Before you can develop an effective strategy for selling your "product," you, too, must take inventory. First, you need to make a list of all the experience, skills and background you have to offer employers. Then, you must evaluate your findings. What are your strengths and weaknesses, special talents and interests? What, exactly, do you have to sell?
This look in the mirror not only will help clarify your career goals, if you're having trouble doing so, but also will help you figure out the best way to go after the goals you set. In addition, it will provide you with the data you need to create a winning resume.
Getting started
At the end of this article, you'll find worksheets designed to assist you in your self-inventory. We suggest that you copy each worksheet and write on the copies. That way, you can use them again. You may need to make several copies of each worksheet, especially if you have a long and/or varied career, educational or volunteer history. Alternatively, you can simply write worksheet information on blank sheets of paper, or create a form on your computer.
You'll also need to gather together any information about you:
- Work or internship experience
- Education (high school, college and graduate school)
- Special training (seminars, certifications, licensing, etc.)
- Military experience
- Volunteer experience
- Skills
- Awards and honors
- Memberships and activities (professional and social)
- Salary history
Take out your old resumes, job records, school transcripts, written references, certificates of special training—anything that might be relevant. If you've forgotten salary information, consult old tax records.
With this material in hand, find a quiet work place and set aside a few hours of time to complete your worksheets. You must be able to think and reflect without interruption.
Read the worksheet instructions below and on the next few pages first. Then fill out all worksheets, referring back to the instructions if necessary.
As you make your way through the worksheets, don't edit your responses. Write down any applicable information, whether or not you think it will be useful. It's important that you get a clear and total picture of yourself. You may be surprised at what you learn from this exercise!
Worksheet 1: Work Experience
On this worksheet, detail every paid job you've held and every professional internship position, paid or unpaid. That's every job, whether it was an executive position with a Fortune 500 company or a stint as a summer camp counselor.
Granted, if you have been working for many years, few employers will care much about your long-ago, part-time jobs. Most employers say they don't really focus on job activity 10 years past or older. But do detail all of those old jobs here. You can never anticipate what type of experience may get you where you want to go—if not today, in the future.
Listing your accomplishments
Simply describing your responsibilities at previous jobs is not enough to make the sale. You must prove your abilities by mentioning specific, professional or personal accomplishments. So pay special attention to this section of the worksheet—it will prove key to your marketing campaign.
Write down any contributions you made as an individual or as part of a group. Also list any employee honors or awards you received.
For accomplishments, always note:
- The specific action you took
- The specific benefits your actions brought your employer.
If you're tempted to write, "Improved accounting system," give this a little more thought. Whenever possible, state benefits in precise numerical terms-dollars saved, time reduced, sales increased, etc. It's okay to approximate numbers (but never inflate or invent figures).
When listing an award or honor, include:
- The name and date of the honor.
- The reason you were recognized—the accomplishment and benefits that led to your award.
If the award happens to be one that few people receive, note that as well. For example, "One of only five awarded during the year" or "First time award was presented to junior staff member."
Some examples of accomplishments are:
- Cut company's postage costs by 5% by implementing new bulk-mailing procedures.
- Designed display that increased jewelry sales by 10%.
- Improved product manufacturability by redesigning outer case; resulted in $1.5 million reduction in annual production costs.
- Won Employee of the Year Award for receiving the greatest number of favorable comment cards from restaurant customers in a one-year period.
So you have no accomplishments?
No matter what your position, if you were on the job very long, you did accomplish certain goals. No employer keeps an employee who doesn't add to the company's success in some fashion.
If you need some help coming up with your accomplishments, refer to old evaluations from your boss. Consider any promotions you received and think about why you were given the job. What were some of the really big projects your department tackled? What was your role in those projects? And what about the small things you did—how did the company profit as a result of your day-to-day work? How did you contribute to the company's success?
Worksheet 2: Volunteer Experience
This is potentially the biggest untapped area of marketing material to add to your resume. If you have been out of the work force for many years, it may prove to be the most important information on your resume.
Were you a scout leader or cookie chairman? Were you an active PTA member? Were you a school library assistant? Were you a teacher for your church or synagogue? Did you serve as president or secretary of a community organization, chair a membership drive or organize your town's annual holiday celebration? Are you a volunteer firefighter during your spare time? This all translates into valuable experience—even if you didn't get paid for it.
