by Patricia Erickson -

If you have ever sat down and attempted to write your own resume, you know it can be extremely intimidating. Sure, you can talk about what you do and describe your job to your friends, but putting it on paper can get tricky.

Here are some tips to help you to get started. First, what type of job is it that you are seeking? Your resume should be written with the job you want in mind. Think about your current and past experience and how it relates to the job for which you’re applying. Then, focus on the duties and responsibilities that show you are qualified to take a step up in your career.

You will want to remember to use relevant key words, including active verbs to effectively describe your skills. Instead of starting job description sentences with “Responsible for” use powerful verbs like:

* Conceptualized

*Designed

* Managed

* Led

* Developed

* Realized

* Achieved

Do you see the difference between responsible for and managed or led? You are able to take a much more active part in the process. In addition, you show you are an achiever. You don’t just do the work – you actually take ownership for it.

A caveat: You don’t want to be long winded in your description. You also don’t want to be dishonest. If you only managed a part of a multimillion dollar project, then you didn’t manage the whole product.

If you are currently working, be sure that the description under this job is in present tense. The other jobs you held previously are in past tense.

Make sure that your duties are relevant to your career objective. And remember, you don’t need to include every last detail. The details that you do include should actually support your case. Here’s what I mean: If you are seeking a job managing a team of people then you want your focus to be on your leadership abilities, your ability to develop people and your ability to drive employees to meet goals.

As for formatting, you will want to put your duties in paragraphs and your accomplishments in bullets. That way your prospective employer can easily see your job descriptions and find those accomplishments quickly.

Don’t forget that in most cases, less is more when it comes to a resume. When an employer has 30+ resumes to read, huge blocks of print and long lists of bullets can get to be too much. A high impact job description will be clear and to the point.

Your goal is for those prospective employers to easily scan your resume in search of key words. If the resume is packed to the brim with text, it will look like a daunting task. If you want to get an interview – keep it simple and your resume will help you to do just that.

Patricia Erickson is a certified professional resume writer and career coach who helps people get focused on making great impressions, getting interviews, and finding dream jobs. She works with clients to craft high impact resumes and implement step by step plans that get them in the door and hired.

Before your next interview, be sure to claim your SmartJOB Tracker software, visit Patricia’s blog at http://www.avitacareermanagement.com/blog/ and to get information on career coaching/resume writing services and pricing, click here: [http://www.avitacareermanagement.com/index.html].