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How to Write a Resume to Increase Salary

Posted on 19. Apr, 2006 posted by Bill in Employment News

How to Write a Resume to Increase Salary

Just about every job that pays better than the minimum wage will want a resume for your application.  If you are applying for a job that requires an application, the best thing is to be ready with all of your information and to write neatly.  You can put together a good resume if you work at it.  You can hire professionals to help you out in the process and prices can average around $125 for a cover letter and resume.

The cover letter is a brief introduction of yourself and is a lead into your resume.  It is a quick statement as to why you would be perfect for the position that you are applying for and should be short and to the point.  Do not write about anything about yourself that might be negative.  Put your best foot forward and be positive but also keep it simple.

It is not recommended to state salary requirements on the cover letter.  If a company requires you to list your previous salaries you can state a historical salary range. You should also mention that you are willing to be flexible on the salary if you see working for their company is an opportunity.  If you are not able to work on a smaller salary you might not want to tell them you are flexible.

Make your cover letter personal by directing it to the specific person’s name instead of just saying “Dear Sir or Madam”.  Most companies have a website with contact information.  You can also call the company to ask what the name of the person who is in charge of hiring.  The more thought you put into personalizing it to that company, the more interest the company may have in your resume.

Keeping your cover letter and resume simple and easy to read is very important.  Using to many words can hide the highlights of what makes you most qualified.  Remember that people that review resumes all day have seen 100’s or 1000’s and you don’t want to blend in but stand out in a good way.  Don’t be stereotypical and use phrases that the interviewers have seen a thousand times.  Find a better way or different way of letting your skills be known without looking like you used an automated resume making software.

You can avoid filling your resume with your skills as cookie cutter phrases such as “excellent written and verbal communication skills”.  You are better off not using fillers, and sticking with skills that are measured.

You have around 10 – 30 seconds to make an impression with the hiring person at that company. They will glance through your resume and if they like it you might get an interview.  Present your information simply and with an easy to read format. Make it easy to understand why to hire you as well as your qualifications.

Before you write your resume try to decide what job position that you want.  Knowing what you want to do for the job will help in showing the skills necessary for that job.  If you change what kind of job you are applying for, you will need to rewrite your resume skills to match.

Never write paragraphs in the body of the resume.  Use bullets to emphasize a short sentence.  Make it to the point.

Know that your resume may be reviewed by a computer first and if it has certain key “action words” you could improve your chances of getting an interview.  There is a list of hundreds of keywords to use but here a just a few.

accelerated, authorized, advanced, budgeted, calculated, concluded, created, delegated, demonstrated, dispatched, earned, established, familiarized, handled, improvised, invented, investigated, located, merchandised, modernized, observed, originated, participated, prevented, proposed, received, regulated, reported, saved, simplified, strategized, strengthened, targeted, traveled, upgraded, won, worked

There are many more key “action words” that the computer will search for the potential applicants.  Depending on the job, different action words may rank higher than other action words.

Using $, %, and # in your resume helps to make your resume stand out.  Make sure to put your accomplishment as a statistic.  Such as you were the top sales agent with $50K monthly sales for nail care products.  Or you were ranked as the #1 associate in sales for 5 months in a row.

Tailor each resume for the job that you are applying.  The more specific it matches their job description, the more likely you will get an interview.  Make sure your font size is no smaller than 10 pts and between 1 – 2 pages long.

Practice writing your resumes a few times, send it out and see what happens.  Apply for a few different types of jobs and see if you can get an interview.  If you can get an interview, you can get some practice at answering questions.  If you try to make the job hunting less stressful, you probably will do better getting a job in the end.

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