The Quick Resume & Cover Letter Book: Write and Use an Effective Resume in Just One Day (Quick Resume and Cover Letter Book)

418 Pages·2011·4.56 MB·English

by  Michael Farr

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“With excellent resume strategy AND solid job search advice, this book gives you a 1-2 punch for a knockout job ee
search campaign.”
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—Susan Britton Whitcomb, Past President, Career Management
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Alliance; author, Résumé Magic, Interview Magic, and Job Search Magic WRITE AND USE AN EFFECTIVE RESUME IN ONLY ONE DAY
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“Th is book gets two thumbs up and fi ve stars (out of fi ve) as a very useful book with practical tips and references.”
—Nick Nigro, Career Services Director, Davis College, Toledo, Ohio
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“Highlights the work of some of the resume writing industry’s best writers—and the annotated format used on More than 200,000 copies in print! Fifth Edition

the resume samples reveals the secrets and strategies that are the tricks of our trade!” &&
—Bridget Weide Brooks, editor, Résumé Writers’ Digest
“Th is book is proof that Michael Farr is America’s

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number-one career planning and job search expert.”
Get Your Job Search in Gear! Everything You Expect in a Great oo —Bill Warren, Executive Director, DirectEmployers
• Create and use a resume in just a few hours. Resume Book Association; widely recognized as the founder of Internet
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• Upgrade your resume as time allows. • 90 sample resumes of all types, including strategy notes recruiting and former president of Monster.com
• Learn eye-catching resume techniques from 90 samples from the professionals who wrote them. ee
by professional writers. • Emphasis on practical techniques that get rapid results. rr
• Identify your skills, document your experience, and • Th orough directions and worksheets for building a

clarify your job objective. resume that works. LL
• Cut your job search time in half. • Organized for fast access to the information you need.
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• Write eff ective cover letters, thank-you notes, mini- • Dozens of the top online and print resources for
resumes, and other job search correspondence. choosing a career and fi nding a job. tt
• Convert your resume to electronic format and use the • Special job search section featuring the seven steps to tt
Internet wisely in your job search.
getting a good job fast.
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• Handle resume and interview problems such as job
gaps, career changes, and fi rings. rr

