The first step to ensuring the quality of your documents is to first review the works written and published by others.
Purchase a large number of resume books housing dozens of resume and cover letter examples. By examining works already out there, you’re given some guidance on creating your own documents.
Need assistance and advice from a resume-writing colleague?
Another resource to help you write resumes includes industry organizations. Each group has unique benefits like an e-list (online discussion group) where questions are posted to other new and seasoned resume writers.
There’s nothing worse than feeling alone when faced with a challenging writing project, however, certain industry organizations have different resources in place to keep you from feeling like a “one-man (or one-girl) army.” Advice from individuals who have been down the same path will greatly benefit you during the start-up phases of business.
Write Swiftly, Write Profitably
Do your homework.
Research and understand skills common to managers, sales reps, and secretaries (among others) in preparation for handling certain projects.
Seasoned resume writers have the advantage because they can tap into the information they’ve learned over years. You won’t have that benefit in the beginning, so conduct enough preliminary research and learn as much as possible about varying careers.
Start a sample book of your own created resumes as your business progresses.
Sort the book alphabetically or by profession. The benefit of referring to your written content is the ability to reuse or regurgitate fragments or sentences into new projects. Expect to dramatically reduce writing time for new and revamp projects with this technique alone.
Create yourself a cheat sheet with action verbs and potential starter sentences to feed your creative juices. Anytime you give yourself an added push to finishing projects quicker, without sacrificing quality, you’ll enhance profits per project.
The last suggestion to writing fast and more profitably includes maintaining a keyword or key phrase log broken down by profession.
These keywords can speed up the process of creating newly written documents because these lists can get your writing flowing more effectively.
For example, all sales professionals are concerned about sales volumes, increasing client base, and cultivating leads by networking and through cold contact with prospects.
These job responsibilities are universal amongst most sales professionals, and once you begin to learn the keywords or phrases to fly with, writing resumes for similar careers will become easier to complete.
Sample keywords for each profession:
ACCOUNTING
Accounts Receivable
Accounting Software (Lotus 1-2-3, QuickBooks Pro)
Accounts Payable
Benefits Administration
Collections
Departmental Budgeting
Financial Reports
Account Management
Profit & Loss
ADMINISTRATIVE/SECRETARIAL
Customer Development
Database Administration
Front-end Operations
Multi-line Communication System
Office Maintenance
Quality Customer Care & Retention
Word/Data Processing
SALES
Client Base
Client Relationship Building
Event Marketing
Lead Groups
Marketing Strategies
Material Forecasting
Networking
One-call Sales
Outside/Inside Sales
Promotional Tactics
Selling Strategies
HUMAN RESOURCES
Affirmative Action/EEO Regulations
Employee Orientation
Employee Relations & Mediation
HR Program Development
Labor Relations
Performance Development
Personnel Training
Pre-employment Screening
Recruitment Programs
Staffing/Scheduling Requirements
State & Federal Rules and Regulations
Training/Orientation
MANAGEMENT
Business Alliance Building
Business Development
Contract Negotiations
Departmental Operating Budget
Employee Relations
Leadership Development
Logistic Operations
Operational Development
Performance Evaluations
Departmental Policy & Procedures
HEALTHCARE
Patient Needs Assessment
Assisted Living Housing
Congregate Housing
Emergency Response System
Extended Care
Holistic Healing
In-Home Services
Intake Personnel
Medical Evaluation
Patient & Quality Care
Short- and Long-term Care
Skilled Level Care
Once you begin writing for different career fields, expand and enhance your own list of keywords and key phrases. Keep your lists within a binder and sort each by position, such as management, healthcare, and sales, for easy reference when necessary.
