Posted By Amanda Collins on September 7, 2010

If it’s been a few years since you wrote a resume, you probably think it’s merely a compilation of everything you’ve done before, leading you to where you are now. But, in truth, each resume should have behind it a clear strategy based on where you want to go, not where you’ve been. This is where a lot of people miss the target. They write from the past instead of writing to the future.

The first question you need to ask yourself is, “What position do I want?” Even if you know the industry and level, you’re a step ahead. Once you define what you want to do, you can start building the resume around that, focusing your title, summary, keywords, and accomplishments. You should always keep your goal in mind as you’re creating the resume; it will help you remain focused.

This, of course, may mean that you’ll need more than one version of your resume. If you’re merely changing titles within the same industry, you’ll likely only need to tweak the top third of the document: title, summary, and keywords. That will be a quick fix.

Remember that a resume is a career-marketing document. You are the widget you need to sell. You wouldn’t buy a brown-paper-wrapped box if you didn’t know what it did, would you? So don’t expect an employer to be interested in you if you don’t explain how you can help them.

Category: Resumes
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