About the Author BB
Mike Farr has been teaching, writing, and developing his job has made his books the most widely used in job search programs.
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search techniques for more than 25 years. He has written dozens Other books by Mike Farr include Th e Very Quick Job Search,
of books that have sold more than 2 million copies. Mike empha- Getting the Job You Really Want, Best Jobs for the 21st Century, MICHAEL FARR
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sizes practical, results-oriented methods that have been proven to Same-Day Resume, 15-Minute Cover Letter, and Next-Day Job
reduce the time it takes to fi nd a job. His commonsense advice Interview. kk
EF Much more than “just another resume book”—extras include
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itth • Quick resume steps, plus detailed tips on writing a more sophisticated resume later
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• 90 sample resumes by professional writers
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FARR • Advice for writing cover letters fast
800-648-JIST | www.jist.com • Current Internet resume, social media, and job search tips
• 7 steps to getting a good job fast, plus career planning advice
$14.95 Higher in Canada
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QuTheick Resume
Cover Letter
&
Book
WRITE AND USE AN EFFECTIVE RESUME IN ONLY ONE DAY
Fifth Edition
Michael Farr
The Quick Resume & Cover Letter Book, Fifth Edition
© 2011 by JIST Publishing
Published by JIST Works, an imprint of JIST Publishing
7321 Shadeland Station, Suite 200
Indianapolis, IN 46256-3923
Phone: 800-648-JIST Fax: [phone] E-mail: [email protected]
Visit our Web site at www.jist.com for information on JIST, free job search tips, book
chapters, and ordering instructions for our many products!
Quantity discounts are available for JIST books. Please call our Sales Department at
800-648-5478 for a free catalog and more information.
Trade Product Manager: Lori Cates Hand
Interior Design and Layout: Aleata Halbig
Cover Design: Lynn Miller
Proofreaders: Laura Bowman, Jeanne Clark
Indexer: Kelly D. Henthorne
Printed in the United States of America
16 15 14 13 12 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Farr, J. Michael.
The quick resume & cover letter book : write and use an effective
resume in only one day / Michael Farr. -- 5th ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-59357-856-5 (alk. paper)
1. Résumés (Employment) 2. Cover letters. I. Title. II. Title: Quick
resume and cover letter book.
HF5383.F32 2011
650.14’2--dc22
2010054486
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means,
or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews. Making copies of any
part of this book for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of United
States copyright laws. For permission requests, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center
at www.copyright.com or [phone].
We have been careful to provide accurate information in this book, but it is possible that
errors and omissions have been introduced. Please consider this in making any career plans
or other important decisions. Trust your own judgment above all else and in all things.
Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service
marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
ISBN 978-1-59357-856-5
You Don’t Have to Read
This Whole Book!
Read Just the First Part and Get a Resume Today!
This is a big book, but you really don’t have to read it all. Writing
a resume doesn’t have to be difficult. You can create a simple one
in about an hour, and a few more hours will give you an even bet-
ter resume. That’s what part 1 is about: finishing an acceptable resume
quickly. And that might be all the resume information you need.
Part 1 includes essential resume-writing information, along with some job
search tips. The point is to help you get your resume done today, so that
you can get started on your job search tomorrow—or this afternoon. After
all, your goal is not to write a perfect resume—it’s to get a good job.
But this book offers a lot more than resume-writing tips. After you’ve fin-
ished your resume, read the job search tips in part 5. These chapters give
you brief but solid advice that can dramatically reduce the time it takes to
get a good job.
Other sections provide lots of sample resumes (including electronic
resumes) plus information on writing a superior resume, defining your
perfect job, and much more. Review the Table of Contents to see what’s
inside, and read only those things that interest you.
So, yes, this is a pretty big book, but it can still help you find a job
quickly. Good luck in your search!
The Quick Resume & Cover Letter Book
Where the Sample Resumes Come From
I want to thank the many professional resume writers who contrib-
uted samples for this book. I’ve always believed that there is no one
right way to develop a resume, so presenting resumes with different
design and writing styles is the best way to give you examples for
writing your own, in your own way, with confidence.
These people make their livings writing resumes and, more important-
ly, helping people with their job searches. The sample resumes reflect
many approaches to accentuating the positive for all sorts of real
people. The contributions make this book better. I’ve included the
contributors’ names on the sample resumes and their contact infor-
mation in appendix B. I encourage you to contact them if you want
professional assistance in writing your resume. Most of them are very
comfortable working over the phone and e-mail, so don’t hesitate to
contact someone who lives in a different place than you do.
iv © JIST Publishing
Contents
Part 1: Write and Send a Resume in a Day 1
Chapter 1: Quick Tips for Creating and Using a Resume ............................................3
What Is a Resume? ...........................................................................3
Do You Really Need a Resume?........................................................4
Everyone Thinks They’re a Resume Expert ......................................5
Resume Basics—for Print and Electronic Formats ...........................6
Three Types of Resumes .................................................................11
Your Resume Is Only as Good as How You Use It ........................13
Chapter 2: Write a Simple Resume in About an Hour ...............................................15
Two Chronological Resume Samples .............................................16
The Major Sections of a Chronological Resume ............................19
The Final Draft................................................................................29
Chapter 3: Write a Skills Resume in Just a Few Hours ...............................................37
What Is a Skills Resume? ................................................................37
A Sample Skills Resume ..................................................................38
Writing a Skills Resume ..................................................................41
Tips for Editing Your Draft Resume into Final Form ....................46
More Sample Skills Resumes (and JIST Cards) ...............................47
Chapter 4: Develop an Electronic Resume in Less Than an Hour ...........................61
Applying Directly to Employers Online ........................................62
A Sample Text-Only Resume ..........................................................62
