When writing a resume, we have a certain image of our career in mind, an image of how it has progressed, and what we have done. It is this version that we present to employers when we apply for a job.

But career counselor Penelope Trunk says that if we are looking to switch careers or change jobs, we need to reevaluate the standard interpretation of our career, the one we have always used.

There are different ways of looking at the same events, depending on what you want to highlight or what perspective you are looking from. And this is something that many job hunters overlook. They continue to tell the same story about their career, when what they need is a new narrative, which may be completely different, Trunk says.

It’s not like a math test, where there is a correct answer or version and an incorrect one. Depending on what you emphasize in your background, you can fashion your resume to fit multiple scenarios. As Trunk says there is “no one correct story of your life.”

Say, for example, that you worked in the human resources department, but that over time you became the IT expert for the department, mastering the applications and databases used. Although your field is human resources, you could just as easily fashion a resume highlighting your expertise in information technology.

Trunk’s plan to look at your life story for your resume is, first, to figure out where you would really like to be with your career. Then, think back over your life and what you have done, pulling out the things you have done that have a bearing on what you would like to be doing right now. Toss out everything on your resume that is not relevant to what you want to be doing right now. Then, pull things together – work backward in a sense from what you want to be doing right now, using all those things that relate and linking them together into your personal story, your personal narrative.

As Trunk says, the important thing to remember is that your career is not something static and immutable, but dynamic and something you control. You need to tell that story from different perspectives, and not let the one perspective that is your current resume rule your life.

Come to RealStreet Staffing when you’re looking for work in Washington, DC in the architecture, construction or engineering sectors and tell us the story of your career – we’ll help you take it to where you want to go! We look forward to hearing from you.

When it’s tough to find a job, the tough….write a recession-proof resume!

Here are some tips to help you craft a resume that will help your application stand out from others.

Most resume writers craft a resume using the standard chronological format, in which they list work experience in reverse chronological order (current or last job first, followed by previous jobs). But if you’ve been out of work for a while, or if you have some obvious gaps in your employment history, you may want to write what is known as “combination” resume. This type of resume places more emphasis on your skills and accomplishments instead of your previous positions and dates of employment.

So instead of just listing where you worked, your job title and a few of your job tasks, break out your resume into different sections. For example, a system administrator may want to divide his resume into “Project Management,” “System Skills,” and/or “Training Skills.”

Combination resumes also work best when you’re looking to change professions because they can help you better highlight previous work experience, education and skills that can transfer to the new career and help you make the transition. You want an employer to see how what you’ve done in the past will help her in the future.

Focus on results and how you’ve contributed to previous employers’ bottom lines. For example, if you’ve worked as a plant layout engineer in the past, state how your review of one project found cost efficiencies not already in place and how your suggestions saved your company several thousand dollars (be specific as possible with the dollar amount), or saved it a certain percentage in construction cost (be sure to provide that percentage number).

One thing many job seekers neglect to do is to customize their resume to each company and position to which they’re applying. Yes, this takes more work than just using the same resume for every position. But you should study each position carefully and fine tune your resume so that it speaks specifically to the employer’s needs.

Doing so will truly help your resume stand out from others.

Check, check and check your resume some more for mistakes. Write it one day and leave it be until another — you’ll see it with fresh eyes. Ask someone to proof it for you.

Your goal is to make the resume mistake- and typo-free. No misspellings. Hiring managers look at mistakes in resumes as an indication that you’re sloppy, don’t have attention to detail and/or don’t care about how you present yourself.

In these days of high unemployment, businesses are loathe to “take a chance” on someone who appears unqualified, lax and indifferent. Work hard to showcase how you can help solve an employer’s problems in your resume and you’re on the right path towards finding a new job no matter what the economic conditions.

Use RealStreet Staffing, as well as a focused, achievements-oriented resume, to help you find a terrific position quickly in Washington Metro construction, architecture and engineering companies. We look forward to hearing from you.

Let’s say you currently have a terrific job, with great pay, with a wonderful boss and fun coworkers. You’re not looking for work and you don’t plan to in the foreseeable future.

So the idea of keeping your resume updated hasn’t occurred to you in a long while — since you started at this wonderful job with the terrific boss and great coworkers.

But it should.

You always should keep your resume current because things do happen. Your terrific boss could leave, landing you with a boss from Hades. Salary freezes could take place, leaving you with a paycheck holding steady while your responsibilities increase. And your wonderful co-workers? Laid off next week, leaving you wondering if you’ll be next.

