management, negotiation skills, relationship building, cross-functional collaboration, time management, or new product and service launch?

Some of these are applicable to many types of jobs, some aren't. But, the point is you want to use the keywords that will work for your new industry ... keywords that will catch a hiring manager's eye and land you that new job.

Before you write your résumé for your career reinvention, you must do your homework. That means you must do your research, online and offline, about the industry, the company, and even the potential hiring manager you might encounter.

That way, you can understand the skills and competencies your new industry or company is seeking. And, it will help you learn the language of your new field. One way of doing your homework is through informational meetings. During these sessions, you can ask about the key skills and competencies they consider to be the most important for your new role or industry.

Another method of doing your homework is to locate several job descriptions online for roles in your new industry or job function. Review them and make a list of what the companies and/or hiring managers are seeking.

You also should read professional publications and/or blogs to get a better feel for your new industry. You will then begin to understand industry jargon, and become more familiar with some of the challenges faced by the industry.

Once you've completed these steps, you're ready to write your new résumé.

After a glorious summer and lots of fun family time with my daughter, it is now time to get back to writing and sharing career tips and techniques.

The Fall is often a time when individuals want to update their resume for the busy Fall job search or an impending career reinvention. I am starting off this Fall with a five-part blog series on resume writing for career change. For those of you just updating your resume, many of the tips and techniques apply, so enjoy.

Focus, focus, focus. That's what you need to do when you're undergoing a career change and want to redo your résumé. But, focus on what?   Well, before you start writing your résumé, you need to focus on your new direction. You will need to determine what position you want, what industry is desirable, what location works for you, and most importantly, how you want to be perceived by a prospective employer.

Figuring out what positions and/or industries you're targeting will give your career change résumé a focus. And, this focus will dictate what information you include, how, and where. Writing a career change résumé is all about producing an image of how you want to be perceived by a prospective employer.

For example, if you are an accountant who wants to transition to a publicity or marketing role for a nonprofit, your résumé will look different than if you were seeking another accounting role. You will need to include aspects of your current position (the marketing things you have done), volunteer experience, or professional training and translate those experiences.

More specifically, when reinventing your career, you must "reweight" the information you include on your résumé to be more relevant to your new objective. You have to translate what you have done in your past roles in such a way that a potential hiring manager immediately understands its relevancy to the position for which you are applying.   

Do Your Resume Due Diligence

In the first blog post of this five-part series on Career Reinvention resumes, I talked about the importance of having a clear focus and target for your resume. This second post discusses the importance of doing your homework before you sit down and write.

Before you write your résumé for your career reinvention, you must do your homework. That means you must do your research, online and offline, about the industry, the company, and even the potential hiring manager you might encounter.

That way, you can understand the skills and competencies your new industry or company is seeking. And, it will help you learn the language of your new field. One way of doing your homework is through informational meetings. During these sessions, you can ask about the key skills and competencies they consider to be the most important for your new role or industry.

Another method of doing your homework is to locate several job descriptions online for roles in your new industry or job function. Review them and make a list of what the companies and/or hiring managers are seeking.

You also should read professional publications and/or blogs to get a better feel for your new industry. You will then begin to understand industry jargon, and become more familiar with some of the challenges faced by the industry.

Once you've completed these steps, you're ready to write your new résumé.

Keywords? So What?

 When you think of keywords, it probably brings to mind Googling the net for information on a particular topic. While that is accurate, —keywords are a vital element in a well-crafted resume.

What exactly are keywords in a resume? Quite simply, they are industry specific and  job-related terms that resonate with hiring authorities and decision makers. In an age where technology reigns, keywords in resumes are more critical than ever, especially since human eyes are often not the initial decisive factor in determining which resumes will be selected for further review.

Most large companies and recruiting firms maintain a database in which all resumes are scanned and stored. When a position opens, a database search is conducted using keywords. Those candidates who have keyword-rich resumes will typical come up first, even though other candidates, who might be equally as qualified, if not even more qualified will remain unnoticed!

How do you know which keywords to use in your resume? I recommend my clients review ads for positions that they are qualified for. So for example, an ad for  Software Sales Executive might contain requirements such as “10+ years of management experience in high tech, sales industry experience with leaders such as Oracle, Microsoft, etc., deep knowledge of ERP software, vertical and channel markets, and distribution partnerships. Ability to lead teams of up to 100 sales executives with cross-functional support groups”.(If you are lucky, the ad might even contain a keyword summary to help clue you in as to what hiring personnel want to see in a resume.)

Knowing this, it is important that these keywords like ERP, Microsoft, Oracle, vertical and channel markets to name just a few, get woven into the resume. This can be done effectively with the profile or executive summary “Respected software executive offering more than 10 years of sales leadership experience in ERP software for companies that include… Expert in channel and vertical marketing strategies…” Some of the other key words can easily be worked into a section called core competencies or areas of expertise, as well the professional experience section.

If you aren’t sure if your resume has good keyword density, ask for a complimentary critique by a certified resume writer or career coach. It can make all the difference in how quickly you rise to the top!