How to Write your Professional Resume? A Step by Step Guide

A Fresh College/University Graduate or an Experienced Employee whenever seeks a job or decides to switch their present organization, they are required to define and elaborate themselves in a very effective manner. They should develop a professional Resume for representing themselves in order to get hired for the job they are seeking. Along with the Graduation certificates and mark sheets, the Resume plays a vital role for showcasing our career initiation followed by a successful career growth. Not everyone can afford to work with a professional resume writing agency or a professional resume writing service. However, by following certain best practices, you can create an executive looking professional CV yourself!

What is a Resume??

A Resume is a one or two paged document through which a job seeker communicates with the employer highlighting all their credentials and experiences required for achieving their target jobs. A Resume is the description of a candidate which helps the employer to weigh up whether they are suitable for the mentioned role. In every Job Portal, while soliciting for a decent job, we are asked to upload our Resume first, and after that we are provided numerous job opportunities that fit our requirements.

How to design a Professional Resume??

A perfect and effective professional looking Resume can be developed by including various points which starts from the Job Title followed by summary, Job Description in several organizations, Projects, Achievements or Accomplishments, Core Competencies or Skills or Specialties (Functional and Technical), Awards & Honors, Publications, Certifications, Trainings, Courses, Education, Patents etc.

Job Title:

A Resume always starts with a Job Title where you are required to mention your most Experienced Job Designation that is relevant to the position you are striving for in addition to your domain exposure in various experienced sectors or industries. This is the very first thing a candidate needs to mention in the top of the Resume. For Example:

• Sales & Marketing Manager – Banking Operations
• Project Manager – Information Technology
• Software Engineer
• Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – FMCG
• Administrative Director – Healthcare
• Chief Credit Officer
• Clinical Compliance Manager
• Emergency Manager – Hospital Safety

Summary:

This is where most candidates struggle and this is exactly where most professional resume writing companies add value. However, again, just by following simple tips, you can create a good executive Resume Summary yourself.

Job Title is followed by Summary which focuses on our broadly-understood excellence impacting the Job profile we have applied for. A summary should start with the count of experienced years and it should be structured in such an attractive way that the employer or the recruiter finds it desirable instead of going line by line through the entire resume. The Summary should demonstrate a frank introductory paragraph comprised with the most sought-after proficiency in the mentioned field with abilities and attributes.

Example 1:

An agile and perseverant professional with diverse experience of over 11 years in understanding industry benchmarks and best practices and developing customer support objectives, strategies, tactics, operational metrics and financial and implementation plans. Have gathered proven track record in utilizing in-depth knowledge of sales and marketing techniques to manage sales personnel toward attaining maximum sales volume from existing and potential markets. Adept at developing business plans and sales strategies for the market that ensures attainment of company sales goals and profitability. Holds credentials in implementing and executing plans to complement the business unit’s strategic and operating plan; champion the execution of tactical initiatives to maximize the customer experience, growth and durability, while optimizing profitability. An effective team-player, with ability to drive annual goals and objectives for key segments by building discipline around tracking progress customer feedback, and iterating to improve performance as well as drawing estimation & taking up new challenges combining excellent problem solving skills.

Example 2:

An accomplished and diligent performer with 27 years of expertise in administering financial decisions by establishing, monitoring, enforcing policies & procedures as well as increasing profitability by recognizing new sources of revenue, reducing costs, removing manufacturing, operating constraints, and streamlining processes. Possess rich experience in leading monthly forecasting, annual budgeting and long-range financial planning processes to deliver accurate and timely projection. Demonstrated excellence in driving significant ad-hoc projects and analyzing key business issues which provide insight to executive and senior finance leadership to facilitate action. Proficient in securing assets by establishing, monitoring, and enforcing internal controls, providing status of financial condition by collecting, interpreting, and reporting financial data.

Career Highlights:

• Track record in liaising with Banks – FAB/ENBD/Al Masraf/Hilal Bank/CBD/Sharjah Bank, for arranging facilities like Guarantees/LC/TR.
• Acquired excellence as Internal Auditor – on HO behalf for 6 major projects in Abu Dhabi, worth about 4 Billion (2009-12) for BK. Gulf.
• Visited Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2013 to conduct financial feasibility study to open company for BK. Gulf & Qatar in 2006 to conduct financial feasibility study to open BK. Gulf branch in Qatar.

