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5 Ways to Drastically Improve Your Resume in 10 Minutes of Less

Follow these quick and easy tips to build yourself a betterresume in under 10 minutes flat.

* Use strong, action oriented language that describesspecific skills or accomplishments.

Go through your resume from top to bottom and eliminate weaklanguage. Don't write "Was in charge of large graphic designdepartment that increased company revenues" when you can say"Managed 12 graphic artists in major creative projects thatincreased revenues by over 3 million last year."

Whenever possible, eliminate all forms of the verb "to be"(is, are, was, am and so on), as demonstrated in theprevious example. Instead, replace them with strong actionwords that paint a compelling picture.

* Add bullets.

Bullets are a great way to transform lists that wouldotherwise make tedious reading in paragraph form, or thatwould benefit by a cleaner layout. They make the job ofreading your resume more pleasant for the reader. A perfectcandidate for bullets is a list of accomplishments relatedto a single job. For example, "Postmaster, 1998 -2003"followed by 3 or 4 major accomplishments in bullet form.

* Write a specific, concise job description.

If the job you really want is "Director of Human Resourcesat a Fortune 1000 company," say so. Don't write "Middlemanagement position at a large or mid-size company" orsomething equally vague. That covers a lot of territory. Youneed to help the company with the exact job you're lookingfor find you. Put yourself in the hiring manager's shoes.Would you call a candidate for an interview in the hopesthat she is a good match, or would you call the person whosejob description specifically indicates she wants the job?

* Don't include every single position you've ever held.

Your resume is a document designed to land you an interview,followed by a job offer. There will be times when omitting aposition - especially if it has no relevance to the positionyou are seeking, may be in your best interest. This is easyto do where omitting short term positions or specialprojects conducted as part of an ongoing job assignment willnot create an obvious "hole" in your background that youwill need to explain.

(There are ways to avoid making an employer suspicious ofresume rough spots, like gaps in experience or experiencethat lacks relevance to the position you are seeking. Aprofessional resume writer can offer you specific advice onways to do so, considering your unique background.)

* Spell check.

When you're finished improving your resume, run a finalspell check. Your word processor's spell checker probablywon't contain all the acronyms and specialized industryjargon that your resume likely contains. In that case, takethe time to manually check each flagged item to make sureyour resume is spelling error-free.

Follow these five easy tips for a better resume, fast!

Copywriter and consultant Vincent Czaplyski is founder ofwww.impressive-resumes.com, your online source forprofessionally written "industrial strength" resumes andcover letters guaranteed to land you an interview.

Copyright 2005 by Vincent Czaplyski, all rights reserved.

You may republish this article in its entirety, as long asyou include the complete signature file above withoutmodification.

Copywriter and consultant Vincent Czaplyski is founder ofhttp://www.impressive-resumes.com, your online source forprofessionally written "industrial strength" resumes andcover letters guaranteed to land you an interview.