I had a bit of an accident and haven’t been here for a bit, but things are fine and now let’s get to that post about resumes and the importance of categories. It doesn’t really matter what type of resume you are working with at some point in time the information needs to  be broken into categories. Generally the first time an employer looks at your resume he/she is going to give it about an 8 to 10 second glance so it they can’t grab onto something quickly, they could very well lose interest. The unfortunate truth is that employers are looking to screen you OUT so they can concentrate on the best of the best they receive. I know…nobody likes to hear that from me, but it is the truth so I might as well be the one to tell you. Better me than the employer that kicks back your resume…so let’s look at categories and how you make them work for you on your resume.

In the last blog I gave some job titles and then wrote down skills that were used in those job titles…and every job was almost the same all the way down the resume. This time we will work on breaking skills into categories to show that it is possible to NOT have everything sound the same.

This time we will take a resume that has lots of customer service including restaurant and clerical and bring it full circle to make a strong “all around” customer service/clerical/administrative resume

CUSTOMER SERVICE

• Greeted guests and ensured that they were___________________________________________________

• Answered customer questions and provided information _______________________________________

• Resolved customer _____________________________________________________________________

• Provided superior customer service; strong skills in ____________________________________________

• Served customers their orders and made sure _________________________________________________

• Responded quickly to customer ___________________________________________________________

• Strong belief in ensuring customer _________________________________________________________

ADMINISTRATIVE/CLERICAL

• Billing, meeting minutes, mail, filing, phones, computers, office machines, errands, and reception

• Organized registration for ________________________________________________________

• Coordinated and hosted events; organized ________________, such as a____________________ for participants, facilities, catering, signage, displays, _________________ requirements, printing and event _________________

• Met with sponsors and organizing committees to plan __________________, to establish a_____________, or to review _______________________________ and event ___________________________________

• Arranged the availability of __________________________________________________, and other event needs

• Planned and developed __________________________________________ according to customer requirements

• Conducted post-event evaluations to determine _______________________________________________

CASHIER

• Received and disbursed _________________; kept records of _______________________________ transactions

• Received checks and cash for ____________, verified amounts and examined ________________________

• Explained, promoted, and sold ____________________________________________________________

• Strong ability to multi-task in fast-paced environment by ______________________, ______________________, maintaining ____________________________________, and finishing all ______________________________

• 100% accuracy rate for __________________________________________________________________

Another strategy is to use definite accomplishment statements to grab the attention of the reader…we will delve into that type of resume writing next time…but a quick example might be:

Flexible Leader: Operational turnaround in previous company -

• Resulting in company’s elevated ___________________________________________________________

• Successfully slashed over budget cost through _____________________, labor _______________,__ and

productivity ______________________