What happens if you are a professional who has a great job history, lots of accomplishments, but you have a mediocre resume?

Well, often it means you hold yourself back from reaching your full career potential so that your compensation, level of responsibility and overall job satisfaction suffer.

Think of it this way: even securing interviews with a resume that just doesn’t cut it puts you in the challenging position of having to try to “sell up” from the “just okay” first impression your resume has already created for you in the eyes of the interviewer.

A smarter plan that will ultimately save you time, money and frustration is to start off on the right foot and create the best first impression possible. Here are ten steps to get you started:

Tip number one: start with a great heading
No, I don’t mean a one sentence objective or your current title. I mean two or three words that closely match your key skills, key industries or a combination thereof.

These grab the readers attention right away, so they need to be powerful, crystal clear and targeted. Check out my website for several samples.

Tip number two: make it stand out
A good design is eye-catching and professional. If you know basics in MS word (like how to create a shadow or a border), this should be easy for you to incorporate into your resume and cover letter. Be careful no to go overboard, though!

Tip number three: add lots of keywords
Keywords at the top of your resume that demonstrate both soft and hard skills help the reader separate out your strengths from your current and past employers. This makes it easier for the reader to connect with you and mentally “picture” you working with them!

Keywords also ensure the document can be quickly read or scanned to find a match between your skills and the target position.

Tip number four: bullet point your quantifiable achievements
Right at the top of the first page you should, if possible, lead with three to six bullets – each with a crystal clear sentence outlining your strengths.

Tip number five: spell out and BOLD your academic achievements Rather than writing MBA, write Masters of Business Administration (MBA), and BOLD your degree.

Tip number six: add the extras
Memberships, volunteer activities, certifications and training programs that are relevant to the position and industry you are seeking, should all be listed in your resume.

You can leave off personal information, such as family status, personal hobbies and statements such as “references upon request.”

Tip number seven: create an accomplishments summary
Under your professional experience, you should always call out your key accomplishments.

You can do this at the top of your professional experience (just group your accomplishments all in together) or as key points under each of your positions.

Don’t forget to BOLD your key accomplishments.

Tip number eight: create the right resume for you
Are you changing industries or building on the one you have been in for some time? Are you a legal professional or in academia?

Resume styles for these professions are all different, so make sure yours is the right style for your industry and/or position of choice.

Functional resumes are generally best for industry or position changes, chronological for staying in your industry.

Tip number nine: sell your present and past employers
Add a favorable sentence or two about each employer as you list each position (ex: ABC Company is a 50 million dollar provider of award-winning widgets with three divisions and 450 employees).

Tip number ten: quantify your accomplishments
One of the biggest mistakes job seekers make is communicating a menu of responsibilities without completing the story.

Employers want to know “WHAT HAPPENS” when you do what you do, so help them understand why they should hire you by telling them the results of your responsibilities.

Granted, these tips are just the tip of the iceberg, but making sure they are incorporated into your resume can make a difference in the quantity and quality of interviews you get!

When I ask my clients to give me success stories of their various career achievements I often hear the following comments:

I can’t really quantify my successes

It’s just my job

I don’t think of myself in that way

I can’t recall accomplishments “like that”

It’s really hard for me to give you that information

Can you relate? Its Okay first of all – you see, you are not alone! But I will let you in on a secret: there is a simple trick to recalling and creating your accomplishments and once you master this little technique you too can create “jaw-dropping” accomplishments that will have potential employers really excited to talk with you!

So here are several tips to get you started:

Tip #1: Key Word Your Strengths

Start with a blank sheet of paper. Now begin to brainstorm on all the things you love to do the best. Just have fun with it. If you are feeling stuck take a break for a day (which gives your subconscious mind a chance to bring these thoughts to the surface). These are the things you love to do and they are usually connected to those skills and functions you are doing when you are really doing your best work.

Tip #2 How to Turn Your Strengths into Stories

Now look at your list and for each keyword ask yourself “why do I feel this way?” For example maybe you wrote “Motivating” as one of your strengths. Asking yourself “why do I feel I am motivating?” will trigger your memory of an event you are connecting that determined strength to. Maybe it was the time you motivated your boss to let you take on a project that generated a certain amount of revenue for your company or perhaps you motivated a national sales team with incentives that increased the companies client base.

Tip #3: Write a Simple Template for Each Story

Your template is really easy and it goes like this:

Problem:

What I Did:

The Result:

A key here is not to make this complicated at all! Keep your answers short (think of how products are marketed…less definitely increases your impact!)

Bonus Tip: Don’t be tempted to fall into the trap of thinking your successes aren’t important enough to write down or share! This is a common trap you definitely want to avoid. If it shows off your strengths is generally worthy of sharing.

It’s hard to be objective about our successes because of our internal rationale that “oh, that’s just what I do” or “anybody could do it really”. If you catch yourself thinking this way then know you are devaluing the unique, amazing and honorable skills and strengths you bring to the table. Give your skills and aptitudes their due and you will find as you grow confident in communicating them – it can and will result in more interest and bigger offers from potential employers!

Are you wondering if your resume best positions you to land the job of your dreams in a parallel market, new industry or higher level position? One area you want to make sure to check is your key-words.

Resume key-words are simply the words used to describe your hard and soft skills. Many companies today use key-word scanning software to organize and qualify applicant matches with available positions. Even if a company doesn’t use key-word scanning software, it’s still extremely important to mirror the key-words listed in a position as much as possible.

You can quickly and easily make certain that your resume attracts the right attention using the following simple steps:

Step One: Identify Your Favorite Jobs

First, through you favorite job aggregator or niche job board, identify at least two positions that you would qualify as your dream job.

Next, print them out and highlight all of the key-words and phrases that best describe both what you love to do the most and any other strengths and attributes that match your skills. Highlight even those strengths that match functionally, even if the position is in another industry.

Now make sure these key-words are woven throughout your resume, putting special emphasis on the top part of your first page.

Step Two: Use Your Two To Three Best Key-words

You don’t necessarily have to redesign your resume for each job you wish to submit your resume to. In fact, if you are finding this to be necessary for you, you may wish to check your focus.

Many professionally-designed resumes will have approximately three key-words in a bigger, bold font right up at the top of their resume. I call these headline key-words. This is a powerful way to immediately target your resume for each particular job you submit your resume to.

Let’s say you are submitting for a job that stresses operations, global expansions and teambuilding. If these are all matching skills for you then you want to mirror these in your headline key-words. With this method you can very simply shift a few main key-words and get maximum attention from your target audience!

Step Three: Consider a Key-word Only Section

In my resumes I always like to include a keyword-only section. I call it core competencies or skills and abilities. A good list should include three rows of 4 to 5 bullet points per row. In the first row include your strongest competencies, in the middle perhaps soft skills that would include leadership and management abilities and your third row can include technical aptitudes, language skills and/or secondary skills such as leading training programs or creating marketing collateral.

Using these valuable tips gives you a simple easy way to make sure your resume is targeted for the positions you really want!