Your participation in high school or college organizations (such as Latin Club, Future Farmers of America, etc.) and in professional or trade associations—those organizations related to your job or career—offer additional sources of volunteer experience and accomplishments. Of course, many people belong to such organizations in name only; a smaller percentage take an active role. Employers know this, and so are especially impressed by those who are "doers."
Whatever your volunteer experience, note it on the worksheet the same way you would paid work experience. Describe your responsibilities and accomplishments in professional, business-oriented terms. Focus on how your management, budgeting, organizational and creative skills came into play.
If you've been a long-standing member of an organization and have held a variety of positions from committee chairman to treasurer to president, detail each position in the same way that you would identify different job titles you held at one company.
Again, when listing accomplishments, be specific. As much as possible, detail benefits in terms of dollars earned or saved. A few examples of volunteer accomplishments are:
- With other communications committee members, wrote and published Advertising Club's monthly, six-page newsletter and secured donations to cover all printing costs.
- Each month, provided baked goods that generated $50 in fund-raising profits.
- Negotiated discounts with local vendors to save 15% on cost of scenery materials for junior-high theater production.
- Recruited 50 volunteers to participate in semiannual fund raise that raised $5,000 for alumni association.
If you're one of those women who leap to leadership roles and have steered many different organizations or community activities, you should have no trouble coming up with specific job titles and accomplishments. But what if you never held an office or chaired a committee? What if you simply were a "member at large?" You still participated and contributed in some important ways.
Think about how your actions, either as an individual or as part of a group, benefited your community or organization. Did you make craft items for a fund-raising sale? Did you sing in a community chorale that presented annual charity concerts? Did you plan and chaperone a high school band trip? Don't overlook or minimize the importance of your activities.
Worksheet 3: Education
The more work experience you gather, the less important the details of your education become. But until you have five years or more of on-the-job experience, your education history is an important element of your resume. If you are a recent graduate without much experience in your chosen field, your educational history will, in fact, comprise the bulk of your resume.
Many new graduates try to fill up their resumes with long lists of courses they took in school. But just as a listing of job responsibilities has little impact, a mere listing of courses is fairly unimpressive. You can (and must) add power to it by adding accomplishments.
What kind of accomplishments might be related to school? Maintaining good grades while holding down a part- or full-time job is one that most employers find especially impressive. Other accomplishments might include being named a tutor or teaching assistant (which demonstrates a proficiency in a certain subject); completing a four- year degree program in three years (indicates special motivation); or maintaining a high grade-point average while participating in extracurricular activities (indicates ability to manage time well). Scholarship awards, election to such academic organizations as National Honor Society and other types of scholastic recognition are also noteworthy.
This is not the place, however, to detail your participation in extracurricular activities. Put this information under "Volunteer Experience" in Worksheet 2. Save any special training-military training, real-estate licensing, etc.-for the next sections.
Worksheets 4, 5 and 6: Other Training, Military Service and Special Skills
Describe any other training, military experience and additional skills you may have on these three worksheets. These skills will comprise the skills section of your resume.
On Worksheet 4, Other Training, list any training or education you have not previously detailed. This might include real estate, cosmetology or beautician training, certification and licensing for medical and dental support services, and so on. If you've had on-the-job skills training, such as in management or computer technology, include that information here.
If you served in the military, detail your experience on Worksheet 5, Military Service. Write down the requested data about each tour of duty.
Do you speak a foreign language fluently? Do you know sign language? What are your favorite pastimes that require special skill? Rock climbing? Jewelry-making? Underwater photography?
Track on Worksheet 6, Special Skills.
Worksheet 7: Skills Summary
Summarize your various skills on Worksheet 7. Write down how many years of experience you have in a particular category—accounting or sales or childcare, for example-along with any accomplishments and special training related to that skill. To do this, read back through your completed worksheets and transfer applicable information to Worksheet 7.
Create categories to fit your situation. We've listed a few to get you started:
- Accounting
- Computer skills
- Public relations
- Management
- Fund raising
- Customer service
- Communications
- Sales & marketing
1. Work Experience
Make one copy of this worksheet for each paid job or professional internship position you have held.
- Name of company
- Address and phone number
- Your job title (use the actual title that would be on employee records.)
- Start and end dates (month and year)
- Supervisor's name and title
- (General Job description (one or two sentence summary of your job)
- Responsibilities
- Accomplishments (including honors and awards).
