RESUME WRITING TIPS AND STRATEGIES

Here are 10 valuable tips for anyone writing their own resume, or who is having someone else write one for them. These tips and strategies are an abridged version of what is contained in my new eBook, "Instant Home Writing Kit".

1. Keep It Focused and Businesslike

A resume should be specific and all business. Don't try to be too smart or too cute. After all, you are asking an employer to invest significant time and money by choosing you over many other similarly qualified people. Employers mainly want to know whether you are appropriately qualified and experienced, and if you have ability to "deliver goods."

2. More Than Two Pages Is Too Much

For students, recent graduates, or people with just a few years of experience, try to keep your resume to one page, two as an absolute maximum. Even a resume for someone with 20 years or more of extensive working experience, should not exceed three pages. In some cases, one or two "optional" pages can be referred to as "available upon request." These would be such optional annexes as a list of references or an inventory of recent projects and/or publications.

3. Get The Words and Punctuation Right

Make sure grammar, spelling, and punctuation in your resume are perfect. Any obvious mistakes will hurt your credibility. Also, be sure to keep language clear and simple. If you draft it yourself, have someone with excellent writing skills do an editorial review and a careful proofread of it. If a professional prepares it for you, such reviews are responsibility of resume preparation firm. Use an accepted English language "style guide" if you want to be sure of finer points of word usage, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, etc.

4. Read Between The Lines

Customize resume to match stated requirements of job that you are applying for, without being misleading. Review and analyze job advertisement carefully. Look for and itemize key qualifications, skills, and abilities employer is seeking. Then identify certain key words that are usually repeated in such ads. Make sure that wording and sequence of points in your resume reflect and address these "corporate terminologies" and "code words" as much as possible. When possible, study company's annual report and Web site, and weave themes and terms found there into your resume and cover letter.

5. Make Sure It Looks Good

I used to suffer from writer's block, big time! Thus, I know through personal anguish and suffering, that it is definitely not a pleasant experience.

Especially when due date for one's project or paper is getting closer by day, and boss asks you "how's that project going" every time you don't manage to avoid him/her when you're sneaking down corridor.

WRITER'S BLOCK IS FEAR-BASED

Writer's block is a fear-based feeling. For whatever reason, many of us have this incredible fear of committing ourselves in writing whenever we are faced with a blank page or computer screen.

Fear no longer! I'm here to tell you that writer's block can be beaten!

Just realizing that writer's block is really an irrational fear that keeps us from putting pen to paper is half battle. It's actually a fear of unknown, often coupled with a fear of failure.

We secretly wonder just what exactly is going to come out of this pen/keyboard, and when it does, will we be revealing some kind of incompetent idiot who doesn't know what they're talking about?

On other hand, if we have done proper preparation, our rational mind knows that we can do it just like we did it all of those other times before.

Unfortunately, fear often wins day when it comes to writing.

As I stated above, I suffered from writer's block for many years and it was not most enjoyable of experiences.

THE 7 SECRETS

Fortunately, somewhere along way I did manage to develop a few tricks to overcome writers block. Some are obvious, others are not.

Here are my personal hard-earned secrets for overcoming writer's block:

1. Don't Write Too Soon

Before trying to write, it is important to prepare mentally for a few hours or days (depending on size of task) by mulling writing project over in back of your mind. (Just as athletes don't like to peak too soon, writers shouldn't write too soon either!).

2. Do The Preparation