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Resume - On the Fast Track

"I'll start looking for a new job as soon as I get my resume together." Sound familiar? And then, days and weeks pass with no progress on either - resume or job hunting. Don't put off looking for a new job just because you don't have the "perfect" resume. It doesn't have to be painful or time consuming.

Make it simple. Don't get intimidated or overwhelmed by the process of putting a resume together. Your resume is essentially a one-page summary of your employment history, nothing fancy needed. By breaking it down into sections, you can take each piece one step at a time and you'll be prepared to search for, find and apply to the "perfect job."

First, you must understand what your resume is going to do for you. It is an introduction, a way to present your skills and how they relate to the position. Your resume creates interest and, hopefully, gains you an interview where you can further discuss your abilities.

The most basic resume, and quickest to produce, is one that is in chronological order - list of employment in reverse order of most recent to least recent. After each record of employment, include two or three bullet points of responsibilities and accomplishments in the position.

Begin with your contact information, followed by career summary or objective, work history and then your education/training - in that order. If you find it necessary, you may include any volunteer history, awards and recognitions you find relevant. This is also a good place to list your willingness to relocate if appropriate but remember to keep it short.

Section 1: Contact information.

Your name, mailing address, phone numbers and email address are all very important. Make sure there are no errors as this is the only way the employer has to contact you. The email address listed should be professional and not a reference to your religious, political or any other personal belief or extra curricular activity. Another option is to set up a new account specifically for your job hunt - Yahoo, Google and MSN all offer free email accounts.

Section 2: Career summary/objective.

Simple one or two sentence statement about what you are looking to obtain in your career.

Section 3: Work history and education/training.

List company name, location and dates of employment followed by two to three statements about the skills, experiences and responsibilities for each position.

Section 4: Education and training.

Document the name of the school, location and date of completion or attendance. List any other types of training, certifications or relevant classes you may have taken.

Now that you have the information down, you can continue to add and enhance your resume. You know the purpose of your resume is to showcase your abilities and to make you stand out in a crowd. Developed in a chronological order, developing your resume will be simple and take no time. Just remember to consider your past experiences, specific duties, what you are good at and the things others count on you to do.

Done! Now you can move to the next step of finding a new job.

MEPatWORK
6200 Aurora Ave., Ste. 405E
Urbandale, IA 50322
Ph: 888-482-2562
Fx: 515-278-6025
http://www.mepatwork.com

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