To lay the groundwork to position your resume with an employer, you must identify your resume's preliminary audience and tailor your resume accordingly. This step lays the groundwork for successful appraisal and an interview. Resumes are typically screened as follows:

1. Initially, your resume will probably be scanned by a lower ranked employee within the human resources department, the company president's office, or the recruiting office of the firm or organization you are applying to. Since your resume has only approximately 15 seconds to make it through this screening, it is important that you make your resume easy to review, fully demonstrate your targeted goal, summarize your unique qualifications, and use strong supporting keywords to demonstrate your core abilities.

2. A keyword scan is often then performed by the employer as a time saver. This is accomplished by scanning your resume into a special database system, such as Resumix, for relevant keywords. By using a keyword scan, a company can locate candidates that possess the particular talents and abilities they are in search of. The more your resumes keywords match those of the employers, the higher your placement on the created "preferred" list of resumes. Equally as important to placing the correct keywords is ensuring that your font is also acceptable to the scanning process. This means not using non-stylistic fonts, underlining, fonts under 10 pts., or tables.

3. After the initial scan process has occurred, the resume will typically go to the hiring manager for a final review. This is the part where your resume must shine and be fully unique! The hiring manager knows what he/she is looking for and if you have a strong, well written resume then you will stand out from your competition. To achieve this, It is important to avoid being too wordy and to use concise, well written statements. Your resume should tell a story to the hiring manager about how you have arrived where you are, what you have done in your career, and what you can do for their organization.

Thoroughly review your resume including how you have put forth your information, and how it represents you as a potential employee. Think of your competitors. What makes you stand out? What added value are you bringing to the employer? Through a dynamic, strategically written resume, you can demonstrate you are ready to interview with the employer's decision maker and land the job of your dreams!

C.A. Stapleton, A.S., B.S., M.B.A., is an experienced professional career consultant, mentor, and rsum/ biographical writer. Get more information @ http://www.vet2work.com or http://www.naturallysilver.com Copyright. All rights reserved Worldwide.