Core Competencies or Skills or Specialties:

Core Competencies or Skills are the capabilities or expertise or knowledge concerning various resources and areas that an employee possesses during his career progression. It includes functional as well as technical skills. Core Competencies should be included in a professional resume in such a manner that it focuses on our entire career experience along with the applied job profile. In addition to Specialties, we can include a point as “Areas of Expertise” which concentrates on some specific 4-5 skills that the candidates desire to highlight in their resumes such that the recruiter gives a special attention. For Example:

Core Skills: Strategic Planning | Financial Planning & Analysis | Project Management | Management Information | Accounting | Testing & Implementation | P & L Management | Factory Operations | Internal Controls | Process Improvement | Index Analysis | Stakeholder Management | USF Implementation | BI4 Deployment

Technical Skills: MS Office | MS Projects | AutoCAD | CostX | Python | Java | MySQL Etc.

Areas of Expertise

This is an extension of Core Competencies and may or may not be included. However this is a detailed explanation of all competencies that the candidate possesses. For example:

Financial Planning & Analysis

• Execute Financial Planning &Analysis operational process and participate with other COEsin implementing harmonization.
• Responsible for COE Operations focal for Factory cost price, Index analysis and FCP maintenance; perform detailed business analysis on FCP developments and provide actionable insights to enable corrective actions

Project Management

• Lead and support the Automation Projects (Robotics, Excel etc) as well as drive the continuous improvement ideas and projects by engaging the team and delivering results.
• Direct & execute the project from assigning roles & responsibilities, defining the milestones, reviewing the status &closure; participate in Blue Print project for Trading process on – BIA (Business Impact Analysis), FTE impact, reviewing weekly status dashboard, testing, training, controls and defect tracker management.

Management Information

• Understand the Management Information needs of the credit organization and the COBs, it supports and delivers MI design for meeting the agreed business requirements and align with the Global Commercial MI strategy.
• Provide MI expertise in support of local/global improvement agenda & COB driven projects, new business requirement for Dashboards & new tools.

Testing and Implementation

• Implement GSAP Support Upgrade (SPS 15) by involving in identifying FO impact and participating in regular review calls and proactively ensuring all the testing are performed and passed within the timeline.
• Assist Shell Energy China project by understanding and taking over the Project during the initial phase by conducting regular integration calls which created traction and driving this moved towards testing phase.

 P & L Management

• Prepare region wise P&L, consolidate the same for a full view of the company in comparison with budget and provide the variance explanations.
• Automate P&L by country & P&L by department, leading to reduction in the lead time in consolidation of actual by month.

Team Management

• Lead a team of qualified professionals for supporting Factory operations on business performance through KPIs &reporting.
• Support and guide team in ad-hoc and business related queries and take initiative to bring relevant financial issues to the attention of key stakeholders

EXPERIENCE or Job Description:

Job Description or Career Contour is the essential part of job analysis information which helps organization and employees cope with many challenges while on-boarding. A clear and acute Job description comprises the various engagements in several associations with Job Designations and Time Duration. A particular job description includes responsibilities, duties, working conditions of the job, and the designation of the person to whom the employee reports. The various achievements attained while working in a specific organization can also be added in Job Description.

Example: 1

Cisco | Feb’10 – Mar’13

Sr. Program Manager

• Engaged in Digital Transformation – Converged Infrastructure Architecture, Move2Cloud Solutions, Azure, AWS, Co-location, Datacenter UC Contact Center, DR, Virtualization CPU, Network, Storage, Apps, Policy and Process Development IT PMO and Governance Assessments.
• Developed and maintained strategy for managing security related audits, compliance checks and external assessments related industry standards.
• Designed, implemented and facilitated risk metrics and matured company security awareness programs as well as performed complex quantitative and qualitative analysis for business processes and projects.
• Managed risk assessment activities coordinating with the security team, Senior Leadership, vendors, and contractors and provided process improvement support in functional area of Governance, Risk and Compliance.
• Monitored developments in the information security industry including vendor strategies and communicated on the potential impact on applicability to the organization.

Example: 2

Air Methods, Mesa, AZ | Oct’18 – Present

Regional Clinical Director

• Construct sites for CAMTS accreditation survey by creating quality management & improvement activities comprising cooperation in quality council.
• Responsible for the management of start-up locations and reviewing of operations of established sites as well as performed negotiations with medical directors for clinical rotations regarding contracts.
• Oversee clinical quality metrics, patient care data; structure recommendations for improvements; plan and implement changes with staff.
• Recognize areas resulting in the integration and improvement of program management, clinic operations, and systems by promoting identification of requirements within and between regions.
• Administer budget line items which included clinical supplies, training, and overtime percentage.

