No-Nonsense Resumes

The Essential Guide to Creating Attention-Grabbing Resumes That Get Interviews & Job Offers

Arnold G. Boldt, Wendy S. Enelow, Wendy Enelow

• Publisher: Career Press
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781564149053
• eBook ISBN: 9781601638144
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Careers

For the first time ever, here's a resume book that clears away the clutter and gets down to the "brass tacks" of what it takes to write and design a resume that will get you interviews and job offers. Authors and professional resume writers Wendy Enelow and Arnold Boldt share their insights, knowledge, and more than 35 years of combined experience to help you prepare a resume that will get you noticed, not passed over.No-Nonsense Resumes begins with a thorough but easy-to-understand explanation of the key elements that are vital to creating an "attention-grabbing" resume, including how to:•— Strategically "position" your resume•— Showcase your skills and achievements•— Format and design a professional-looking resume•— Select and integrate key words•— Prepare and distribute your electronic resumeSubsequent chapters offer specific tips on creating winning resumes for job opportunities in virtually every profession: Administration & Clerical; Accounting, Banking & Finance; Government; Health Care & Social Services; Hospitality Management & Food Service; Human Resources & Training; Law Enforcement & Legal; Manufacturing & Operations; Sales, Marketing & Customer Service; Skilled Trades; and Technology, Science & Engineering. Included in each chapter are sample resumes contributed by leading resume writers and career consultants worldwide.

Chapter 1

Simple Truths About
Resume Writing

Professional resume writers know that resume writing is a unique combination of art and science; careful attention to detail and creative use of language; substance and style; and strategy and implementation. They understand that resumes are not just listings of past work experience and educational credentials, but rather they are documents designed to sell job seekers into their next jobs.

As professional resume writers ourselves, we follow a very systematic, no-nonsense approach to resume writing that has opened the doors to new opportunities for tens of thousands of job seekers. Now, we’re going to share that information with you in the first-ever, no-nonsense guide to resume writing that gives you insider secrets to writing well-polished, well-positioned, and powerful resumes. If you follow the steps, activities, and strategies outlined in this book, you’ll be able to craft a resume that is sharp, distinctive, on-target, and effective in generating interviews and offers.

The Six Simple Truths About Resume Writing

Before you begin to write your resume, there are six strategic concepts you must understand. Professional resume writers live by these truths and understand how critical they are in positioning a candidate for the right opportunity.

Truth #1: Write to the Future

Truth #2: Know Who You Are

Truth #3: Strategy and Positioning Are Key

Truth #4: Sell It; Don’t Tell It

Truth #5: Keywords Rock!

Truth #6: There Are No Rules for Resume Writing

If you can truly grasp what these concepts mean and how they apply to your particular job-search situation, you will be able to write a strong and effective resume that will open doors and generate interviews. Let’s explore each of these simple truths.

Truth #1: Write to the Future

Resume writing is about writing toward your next job; it’s not about rehashing your past experience. That is, perhaps, the single most important strategy for resume writing. If you understand it, then you’ll be well prepared to write your resume. If you do not, you’ll find that your resume-writing process becomes much more difficult than it needs to be.

To best illustrate this concept, let’s examine the resumes of two sales professionals with similar backgrounds, but very different objectives. The first candidate, Sam, has been in sales for 12 years and now wants to move into a sales management position. To write toward his new career goal, Sam is going to place a heavy emphasis on activities such as sales recruitment, sales training, region/territory management, product positioning, sales budgeting, forecasting, and all the other management-related functions he has performed. These items, in combination with his sales achievements, become the foundation on which Sam’s entire resume is written. He needs to put a heavier emphasis on his sales management qualifications, as opposed to his field sales experience, to better position himself as an individual who is already well-qualified for his targeted management position.

Our other sales candidate, Leslie, wants to transition from her 12-year fieldsales career into an accounting position, and her resume will be totally different from Sam’s. To write toward her future career goals, Leslie is going to highlight her experience in budgeting, forecasting, revenue planning, profit projection, cost control, and other related skills. Most likely, these functions were not Leslie’s primary job responsibilities as a field sales representative; however, they were ancillary responsibilities that she managed. As such, she needs to bring them to the forefront of her resume so that she is able to effectively position herself to make her desired transition into her future accounting career.

To further demonstrate this concept, let’s examine the resume-writing process for an insurance agent who now wants to work as a crisis intervention counselor. Employed in the insurance industry for more than 15 years, Jim has also been an active volunteer in several community-based counseling organizations. He’s been doing this for more than 10 years, although he’s never been paid for his time and expertise in this area. Because Jim’s goal is to transition into a counseling career, the primary focus of his resume will be the skills and experiences he’s acquired through his volunteer efforts, with just a brief mention of his insurance career at the very end of his resume. The terms you’ll see on his resume will include crisis intervention, one-on-one counseling, group counseling, treatment planning, inter-agency relations, and more. If prepared effectively, Jim’s resume will communicate that he is a well-qualified counselor and not an “insurance guy.” In turn, he will have created a document that appropriately positions him for his desired career move.

This concept is what is referred to as re-weighting, or shifting the emphasis of your resume from one set of skills to another in order to support your current career objectives. Decide what it is you want to do at this point in your career and then highlight all of your relevant skills, experiences, and qualifications—whether from paid work experience, training, volunteer activities, or community service. Each of these experiences is important, because each equipped you with different skills that may be pertinent to your current career goals.

Re-weighting is an acceptable practice in resume writing. It’s what gives you the power to transform yourself into who you want to be to successfully pursue your new career goals. A word of caution, however: Don’t overstate your qualifications. If you are granted an interview, you’ll discover that you’re neither adequately prepared nor qualified for the job. Rather, always write with our motto in mind: Stay in the realm of reality!

