The New Resume Lottery

What if You Could Get the Winning Lottery Numbers Before the Drawing?

Or what if you could sway lottery officials to draw your numbers? What if everything you did to persuade them was perfectly legal? Your resume is very much like a lottery ticket. Estimates are that fewer than one per cent of resumes actually land job interviews. In this way job hunting is very similar to the lottery. Yet in a few ways the two are very different.

Job hunters work hard to win the job lottery. They meticulously choose words and arrange their work history for resume writing. They go on the hunt to find out who is hiring and look for job openings that suit their qualifications. Then create cover letters, proofread everything until their eyes are bloodshot and then fire off their hard work to employers and cross their fingers. Most job hunters work hard at job hunting. Yet the majority are rejected from consideration for a job interview. Only a very few will be selected. The few chosen ones often know something the others that are rejected time and again do not know or take advantage of.

Employers Post the Winning Lottery Numbers Before the Drawing!

Just like buying a lottery ticket the first thing you need to do for your resume is pick your winning numbers. The more numbers that match the better your chances of winning. In resume writing these numbers are keywords. Keywords are the words and phrases employers have used in job descriptions and postings for the knowledge, skills, abilities and other qualifications they are seeking. If you have the skills the employer is looking to find in a job candidate use the same words to describe them on your resume and cover letters. When you match these terms you are much more likely to win an interview.

Employers Look to See If You Know the Winning Formula

Aligning your skills and knowledge with the ones the employers seeking is imperative to being a competitive candidate that rises above the other job seekers. This requires resume writing for each job you seek or at least editing and customizing your document to be a great match for the position. You can than support your expertise with strong statements that elaborate on your experience demonstrating how you have put your exceptional skills to use. Duplicate the exact skill words the employer has used in the job posting or description with those resume keywords. Write descriptive sentences about your accomplishments and how these feats benefited your present or previous employer with numbers that show a measure of the benefit.

In the Job Hunting Game You Can Persuade the Judges!

What if you could write letters to lottery officials to persuade them to draw your numbers? In the job hunting game that is exactly what you can do with cover letters and follow up letters. Your cover letters will be seen by employers first before your resume and must make a persuading case. The letter should be brief and persuasion focused.

Include the title of the position you are seeking because many companies have multiple openings at any given time. You also want to make a few statements about the relevant skills you have that the employer wants to see in job candidates. Use those winning keywords there also. If you have a skill the employer has described as desirable or helpful highlight or underline that. This is like an extra feature and can score persuasion points in your favor. Any edge you get could be the one item that persuades the employer to draw your lucky numbers.

There are several other ways to persuade employers to pick your resume. The basics include choosing the right format for your qualifications and career field. The choices are a chronological and functional or skills resume. The first one organizes your work history by dates of employment at each job. The second does not include the dates and emphasizes the skills you used at each position. Your resume layout is also critical to winning over employers. You want your qualifications and information to be located where employers expect to see them.

Power words give your resume writing statements muscle and make them convincing to HR and hiring managers. These terms can be utilized in your resume objective, accomplishment statements, summary section, and in your cover letters. Taking the time to write these type of sentences is an investment that can payoff in the job hunting lottery.

Make Sure You Are Not Using Last Week's Lottery Numbers!

An out of date resume is like trying to cash in on yesterday's drawing with last week's winning numbers. Your resume could contain obsolete information. If you have not updated your resume writing lately, check all your contact information, and add any new accomplishments, education, or experience you have gained. Make sure all your links are active and social networking profiles are correct. Then visit each of your social networking accounts and coordinate the information with your resume.

Find out how your resume writing can give you the winning ticket for the job hunting lottery. Copyright 2011 Phil Baker, The Hire Authority and author of the bestseller: Employer Secrets. Freely distribute this article but please leave article, author name, copyright info, and links intact.