Management/supervisory duties (include size of staff and specific duties-hiring, training, etc.)
Budgetary/financial duties (include any duties related to money- writing a budget, totaling daily receipts, analyzing cost/profit ratios, etc.)
Sales/marketing duties (include specifics about product sold, type of customer base, advertising responsibilities, long-term marketing
Customer service (include number of customers you served on a regular basis, plus their status-retail customer, executive-level clients, etc.)
Production duties (include amount of goods/services produced on a daily, monthly or annual basis)
Technical duties (any duties that required you to use computers or other technical equipment)
- Special skills learned (computer skills, telephone sales, desktop publishing, etc.)
2. Volunteer Experience
Make one copy of this worksheet for each volunteer activity.
- Name of organization_
- Address and phone number_
- Position/title (if no position held, simply indicate "member").
- Start and end dates of this position_
- Start and end dates of your membership (month and year).
- Hours devoted per week_
- Name(s) of organization president(s) or your ranking superior
- General description (one or two sentence summary of your job)
- Responsibilities
Management/supervisory duties (include size of staff and specific duties-coordinating, training, etc.)
Budgetary/financial duties (include any duties related to money- writing a budget, totaling sales receipts, analyzing cost/profit ratios, etc.)
Sales/marketing duties (include specifics about product sold, type of customer base, advertising responsibilities, long-term marketing
Customer service (include number of "customers" you contacted on a regular basis, plus their status high-school students, disabled adults, community leaders, etc.)
Production duties (include amount of goods/services produced on a daily, monthly or annual basis)
Technical duties (any duties that required you to use computers or other technical equipment)
- Accomplishments (including honors and awards)
- Special skills learned (computer skills, telephone sales, desktop publishing, etc.)
2. Volunteer Experience
Make one copy of this worksheet for each volunteer activity.
- Name of organization
- Address and phone number
- Position/title (if no position held, simply indicate "member")
- Start and end dates of this position
- Start and end dates of your membership (month and year)
- Hours devoted per week
- Name(s) of organization president(s) or your ranking superior
- General description (one or two sentence summary of your job)
- Responsibilities
Management/supervisory duties (include size of staff and specific duties-coordinating, training, etc.)
Budgetary/financial duties (include any duties related to money- writing a budget, totaling sales receipts, analyzing cost/profit ratios, etc.)
Sales/marketing duties (include specifics about product sold, type of customer base, advertising responsibilities, long-term marketing planning, etc.)
Customer service (include number of "customers" you contacted on a regular basis, plus their status high-school students, disabled adults, community leaders, etc.)
Production duties (include amount of goods/services produced on a daily, monthly or annual basis) Technical duties (any duties that required you to use computers or other technical equipment)
- Accomplishments (including honors and awards)
- Special skills learned (computer skills, telephone sales, desktop publishing, etc.)
3. Education: High school education
(If you have many years of experience under your belt, you need only complete questions 1-6 for high school education.)
- School name
- Address (city and state)
- Years attended
- Year graduated
- GPA/class rank
- Honors (valedictorian, top 10%, scholarship recipient, etc.)
- Accomplishments
- Major courses
- Special skills learned
Post-secondary education
List college, trade school, and postgraduate work
- School name
- Address (city and state)
- Years attended
- Year graduated and degree earned
- GPA/class rank
- Honors (valedictorian, scholarship recipient, etc.)
- Accomplishments
- Major courses
- Special skills learned
4. Other Training
List any additional vocational courses, on-job training, licenses or certification.
- Training received/license or certification earned
- Name of training institution
- Address and phone number
- Start and end dates of training
- Name and title of instructor
- Skills learned
- Accomplishments
- Training received/license or certification earned
- Name of training institution
- Address and phone number
- Start and end dates of training
- Name and title of instructor
- Skills learned
- Accomplishments
- Training received/license or certification earned
- Name of training institution
- Address and phone number
- Start and end dates of training
- Name and title of instructor
- Skills learned
- Accomplishments.
5. Military Service
1. Branch
2. Rank
3. Dates of service
4. Duties_
5. Special skills learned
6. Accomplishments (include awards, citations, and medals
Special Skills
1. Name of skill_
2. Specific training received_
3. Years of experience_
4. Level of expertise_
5. Accomplishments related to this skill
- Name of skill
- Specific training received
- Years of experience
- Level of expertise
- Accomplishments related to this skill
- Skills Summary