But aside from the fact that your terrific job could become a) awful in no time or b) leave you awfully quickly, you should continuously update your resume for two good reasons:

1) You won’t forget your accomplishments
and
2) It will be ready to go should a great opportunity pop up its happy head waving Hello!

It’s simple human nature; we do something wonderful (bring in the big client, streamline data processing, build a new website, etc.) and then promptly forget about it. Oh, we remember it, but did the XYZ Account come in in February or was it April? Did I stay late all week finishing up the Smith Project before or after spring break?

You get the picture.

Instead, after every major accomplishment, after every promotion, after every new skill learned, update your resume.

Because (bringing us to Reason 2) it never fails: you’re contacted by a headhunter about a terrific opportunity, or your friend tells you about a great opening at her company that’s just perfect for you. But instead of being able to pounce on these great opportunities, you spend days — if not weeks — updating and crafting your resume.

Instead, update it as the accolades and accomplishments happen.

Terrific jobs do happen here at RealStreet Staffing. Our Washington Metro staffing firm has many temporary, temp-to-hire and direct placement opportunities for those who are prepared to come get them. We look forward to hearing from you.

As you write a resume, you must remember that its purpose isn’t to get you a job, it’s to get you an interview.

A resume is to pique an employer’s interest in you so much that the hiring manager will call you in for an interview. It’s at the job interview that you can then go into much more detail about how your backgrounds, skills and accomplishments can be of value to the company.

So your resume in many ways is a marketing tool. And what do marketers want the public to do when they read/see/hear an ad? Take action. Buy. Call for more information. Come to the store. Ask for a meeting, etc.

The operative word here is action. And the action you want a hiring manager to do when she reads your resume is to contact you for an interview.

So action must be in your resume. Action verbs, that is, verbs that show what you’ve done for other employers. Verbs that demonstrate your accomplishments, the challenges you overcame and the successes you brought to your previous jobs.

Here are some of the best “action verbs” to place in a resume (be sure you’ve actually done these things; don’t lie on a resume. You could get fired if the company hires you and later finds out you never actually did the things you said:

• Achieved
• Acquired
• Authorized
• Built
• Collected
• Completed
• Devised
• Directed
• Drafted
• Eliminated
• Employed
• Expanded
• Fixed
• Guided
• Improved.
• Invented
• Launched
• Negotiated
• Overcame
• Pioneered
• Produced
• Ran
• Reached
• Reshaped
• Saved
• Started
• Transformed
• Trained
• Undertook
• Volunteered
• Worked

If you’re looking for a new position and feel you’re resume could use some help, bring it to us. We’re experts in helping Washington DC’s workers find great jobs. We’ll look over your resume and give you some pointers. We also may find you a great position! Contact RealStreet Staffing today.

If you have a large gap in your work history, you may be worried that you’ll have an even harder time finding work in today’s tough economy.

That needn’t be the case. Here are some tips to help you handle questions about “holes” in your employment history:

If you’ve just found yourself “between jobs,” as you search for new employment, consider taking on freelance or consulting work. If that’s not possible, offer to volunteer in more of a managerial role with our favorite charity. The freelancing and/or volunteering sting are perfectly legitimate to place on your resume.

If it turns out there’s nothing you can do to fill the “gap” in your resume, as you write it, opt for a “functional” resume rather the typical “chronological” resume, the one that lists your jobs/duties/accomplishments in the order of when you had the jobs (most recent position first). Use caution, however: some recruiters look at functional resumes as red flags: “this applicant has something he doesn’t want to tell me!”

A functional resume details the your background, skills and accomplishments you’ve accomplished over the length of your career. The focus is on what you’ve accomplished for former employers, it’s not just a “list” of your previous jobs. A chronological list of your previous jobs goes at the end of a functional resume.

If there truly is a big fat hole in your work history, you may want to bring this up right away in your cover letter. Write a short one- or two-sentence explanation of the reason for the gap (you left work to take care of a sick relative, to raise children, you couldn’t find a job after being laid off for two years, etc.) Don’t go into too much detail and definitely don’t whine about how long it’s taking you to find a job. Instead, state the facts, and then immediately segue into how your skills and background are a good fit for the open position.

If you’re interviewing and the gap in your job history comes up, once again, briefly state the reason you gave in your cover letter. Then change the subject — ask the interviewer for more information about the job duties, what kind of person they’re looking for etc. And then detail how your backgrounds and skills can help the employer. Take the focus off your gap and on to what you bring to the table

If you’re worried that a large gap in your job history is hindering your search for work, let RealStreet Staffing help you find a great job. We can place you on exciting assignments at businesses throughout the Washington Metro area. In fact, many of our assignments are temp-to-hire or even direct placement! Contact us today.