How do you make a Generic Resume?

I know that everyone tells you to customize a resume based on the skills listed in a job posting. That is well and good. But, I propose that a generic resume is needed as well.  You need to have a resume ready to go at the drop of a hat in the event that you are out and about and run into someone that says, “Hey, you got a resume that I can give to my buddy? He is looking for someone like you!”

Generic Resume Components

Contact Information – nowadays, I support the premise that you don’t need to include your address on your resume. Phone, email and LinkedIn URL are sufficient in addition to your name. So many companies are allowing remote or virtual workplaces, or working from home to cover a territory that living close to your work is not always necessary. Personally, I have had clients in Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Being able to work virtually truly depends upon the job you do, but it is becoming more and more prevalent.

Skills – in a bullet list. Include  your primary skills, and keywords. Read articles on keywords here, here, and here.

Functions – this works very well for job seekers with over 20 years of experience. Address a specific keyword with a problem you faced, an action you took, and the result. The result needs to related to money, time, percentage or number of something that you either saved the employer or gained the employer. One example I use is in my LinkedIn Summary. It says that after working with me, one client noticed a 35% increase in traffic to his website. Pick four or five keywords that you can address.

Experience – for this save some space on your resume and list chronologically the Company name, your title, the city / state of the business, and dates your worked there. Don’t go back further than 20 years. If you need to break one employer up to show different positions, do that.

Education – DO NOT include the dates of graduation unless it is within the last 10 years. DO NOT include the date of High School graduation ever!! If your education is newer, you may want to place it above your experience.

There you have it. The best generic resume you can write.

Now where can you put it besides in an envelope in your car or backpack?

• Post a PDF version to your LinkedIn profile.
• Add it to an on-line portfolio.
• Add it to Dropbox or Google docs to send out quickly to someone by email.

Hope this works out for you. If you want a great tool in which to build a resume, check out the tool on Illinois workNet. So many great functions available for FREE!