Resumes For Dummies, 8th Edition

Chapter 8

Making the Details Shine

IN THIS CHAPTER

Gathering data to draw on

Digging up details, challenges, actions, and results

Turning all that data into resume gold

Your ultimate goal is to customize your resume to be a specific OnTarget document for each job you seek. But getting there always starts with creating one master Core — or one-size-fits-all — resume document. That master document is a tool that, once created, you can pull from to ensure that you’re OnTarget. But to get there, you have to cross the bridge from knowing you need a resume to figuring out what to put in it, and making sure that the content is powerful enough to make you stand out from all the other applicants for the job.

For most job seekers, this leads to what is called Blank Page Syndrome, where they end up sitting in front of a computer staring at a blank screen and not knowing where to get started or what is even important enough to include. After they sit long enough trying to fill in each of those resume sections, most people will end up just listing basic responsibilities held or skills performed.

Although it’s tempting to want to get the resume written quickly, settling for the basics in areas ...