Effective Resume Writing: Lights, Camera, Action!

Action films are all the rage. With digital enhanced action whales can fly, demons come at you from every angle and imagined worlds appear on the screen like magic. What does all this have to do with writing a readable and compelling resume?

In a word: everything. The more action and color (we don't mean to print your resume on purple paper or use a red typeface) in your resume the more readable it will be. Writing skills come in many packages but for resume writing action and power words will win every time over a limp style that only highlights duties and responsibilities.

If you want to put the reader to sleep and for them to stop reading your resume after a sentence or two an uninspiring listing of your work history with your duties outlined in detail will do the job. So it's clear this is not the style to write an effective resume.

Keeping the reader awake when they are reading your resume is simple and straight forward. You must paint pictures and provide light with words and phrases. Active verbs and your record of accomplishments and results will get the job done.

Your accomplishments and achievements must be quantifiable. You did not, "improve morale," you "reduced unwanted employee turnover by 24% and in the first year saved over $103,000." You did not, "manage a marketing initiative," you "delivered marketing results that exceeded the plan by 45% and generated over $180,000 in increased sales."

You did not,"increase," something, you "vaulted ahead." You developed, built, delivered, solved, designed, analyzed, created and improved. Start your sentences with action and power verbs on your way to demonstrate how you turned opportunities and problems into value and results. The prospective employer is looking for someone who can generate results and value. A well written resume should be crafted to closely match the employer's needs.

Keep you sentences and paragraphs short. You want the reader to quickly move from one word picture to another.

You don't have to list three successful marketing campaigns-the biggest and best will get the job done. Be sure the early listed accomplishments match the top two or three needs of the employer. If you have to reach back to pull up the relevant accomplishment do so.

Your resume, also, should be tailored to meet the needs of a specific employer. Once you have the format set and your accomplishments written it's just a matter of cutting and pasting to put together an original document. If necessary, accomplishments and results achieved in other activities can be highlighted in your resume.

For example, one job hunter who had developed a very active in-house training program for a local Chamber of Commerce, qualified for a great job that required the developing of in-house training programs for a large employer.

So in resume writing you must have light, your message must be clear and easy to see. Don't keep the reader in the dark or where they have to connect the dots. Trust me they won't. Your camera is the reflection of your results. The action comes from the word pictures. The movies have found that this approach works; make it work for you when you write your resume.