Writing Your Resume Effectively -Resume Tips For Executive Personal AssistantsWriting your resume effectively is the best way to make a good first impression and stand out from the competition. This is the first step you should take in your job search. Some people opt for professional assistance with resume writing but good results are achievable by simply changing the format of the resume and tweaking the language. Observe the following principles to produce a competitive and professional resume.
You are aiming to get a particular job at a specific company, so it's important to make the details in your resume point to that specific goal. Mass producing your resume and sending it to all and sundry simply won’t work in today’s job market. Employers can spot the difference between a mass market resume and a personalised one, so a personalised resume should give you the edge over the competition.
Set yourself apart from the competition by distinguishing your accomplishments. Clearly define your accomplishments by setting them out in a quantifiable way. A Personal Assistant or an Executive Assistant could quantify their achievements using 4 or 5 examples of tasks they have done particularly well, as discussed below.
Each example should be directly related to an aspect of the role advertised; therefore, if a major aspect of the role is organising meetings, as an example, you could describe how you organised a highly confidential external meeting, within a 48 hour deadline; then briefly describe the steps you took and the outcome. Use the following components to briefly explain how you performed the tasks. Briefly describe: a) the task (synopsis),
Use numbers to show results. Figures are a language employers understand. The aim is to show how you increased efficiency, decreased expenses, or helped your organisation make money. Executive Personal Assistants often manage a budget, and/or are in charge or purchasing supplies on the company's behalf. As an example, you could show how you negotiated better rates with your stationery provider, or reduced costs by implementing tighter controls on stationery usage to reduce theft and waste. Use percentages or before and after figures to drive home the point.
Formulate an “objective statement” that cleverly interweaves your skills into your response in such a way that it shows you meet the requirements of the role. This also means presenting your attributes and skills in a way that adds value to the role. For example, show how you will bring more to the role than is required, such as improving systems. If you have evidence of having improved a particular system, such as implementing filtering and colour coding of important email that arrive in your boss's in-box, that would be an example of adding value to the role, provided it improved your boss's efficiency at dealing with his emails. In response to a question in the job ad, this fact could be presented in the form of an objective statement. When information is presented in this way, it answer's the propective employer's specific questions upfront.
Present your skills in a way that grabs the attention of the reader. Use action words like: analysed, controlled, co-ordinated, developed. Action words present your skills in an appealing and decisive way, while demonstrating your ability to analyse, control, co-ordinate, etc.
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