Not another resume outline example please!

Another resume outline example is all you need. ‘No’, you may be thinking. After sending out a large number of resumes, it can be daunting to think that the resume summary you’ve been relying on could be the reason the phone isn’t ringing. So is pouring one more draft of a resume going to change anything?

An example of a ‘classic’ resume outline might look like this;

Name and contact details, profile, professional history, work experience, any skills or qualifications, personal details, hobbies and references. There is nothing wrong with that as a functional resume outline. But you’re already doing it and that phone is still gathering dust. So what is missing?

The most important thing to keep in mind when using resume outlines is that a human being is going to read the final draft on the other end and ask, “What’s in it for me to put this on the ‘call for interview’? ?

‘What’s in there for me? I’m not writing a sales letter! Er, breaking news. You are.

Look, of course you need factual content in any resume outline example, but what a lot of people do is send out a bunch of resumes that could fit a lot of different employers. That’s the problem. The more your resume looks to everyone, the less attractive it will be.

In fact, your resume is ineffective without a compelling cover letter to accompany it that perfectly matches the stated job description. But effective resume outlines can also be customized.

Ideally, you want the recipient to feel after reading your cover letter that it has exactly the attributes you want. So they will read your resume with the mindset of wanting their hunch to be true. That makes them feel good. Therefore, any chance to spice up the outlines of your resume to reflect the job description should be taken advantage of.

Therefore, an effective resume outline should be framed around the categories listed above, but any reference to specific relevance to the job description will draw your reader’s attention. Most people won’t bother. You hear a lot of people say that sending resumes is a numbers game. It’s a numbers game. But sending out a bunch of ineffective and ineffective resumes is a game with lots of postage and zero results. What game do you want play?