Achievements:

• Managed over time at or less than 18% with retention focus.
• Saved to region of over $150,000 in first year with national savings potential of over $750,000 in first year.
• Captured over $1.2 million in lost revenue.

Projects:

Projects lead to the achievement of the business and non-business objectives of the organization more efficiently through implementation of change in an organized manner and with reduced probability of failure. The addition of involvement in various Projects in the Resume results as a bonus mark for the candidate. For Example:

Project 1: Closing the ME and Africa Training Gaps

Company: GE Healthcare

Scope: Training GE and distributors Engineers for the installed IB and new systems across ME and Africa.

Responsibilities: Delivering classroom trainings and follow up online course’s completion.

Achievement: Delivered 62+ courses and trained 300+ Field engineer across Middle-East and Africa.

Project 2: New Products Introduction

Company: GE Healthcare

Scope: Taking the lead for the new products introductions across NPI’s milestones (M1 to M8).

Responsibilities: Taking the lead for the new products introductions from early mile stone , acting as the region voice for any related improvement : Design, Documentations, Service Material, Service Strategy, Training Model, Parts Availability, Lower Level Field Replaceable Parts , Cost to Serve , PPM Frequency & Kits, Point of Sales Commercial Contracts , Warranty , End of Life and End of Service.

Achievement: Managed 10 NPI’s (product introductions programs) for Anesthesia, Respirator and Maternity infant care systems across Middle East and Africa.

Achievements or Accomplishments:

Under this point, a candidate or employee needs to mention its significant contributions resulting to the revenue or business growth of the organization. For Example:

• Created $10,000,000 in annual savings by implementing new Global consulting processes & reducing wasted resources.
• Managed team of 10 employees, overseeing the hiring, training, and professional growth of employees.
• Supported Global Management Consultant in improving operations and resolving issues to deliver top-notch customer service and advising CEO/ President of multiple Fortune 500 companies.
• Oversaw daily operations over 500 customer accounts with a combined annual budget of $1,000,000,000.00.

Awards & Honors:

This focuses on the numerous awards and recognitions an employee or candidate is honored or acknowledged with throughout the tenure. For Example:

• Management Leadership development program award.
• Appreciation of excellence from Petroleum Development Oman.
• Best Project Quality Manager Award for heading Rabhab Harweel Integrated Project.
• Best Project Quality Manager Award for heading Shakalin Energy Investment Company OPFC project.
• GEM (Get that extra mile) award for setting up Quality.net portal.

Certifications:

Certifications play a significant role while succeeding our growth. Recruiters often look for certified candidates or employees because it provides a clear confirmation regarding the knowledge the candidate has acquired. For Example:

• Lean Leadership Management, Philips – Aug 2018
• Green Belt, from Shell in 2010
• Front Line Leadership Training in Shell
• Planning and Financial Decision Making in Shell
• Basis of Project Management

Trainings:

It includes the various trainings that the candidate had attended during his Job Career. For Example:

• IRCA Registered QMS 2015 Principal Auditor, Cert # 01192288 (IRCA UK, 2017)
• Chartered Quality Professional, Member Chartered Quality Institute (CQI UK, 2016)
• Management and Leadership Development Programme (MLDP) at Petrofac Academy (UAE, 2017)
• BINDT /PCN – LIII in BASIC, MT and UT (WENS DUBAI, 2017)
• BINDT /PCN – LII in PT (WENS DUBAI, 2017)

Education:

A VERY important section. It includes the Academic Credentials regarding Graduation, Post Graduation, Ph.D etc. For Example:

• Post Graduate Diploma in Banking & Finance (PGDBF) from Pondicherry University | 2007
• Management Accountant (MFM) from Pondicherry University | 2005
• Bachelor of Commerce from Pondicherry University, Pondicherry | 1998

Professional Resumes should be developed very crisply such that every word mentioned in the entire elaboration throws an effective and frank knowledge and understanding concerning the excellence the employee or candidate has achieved. It eventually works as a key medium for getting hired in a reputed company with a respectable designation.

This post first appeared on the getsetResumes.com Blog