Adapting Your Resume for Electronic Use .....................................65
The Importance of Keywords .........................................................66
Put Your Resume into Online Job Banks .......................................68
Using the Internet to Go Beyond the Resume ..............................71
The Quick Resume & Cover Letter Book
Part 2: A More Thorough Approach to
Resume Writing and Career Planning 77
Chapter 5 Develop a Powerful New Skills Language .................................................79
Three Major Types of Skills ............................................................80
Identify Your Skills .........................................................................81
Chapter 6 Document the Details of Your Work and Life Experience ....................89
Quick Tips for Completing the Forms ...........................................89
The Worksheets ..............................................................................90
Chapter 7 Identify Your Perfect Job and Industry ..................................................105
Why You Need a Job Objective ....................................................105
Consider Jobs Within Groups of Related Occupations ...............106
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook
Handbook .......................................................................................107
Other Important Sources of Occupational Information .............116
Also Consider Industries in Your Job Search ...............................121
Values, Preferences, and Other Factors to Consider in
Defining Your Job Objective ........................................................123
Write Your Job Objective .............................................................128
Finalize Your Job Objective .........................................................131
Chapter 8 Highlight Your Strengths and Overcome Problems on Your
Resume 133
Never Highlight a Negative ..........................................................133
General Guidelines for Handling Problems .................................135
Other Items to Include (or Not Include) on Your Resume .........146
A Final Few Words on Handling Problems ..................................152
Chapter 9 Write a Better Resume Now ......................................................................153
If You Aren’t Good at Writing a Resume, Get Some Help ..........153
What Sort of Resume Will Work Best for You? ...........................157
vi © JIST Publishing
Contents
Gather Information and Emphasize Accomplishments,
Skills, and Results .........................................................................160
More Quick Resume Writing Tips ................................................173
More Tips to Improve Your Resume’s Design ..............................176
Part 3: A Stupendous Collection of Professionally
Written and Designed Resumes 181
Chapter 10 Sample Chronological Resumes .............................................................183
Chapter 11 Sample Skills-Based and Combination Resumes ...............................225
Chapter 12 Sample Electronic Resumes ....................................................................267
Part 4: Quick Cover Letters, Thank-You Notes,
JIST Cards, and Other Job Search
Correspondence 289
Chapter 13 The Quick Cover Letter and How to Use It ...........................................291
Seven Quick Tips for Writing a Superior Cover Letter in 15
Minutes .........................................................................................292
Writing Cover Letters to People You Know .................................295
Writing Cover Letters to People You Don’t Know ......................301
Additional Sample Cover Letters. .................................................304
Chapter 14 Thank-You Letters and JIST Cards .........................................................315
The Importance of Thank-You Letters .........................................315
The JIST Card®: A Mini-Resume and a Powerful Job
Search Tool ...................................................................................326
Other Job Search Correspondence ...............................................332
© JIST Publishing vii
The Quick Resume & Cover Letter Book
Part 5: How to Find a Job Fast 335
Chapter 15 Get a Good Job in Less Time ....................................................................337
Career Planning and Job Search Advice .......................................337
Changing Jobs and Careers Is Often Healthy ..............................339
Seven Steps for a Quick and Successful Job Search .....................340
The Quick Job Search Review .......................................................363
Chapter 16 Quick Tips for Using the Internet in Your Job Search ......................365
The Internet as a Tool for Your Job Search ..................................365
Seven Quick Tips to Increase Your Job Search Effectiveness
on the Internet .............................................................................369
The Most Useful Internet Sites .....................................................371
Closing Thoughts: Remember Your Main Purpose .....................375
Appendix A Sample Job Description from the Occupational Outlook
Handbook ....................................................................................................377
Appendix B How to Contact the Professional Resume Writers Who
Contributed to This Book ........................................................................389
Index ....................................................................................................................................395
viii © JIST Publishing
Quick Tips on How
to Use This Book
I don’t expect you to read this book in order from cover to cover.
Instead, I suggest you skip around and use only those sections you
need most or that interest you. Here are suggestions on the best way
to use this book to write your resume and find a good job:
1. Read the table of contents. This introduces you to the content
of the book and its chapters so that you can start to select the
parts most relevant to your needs.
2. Complete a basic resume as described in part 1. This section
shows you how to put together a resume that’s fine for most
situations—and helps you do this in just a few hours. You might
also want to review the sample resumes in part 3 for examples to
follow for your own resume.
3. Begin looking for a job. Once you have a basic resume, read
part 5 for a quick review of self-directed job search techniques.
These techniques can reduce the time it takes to find a job
because they are active rather than passive. Then go out looking
for your next job.
4. Complete the activities in part 2. Besides being helpful in writ-
ing a good resume, part 2 provides activities and tips that will
help you plan your career, handle interviews, and get a better job
than you might otherwise.
5. If you really need to, and as time permits, write a great
resume. Although it will take more time, you may want to revise
your resume and create one that is even better. This book pro-
vides lots of good information and sample resumes to help you
do this. But keep in mind that your priority is to get a good job
and not to stay home working on your resume.
This book will help you get over the resume hurdle, get a resume
done quickly, and go about the more important task of getting a job.