Candidate Services

Creating an Effective Resume

An effective resume clearly presents a your experience and accomplishments in an organized manner to allow a perspective employer to quickly understand your qualifications. Be aware that most resumes are reviewed very quickly and are typically not read in detail with the first look. Therefore, it is important to highlight relevant experience and accomplishments to capture the interest of the resume reader.

Here are some tips for creating an effective resume:

• Tailor your resume to the type of position level and responsibilities you are seeking. If your next career step is managing a function and supervising staff, e.g. development or leasing, highlight the previous experience that is most relevant to your career goal.

• Keep the overview of position responsibilities to a minimum and focus on presenting accomplishments that are quantitative or qualitative. This could be achievements related to revenue, cost savings, increased profitability, system or procedural efficiencies, new market development, projects on-time and within budget and off market opportunities to name a few.

• Provide a chronological account for all positions held to include the company name and position. You should always start with your current or most recent position and go back.

• Identify education, certifications and relevant professional training when applicable. It is personal preference if you list education at the beginning or end of your resume. We prefer to highlight education and certification first, especially when an advanced degree has been earned.

• Organize your experience and accomplishments so that the most significant or strongest ones are read first.

• Don’t try to impress an employer with overly creative, and in some case distracting, resume formats. Presentation and creativity are important but unless you are seeking a position where creativity is a prime responsibility or skill component, it could work to your disadvantage.

• Including a career objective can be a benefit if the statement articulates a true career goal and not a less meaningful general statement like “wanting to maximize my contribution” or “build upon my experience to advance my professional interest.” Trovato Group offers no cost career counseling to assist in defining professional goal(s).

• Some search firms (including Trovato Group) reformat all resumes prior to submitting a candidate to a client/potential employer. This is done to provide ease and consistency for clients in reviewing resumes. If you want your original resume submitted to a client, you should discuss this with the search firm.

If you would like assistance or feedback on your professional resume, please contact us; we would be happy to assist you!