A resume is a professional and creative presentation that should represent, reflect, and effectively market you. While anyone can throw a resume together, not everyone can create a profile that looks and reads nothing like a typical job application. Most folks who write their own resumes set them up like a job application – in both wording and layout; new resume writers to the industry often do the same thing. A resume needs to read, flow, and be designed in such a way that the reader wants to peruse the whole document – even if the applicant doesn’t happen to be the most qualified for the job.
One component of a resume that is never found on a job application form and rarely found – written well – on most people’s resumes – is the Highlights Section. This section appears after/below the Objective and before/above the Employment Endeavors or Professional Experience section.
The Highlights Section on a resume not only will be different for each and every individual (because it represents each individual’s particular unique interests AND skills AND studies AND experiences), but also will be different for each person’s different resumes. If you are pursuing more than one career path – you need a different resume for each one. While the entire wording on the resume doesn’t have to change each time you want to explore a new field – the objective, the highlights section, the cover letter, and often the job titles will be the key components that change.
You cannot send the same exact resume for a job as a Retail Manager and a job as a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative and hope to get a call from either prospective employer. Yes, one individual can have 10 different resumes! You want to appear focused, concentrated, and totally passionate about whatever the ONE job is that you are applying for on any given day. The prospective employer does NOT need to know that you have nine other resumes – all for completely different positions and careers – also out there in the universe.
What you DON’T want to do is to cram everything you ever did onto one resume and toss it out into the wind hoping it lands on the right desk and you get some sort of job offer somewhere. Employers want to hire team members who WANT to work specifically at their place; they don’t want to hire someone based on the fact that person simply wants a job (anywhere).
Further, certain industry wording, verbiage, lingo, and jargon MUST be in a Highlights Section for certain positions you want to secure – even if you don’t have specific real-world experience in that field, yet!
Yes, it is a bit confusing for the newbie trying to write and design this critical section.
It can also be so overwhelming that most people want to just leave it off, or – worse, simply copy what their friend puts on his resume.
If you need help creating a Highlights Section for your resume, we can help you with just that one section if you like!
Once you’ve processed the paypal transaction below, email us at writers with spark @ aol.com and let us know what field and particular job you are pursuing right now (and why) and what education, experience, or skills you have in that one field currently. We will send you your jaw-dropping Highlights Section to add to your resume within 48 hours.
