Career Expert Says "Too General" Resumes Written Too Often

Katy Piotrowski, an experienced career counselor and author of the recently-released book The Career Coward's Guide to Resumes, has seen first-hand how detrimental a vague resume can be to a job seeker's success in landing interviews.

"Job seekers frequently say to me, 'I wanted to keep my resume more general so that I can use it for a lot of different opportunities.' After observing the job search results of literally thousands of job seekers, I've discovered that when it comes to resumes, the general approach doesn't wok very well," says Piotrowski.

Instead, when writing a resume, job seekers should clearly identify the type of position they're interested in achieving, such as Marketing Manager or Quality Specialist. In some cases, job seekers may also consider identifying the industry they're interested in, such as Publishing or Real Estate.

"Job seekers should ask themselves what kind of position they're aiming for before writing their resume. Their answer to this single question will drive every step they take in creating an effective resume, so it's important to choose a career target that's right for you and is clear to potential employers," says Piotrowski.

To help job seekers identify their career target, Piotrowski recommends trying the following strategies:

• Use the title of a specific job to which you want to apply. This is the easiest approach. Just rip the title right off the job description.
• Consider the roles you've held before. If you've liked your former work, stick with one of those job titles as your career role target.
• Bump yourself up a level. If you've liked your former work but are looking something more challenging, consider aiming up one level higher. For example, if you've worked as an Accountant, maybe you want to aim for Accounting Manager or Controller.
• Poke around on a job search site for ideas. Simply log on to a job search site, plug in the types of activities you like to do, and let the search engine do the work.
• Spend more time defining a career role before you write your resume. If you're still struggling with stating a career target, it may make sense for you to go back one step to first define the kind of work you want to do. Although this will delay the resume-writing process for awhile, it can ultimately save you years of wasted time in a career fit that's wrong for you.

JIST, America's Career Publisher, is a division of EMC/Paradigm Publishing and is the leading publisher of job search, career, occupational information, life skills and character education books, workbooks, assessments, videos and software.