Inventory of Qualifications

First, you need the skeleton. To create a basic structure, you should create an inventory of qualifications from which you can pick and choose the information to include in any of the resumes and cover letters you design. This inventory of qualifications can be written down, or can be a mental model of the information.

After conducting research on job advertisements, I realized that employers are looking for four primary categories of information. If you create a written inventory of qualifications use the category headings in the next few pages, and then make a list with the corresponding information.

Previous, similar experience:

Previous duties similar to the duties of this job; previous responsibilities similar to the responsibilities of this job; previous employment similar to this one. They want you to understand what it takes to be in this position, and they want to know that you can carry out the tasks required in this job. The proof you offer can come from a variety of places: remember that it isn’t simply a similar job like this one, but the individual tasks that are important.

In other words, let’s imagine that the ad calls for two different responsibilities, and one primary duty: A, B, and C. The proof you offer are similar responsibilities and duties, and these can come from anywhere. A could have been performed in a previous, unrelated job. What you highlight is the responsibility, not the previous job. B could have come from a class project, so you would highlight the class project. Finally, C could have been a duty carried out in an organization you were part of, so that experience would be highlighted.

Do I have to list all my jobs?

List all of your jobs on the inventory: especially important is what you did in each of those jobs (your responsibilities, duties, accomplishments, etc.). When it comes to actually creating the resume, you’ll want to limit your previous employment to those that are really relevant to the job you’re applying for. This may be a bit tricky, however, because you could have some seemingly irrelevant jobs in which your daily duties or responsibilities were completely relevant. Then again, you could have previous jobs that, at the outset, seem completely relevant, but upon closer analysis really don’t matter at all. Thus, it comes down again to the job you are applying for and how anything you’ve done in the past is currently relevant.

Tool skills and knowledge:

Some type of proficiency in the tools being used at this job, whether they are software, hardware, construction tools or methodologies. There are normally a few different ways to report this type of knowledge. You can simply state that you have a proficiency in these tools (for example, you can say “Master of MS Access”). In such a case you would include all of the tools together (“Master of MS Access; Expert of MS Word; etc.).

Another method is to mention your use of these items in actual practice (“I used MS Access to prepare relational databases…”). This method is particularly best for identifying methodologies you are familiar with (“I applied the software development processes to…”). As before, make sure to use the same terms for these tools as the job ad asks for. You wouldn’t want to say you were “proficient in MS Office” when the ad asks you to be an “expert in MS Word, MS Excel and MS Access,” even though they are really the same thing.

What if I know things not required?

There are certain skills that are becoming increasingly important whether or not they’re listed as a desired or required skill. In such cases it’s always good to inform the employer that you contain this “extra” knowledge. An example that especially comes to mind is a second language that you may speak. Bilingual employees are assets to any organization, regardless of what the language is, so be sure to include any other languages you may speak and how fluent you are. Other skills that are always important are communication skills (such as oral or written communication) and technology skills (software that the organization probably uses but has not listed).

Relevant educational experiences:

Education or training—formal or informal—that prepares you for this job. Formal training is the obvious: high school, vocational school or classes, college degrees or classes, official certification classes, etc. Informal training consists of those things you may have learned on the job with previous employers: how to utilize certain pieces of equipment, how to conduct certain facets of the job, etc.

In each case what is important is that the employer hires somebody already at least partially trained. Because training a new employee costs the employer so much money, the more they can offset these costs the better. So while the common perception is that education denotes intelligence, to the employer it actually denotes a cost savings. For this section simply list (in the appropriate sections) any and all applicable training you may have received, including where you received it, when you received it, and what the outcome was (did you receive your degree or certification?).

Personal attributes:

These are often the hardest for my students to get a handle on. Employers will say that they want “motivated” applicants, or “self starters.” For the inventory, make a list of the attributes that you can prove (this was discussed earlier in the section providing the cover letter example). What does this mean? Simply that not all personal attributes can be proven. How, for example, can you prove that you have a great personality? How, likewise, can you prove that you are personable or likeable? You can’t. These are attributes that others assign to you and that we really can’t demonstrate to others in a resume.
 
Instead we need to think of episodes or examples of past work experiences that can prove personal attributes. For example, if you took it upon yourself to complete a project at work, then you can use this example to demonstrate how you are “self motivated.” Think of such past experiences and what types of attributes they prove, and then write these both down.

What are some other attributes?

One particularly important set of personal attributes are interpersonal skills. Imagine the waste of time and money if you were hired but could not work with the people that already have jobs with this organization. Hence, employers want to know that you will get along with the people already working for them. Such skills are often marked by the keywords “collaboration” or “work in teams.” Whenever you see such words (including “interpersonal skills”) try to think of examples in which you worked in a team to accomplish an important task. Such an anecdote will demonstrate that you’ve worked collaboratively in the past and have succeeded in such an environment. Other important attributes include “goal-oriented” (you can set and meet project goals) and “multi-tasking” (you can work on more than one thing at once).

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Last update: 27-03-2009 13:35