A resume is a funny thing, if you think about it. This document takes all of your experience, your accomplishments and your skills and condenses them into just a page or so of content. If you have tried to write your own resume you have probably learned two things: first, it is incredibly difficult to write about yourself and second, drafting effective yet concise sentences to convey a career’s worth of experience is not an easy task. But the most challenging aspect of drafting your resume is, quite possibly, the creation of a strong marketing message.
Why Is a Marketing Message Important?
Thinking of a marketing message in terms of your personal work may seem a bit unnatural, but the truth is that you need to sell yourself to the hiring managers who will be sorting through an entire pile of resumes. This means that, above all, you need to set yourself apart while quickly conveying the fact that you are perfect for the job. As you can imagine, this is no easy feat; however, resume writing professionals know exactly how to craft a summary and list of core competencies that draw the attention of hiring managers.
A Summary: The Entire History of Your Career… Or Not
The summary is the first place in which you should build your marketing message. Given its name, “summary,” you may be led to believe that this is an overview of all of your skills, experiences, and accomplishments. This is, largely, not true. You see, a summary should be thought of as more of an introduction of who you are as a professional. While personal information is off-limits throughout the rest of the resume, this is where you showcase your softer skills and highlight only the most important (and relevant) of your capabilities. For instance, words like “dedicated,” “punctual,” and “passionate” are acceptable here.
Core Competencies: Reducing Your Skills Down to a Bulleted List
In the summary, you assert that you are a professional in a certain field with specific capabilities. In the core competencies section, you have to back up your claims with a list of your industry-related skills. These often double as keywords for which hiring managers scan when sorting resumes. By looking at both the summary and the core competencies alone, a manager should be able to identify where you would fit in their company.
As you can see, creating a strong resume marketing message is no easy task. In fact, the keyword and other elements incorporated into your resume will depend upon your industry and the job for which you are applying. This is why it is a good idea to turn to a professional when creating a new resume. The team at Grammar Chic, Inc. has helped its clients create strong resumes for years and is ready to assist you with yours! If you are feeling confused or frustrated as you begin to update or write your resume, call us today!
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