Truth #2: Know Who You Are

It’s not possible to write a truly effective resume without knowing what your objective is—the type of position you’re interested in or the industry in which you want to work. This concept ties directly into Truth #1—Write to the Future—and in order to do that, you must have a job goal in mind. This goal may be as specific as a network engineering position or it may be more general, such as a position in marketing, public relations, or corporate communications. Either way, in order to write toward your future goals, you must know who you are and how you want to be perceived by prospective employers and recruiters.

Many people reading this book may, indeed, already have a particular job objective in mind, or at least a good idea of the types of positions in which they’re interested. If this describes your situation, you may want to jump to Truth #3, starting on page 15.

For others of you who may be uncertain as to where you’re headed next in your career, we recommend you take some time to explore your core skills and competencies, the things you enjoy doing and the things that motivate and inspire you. It’s also important to have a clear awareness of the things you truly dislike doing. If you assemble a list of these items, you should begin to see patterns of interest that will help you in identifying your career goals.

To help you with that process, we’ve designed a few simple exercises that should guide you in further clarifying your career goals and highlighting particularly relevant strengths. Take your time when completing these exercises and think carefully about your responses.

Capturing Your care Skills

Directions: Think about all of your skills—work-related and otherwise—and include them in the column “What I Do Well.” Maybe you’re great with organizing things, good with numbers, effective in staff training, successful in increasing revenues; the list goes on and on.

In the column, “What I Don’t Do Well,” list all the things you’re not so good at (dealing with irate customers, interpreting written instructions, or maybe researching data). Be honest with yourself; no one but you is ever going to see this list.

Identifying Your Optimal Working Environment

Directions: In the left-hand column, list all the things you enjoy about your current job. If you’re not currently employed, think back to your last job. This column might include things such as flexibility, autonomy, decision-making responsibility, and people interaction.

Then, in the right-hand column, list all the things you did not like about that job. These items might include a difficult boss, an isolated working environment, or poor staff communication.

Identifying Your Key Interests and Motivators

Directions: Forget about work for a few moments and focus on your personal interests and activities. In the left-hand column, list things you enjoy doing outside of work (for example, baseball, cycling, or stamp collecting).

Then, in the right-hand column, list things you dislike doing outside of work, such as household chores, errands, and volunteering.

Once you’ve completed the previous three exercises, you should immediately begin to see certain patterns and be able to identify four distinct areas:

Things you do well and like doing.

Things you do well, but dislike doing.

Things you enjoy, but don’t do well.

Things you dislike and don’t do well.

Take a look at the following chart to better understand how this works.

To help you interpret your results, we’ve labeled the sections in the chart 1 through 4:

Box #1: These are your “proficiencies.” They’re the things you’re really good at doing and you also particularly enjoy. Perhaps you’re a purchasing agent who is excellent at negotiating with vendors. You take pride in this capability and genuinely enjoy the interaction with each supplier. This type of skill definitely belongs in Box #1.

Box #2: Things listed here are “development opportunities.” You really enjoy these activities, but aren’t very “proficient” at them. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to be a master woodworker and cabinetmaker, but have little skill or experience. With extra training, you might be able to develop this skill and transform woodworking into one of your “proficiencies.”

Box #3: These are your “burnout skills.” You’re probably very good at doing these things, but don’t enjoy doing them. At work, you may be repeatedly asked to perform a task that you do very well, but that you perceive as unchallenging and unrewarding. Exploring career opportunities that move you away from these tension points is probably a smart choice.

Box #4: “Avoid like the plague.” You hate doing these things and you’re not good at doing them. For example, many bank tellers were hired at a time when the valued skills for that job were accuracy, attention to detail, and a friendly demeanor. In today’s banking world, many tellers are now expected to sell products and are evaluated on their sales performance. Gradually, the nature of the job changed, and many tellers felt they were being forced to do something they didn’t enjoy. If you find yourself in this situation, or a similar one, the best thing to do is start looking for a different position more suited to your proficiencies.

Once you identify what you do well, what you truly enjoy, and what motivates you to do a good job, you will have a better understanding of who you are. With this enhanced self-awareness, you’re much better prepared to put together a resume that tells an employer what’s unique and valuable about you, and how you can contribute to the bottom line.

If, after doing the previous exercises, you’re still uncertain as to your next career move, we recommend you consult with a career coach or career counselor who can offer more comprehensive career assessment and testing services. Some of the more well-known career assessment tools are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), DISC, O*NET, Keirsey Temperament, and TypeFocus. To find a qualified career professional who can administer these assessments and help you set your career direction, check out these resources:

Career Masters Institute (www.cminstitute.com).

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Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Simple Truths About Resume Writing
• Chapter 2: Simple Truths About Resume Formatting and Design
• Chapter 3: Simple Truths About Writing Your Resume
• Chapter 4: Simple Truths About Electronic Resumes
• Chapter 5: Resumes for Accounting, Banking, and Finance Careers
• Chapter 6: Resumes for Administrative and Clerical Careers
• Chapter 7: Resumes for Goverenment Careers
• Chapter 8: Resumes for Healthcare and Social Service Careers
• Chapter 9: Resumes for Hospitality and Food Service Careers
• Chapter 10: Resumes for Human Resources and Training Careers
• Chapter 11: Resumes for Law Enforcement and Legal Careers
• Chapter 12: Resumes for Manufacturing and Operations Careers
• Chapter 13: Resumes for Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service Careers
• Chapter 14: Resumes for Skilled Trades Careers
• Chapter 15: Resumes for Teaching and Education Careers
• Chapter 16: Resumes for Technology, Science, and Engineering Careers
• Appendix A: Resume Writing Worksheet
• Appendix B: Professional Keyword List
• Appendix C: Contributors
• Index
• About the Authors