Don’t say: Knowledge of systems administration duties.
Say: Competent in the area of systems administration duties, specifically in x software, y software and z software.
As you can see, example two give the big picture – this person is competent in system administration duties – but also lists the software he/she is competent in. This is great especially if you know that software is exactly what the prospective job function uses.
Some other general, big picture qualifications examples include:
Excellent marketing and public relations skills
Exceptional time management skills
Excellent conflict resolution skills
Able to adapt to new situations quickly
Sensitive to the uniqueness of situations
While writing your qualifications, use bullets instead of a long paragraph. This format looks better and is easier to read.
Another tip on writing qualifications – remember that every qualification written down must be supported by your experience outlined in the résumé. Think of it as writing a synopsis of a story – your story of what a great, experienced professional you are.
Job Experience
Once you have finished writing your qualifications, it’s time to illustrate them in the job experience portion of your résumé. Believe it or not, people tend to make big mistakes in this area.
When many think of their job experience, they see the specific tasks they do every day. While this is part of your job experience, why not apply it to the big picture of your company? For example:
Instead of: write press releases, conduct media interviews and attend health fairs.
Say: Increase the overall public awareness of X Corporation by writing press releases, conducting interviews and attending public events.
Example one just states what you do at your job function. Example two, on the other hand, shows that you are aware of how you help the company when talking about the big picture. An employer usually leans toward hiring those who can see how their job affects the bottom line – and this is your time to shine.
Let’s say you are a public relations professional. Your work experience piece would be written similar to this (depending on your experience):
Increased overall public awareness of X Corporation by X percent by media interviews, advertisements and events open to the public.
Successfully marketed X services by creating and sending out deliverables to the target audience.
Researched, created, implemented and evaluated X number of communications plans; X number resulting in success. Saved X Corporation $XXX dollars by writing and implementing customer service training which was previously contracted out.
When writing job experience, again, use bullets. This format is much easier to scan during the interview search.