We have all heard the saying "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." but I wonder how many of us in the professional world actually see the validity of that statement. With the job market being what it is, you really have to work with what you have. What is it that you have? Why that is an excellent question. The trick to making really good lemonade is knowing how to work with you lemons so to speak. There are so many tools that each one of us has the capability to wield, and yet most of the time this details can be overlooked. One of the best tools that you can have at your fingertips is a good resume.
Resumes are wonderful things. To start, you have complete control over your resume, therefore you have the opportunity to control most first impressions. It is key to leave out all of the negative things you may have encountered at a previous job, and really highlight not only your assets and capabilities, but to demonstrate what kind of employee you are going to be. Don't be afraid to talk yourself up. If you're resume shows clear and precise objectives for instance, as opposed to generalized overused objectives, you are demonstrating that you are very driven towards a specific goal, not a general idea. If your resume is clear and concise to read and looks pleasing to the eye, you are proving that you took time to put this together, and that this is the image you want portrayed of yourself. If you're resume looks like something you put together at the last minute, it could be foreshadowing that you will wait until that last minute to throw something together at the work place, and that is not the best way to start out an interview.
You must always take into consideration that your resume often gets seen before you do. Employers judge if they even want to take the time to meet with you and interview you on the basis of whether or not they were pleased with that piece of paper. Offering references is always a way to show confidence in the work that you completed at a previous job, but you must make sure that that confidence will be confirmed if your reference is to be contacted. References aren't the tinsel on the tree; they aren't there just to give your resume that extra something. You should only include a reference if they can truly contribute to your further employment.
To be able to have a hand in controlling how a first impression goes gives you a huge advantage, but you should be very clear on how you want to market yourself. You are your best advocate. As as staffing specialist I have seen many a resume come through this office, and the ones that you know took time to put together and were worded just so, are the ones that we are eager to place. We can only work with what you give us. You may be the best server in town, but if your resume doesn't reflect that there isn't much we can do. Do yourself a service and let the details speak for you, so that when you get the chance to speak for yourself, everything matches up.
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