Creating a work history on paper in a readable fashion can be an overwhelming task. (Or it can be whelming, as Mel Brooks used to say.) In any case, it requires planning and strategy. Guidelines make it easier, and one way to create them is to use an older résumé as a sort of map, with the understanding that the boundaries may have changed. If you don’t have an old résumé, write up your work history, starting with your most recent position and working your way backwards. (Do not pass go and do not collect 200 dollars.)
It is important for you to determine where you want your résumé to take you. In which industry and position do you want to work? You must have a target in mind if you want a “power résumé.” Otherwise, the finished result will be tentative at best. If you don’t know or aren’t sure of your target, then settle for tentative until you can make it more positive. It is at least a step in the right direction. Unlike other mistakes in life, a provisional résumé can always be revised.
Write out your most important work-related accomplishments without looking at your current résumé. Spend some time polishing them up to make them sound the best as you possibly can. Remember that if you want the reader to value them as much as you do, psychologically prepare your ground by giving them more space on your résumé.
One aspect of re-writing a current résumé involves the way you describe each of those accomplishments you value within each job you have had. Rewrite those jobs of which these accomplishments were a part. This will probably change their intended order, by placing the more important first rather than in chronological sequence.
Try these techniques and see what you come with.
Good luck!
Related Reading:
“Resume Format: Is There a Right Way?”
“What Are Hard and Soft Skills?”
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