Your Resume

One of the most important tools to facilitate passage into the corporate environs is your resume. It initially helps get an interview call and then assists you during the interview since a large number of questions (sometimes as high as 90% of an interview) are asked from the resume. A big challenge a former armed forces officer faces in his resume is showcasing his armed forces experience in a corporate perspective. One invariably finds military appointments, terminology and incorrect comparisons of profiles to corporate ones being reflected in resumes. The right terms, inferences, terminology, layout and length go a long way in ensuring a great resume.

An interviewer invariably starts an interview with questions originating from the resume. Thus, unless your resume is exceptional, your interview may well start on the back foot. Remember, interviewers go through hundreds of resumes and the only reason they are likely to dwell on yours is if it’s exceptional. A few pointers on a great resume:

1. Keep it very short and brief. Contrary to having a negative effect, it will have quite the opposite and gives you more to talk about during the interview.
2. Think about the new job/profile and find ways to link your previous experience to it.
3. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your candidature with reference to a profile. These will change for every new profile you decide to apply for. Showcase your strengths. This means fine tuning your resume for every new profile you apply for.
4. Display your personality in the resume in whatever manner you can.
5. Ensure that the e-mail address is appropriate for business. Addresses like "coolguy81@yahoo.com" is NOT okay. Make a special mail address for this purpose if you need need to.
6. Add your LinkedIn profile to your resume. Before doing that, ensure it is up-to-date, complete in all respects and impressive by way of recommendations (to read more on how to maximize your LinkedIn profile read "9 Ways to Maximize Your LinkedIn Profile".
   
7. Don’t mention your private life unless you can make it sound interesting.
8. Change the layout and design to make it look distinct.
9. Always ensure you affix a smart photograph of yours on the resume.

The above mentioned points are generic and applicable to any resume. Besides the above you will get numerous tips and pointers on making a resume on the internet. The challenge however remains on how to showcase yourself distinctly to prospective employers by writing the correct things in the best manner possible. For this, it is best to have your resume made professionally. Consider the expenditure involved in getting a professional resume made as an investment.