How to Create an Award Winning Resume in 3 Steps

Step #1: The Heading

It only takes 3 meaningful steps to create an award winning resume that gets noticed by recruiters, HR professionals or hiring managers, and it has to be value-based. Meaning it has to show a prospective employer how you can contribute to their bottom line, solve their problems, and meet their needs. It has to show that value quickly and up front where it counts. You have 15-20 seconds to make an impression, so why leave important details that are specific to the job you are applying for at the end?

Think of the hiring professional as your customer, and your resume as the product you are marketing or trying to sell. A good salesman sells a product to a prospective customer based on product benefits, and how that product will add more value to the purchaser's lifestyle. Consumers, especially now with the downturn of the economy, buy products based on value, not merely based on price.

Now back to your resume. When your resume is what Certified Professional Resume Writers such as myself, call "value-based," it communicates the benefits you will bring to the prospective employer if you are hired, and it answers the question, "Why should I hire you?" While your long or short work history is important, your education, and your skills, employers look for the value you will bring to their organization when reading your resume, and you have 15-20 seconds or less in which to do that.

Thinking a little differently about your resume huh? Well you should! Always write your resume from an employers view, not your view because the employer is your audience. You're not going out there to hire yourself!

There are only 3 important sections of your resume that will make it a value-based one, the heading, the showcase, and the evidence.

Heading: This is your 1st step and the easiest to do. The heading includes the basic contact information for the hiring employer to reach you. It generally includes your name, street address, city or town, state, zip code, a telephone number to reach you at (home and/or cell phone), and your email address. It's okay to put the name that people call you by, for example most people who have the 1st name of William, are often called Bill, depending on the job you are applying for. If the job is a highly conservative one, you may want to use William instead. As far as your address I wouldn't use a PO Box, and your email should be a professional one.

Step #2: The Showcase

Here's where you are going to show your value to a prospective employer, so it's the most crucial part of your resume. It has to answer the question "Why should I hire you?" This may be the most difficult part to create. It has to be hard-hitting, impactful and clearly communicate your value, so you need to take some time when creating this part.

Sit down and write everything about yourself that makes you unique with each position you had from the current to the previous. Ask your friends and colleagues what they like most about you. Remember employers want to know how you can make a difference in their organization and enhance their bottom line. Your intentions are to spark enough interest in the reader to read the rest of your resume in 2-5 short phrases using a creative format. This format will serve as your billboard. For examples on how a typical billboard will look, just ask me and I can send them to you.

Step #3: The Evidence

This last section is simply going to include the rest of your resume such as employment history, education, any certifications, awards, recognitions, or affiliates not included in the showcase section, and it has to back up what you stated in the showcase section, that's why it's called "the evidence". If you included a Career Summary and a Professional Strengths section, then a hiring manager better see the evidence here.

When listing your work history, don't just list job duties, and try to stay away from the phrase "Responsible for". Accomplishments or achievements get you hired, not job responsibilities. The hiring manager already knows the responsibilities of the position they are trying to fill. Can you see why I said previously in Step #2, write your resume from an employer's point of view, not yours, because it's the employer that is your audience. It makes sense to do so.

If I'm looking to hire an administrative assistant, I already know what they do. All administrative assistants basically do the same thing. So, what's going to separate you from the other 200 administrative assistants that sent me their resumes? You really need to think about that. Refer back to the list of things you wrote about you in Step #2, and incorporate it into your work history.

An employer wants to see the results of your work, not just your job duties and responsibilities. But, only those things that brought sustained results to the company. You're not going to list everything that you did. You're going to list only those things that brought the greatest rewards or results to your employer. I can't write that for you, you have to know these things about yourself. Only you know you! Make sense? Anywhere you can use quantitative measurements, use them, especially in a sales position. Numbers speak louder than words.

Overall a 1-2 page resume depending to your work history is just fine. But remember it has to be reader friendly, visually pleasing to read, and filled with those action verbs that are emotionally charging. Now you can see how important this marketing tool is, and the impact it will have on your success. Creating a value-based resume will make your resume an award winning one that gets you job interviews! Now, go forth and be successful!