Today's job market is "not your daddy's Cadillac!" Most companies and employees these days don't give and get the gold watch at retirement.
Even government jobs are not guaranteed for life anymore.
The job market is mercurial: outsourcing is standard practice, downsizing is constant, and companies are increasingly demanding the "perfect" candidate.
The more you can make yourself look like the perfect candidate on paper, the better chance you'll have of getting to an interview.
In the last article I talked about some organizational tips to start putting your resume together.
Remember this magic number: seven years.
That's the average time a person stays on a job.
I generally limit my jobs back to about 15 years.
Most employers don't look back any further than that anyway.
This is a general rule, but there will be exceptions.
Organizational Tip #4: Tracking Time.
Work backwards.
This is easier said then done.
Those of you who have had tens of years of experience will probably struggle with remembering all of the dates, job titles and job descriptions.
You may have a hard time remembering when you switched from Coca Cola to Procter and Gamble or when you started teaching grade school.
Try to visualize your personal life as it related to job changes.
This is generally a helpful guide.
For example, a personal life experience marking your first born may have triggered a move and a job change.
Organizational Tip #5: Mark your accomplishments.
Many candidates that I speak with have a hard time articulating successes that they've had in their jobs.
Most will generally just list each job function that they've performed.
For example: "documented procedures to put into corporate library".
Employers are searching for that "rare" individual who will contribute most to the success of the company.
You want to illustrate how you were instrumental in "growing", "accelerating revenue", or "leapfrogging the competition".
A better example of illustrating the above success would be to write "Significantly increased worker productivity by documenting procedures into an easily organized corporate library.
" Most people don't think of their daily work experiences as accomplishments.
They go to work, do their duties and then go home.
Almost every action could be linked to an actionable event that "saved your company money", "increased productivity" or "grew revenues".
Think in these terms and you will have a solid accomplishments resume.
Here are some more ways to dig deep down for these accomplishments.
You won't be able to remember everything at one time.
So don't try to rush this.
Ask yourself some of these simple questions and things will start to surface.
Really!

• Have you saved my company any money? How much and how did you do it?
• Have you helped the company improve sales? By how much? What procedures did you put in place?
• Did you improve productivity or efficiency? What are some of the processes that you implemented?
• How were your performance reviews? Were there exceptional ones? If so, reflect on them.
  
• Did you participate in any committees? If so, what function did you play.
  How did you help the organization?
• Did you participate in any technical or operational reviews? What was the outcome? What improvements resulted from these reviews?

As you can see, there are many examples in which you can show accomplishments.
The above resume writing examples are just the tip of the iceberg.
Remember that your goal is to let your STAR shine through in your resume.