Career Profile
Two vitally important resume key words

Your career profile, which is also known as your resume profile statement, is the front page news on your resume.

In fact...... think of your resume profile statement as being the headlines of your very own sales brochure....which is what a resume really is anyway..

Your profile will appear at the very top of your resume, right underneath your personal details. (Unless of course you have decided to include the Career Objective heading. In that case, your profile details will appear after the Career Objective heading.)

The "Career Profile" heading just by itself contains resume key words that draw the reader in.

Why........?

The heading draws attention because it is implied in the title that what is written underneath it will a snapshot of who you are you the professional.

It's usually the first hard information about you, your capabilities and suitability that the reader will learn about you.

You will no doubt be familiar with the term "first impressions are lasting impressions".

Well.....this natural law also applies to how your resume will be interpreted. Your profile is your first and most important opportunity to create a positive impression on the reader.

Career Profile = Your personal brand

The term "personal brand" is now commonly used in job search circles and in job search coaching.

The concept of "brand" is borrowed from professional marketers of products and services.

It refers to a name, sign, symbol, slogan, or anything that is used to identify any product, service or business. And, as you will realise by now....the process of job search is all about self marketing.... so the use of branding concepts in job search is quite relevant.

Personal branding in relation to job search really refers to self packaging or self positioning - it's about creating an indelible impression in the employment market place.. It's a means for you to differentiate from other professionals (or brands) in the market place when you are actively job seeking.

When you are writing your resume professional profile, you are basically describing a version of your personal brand.

How to write your career profile

Even for experienced resume writers putting together a career profile statement is something that takes some work and experimentation.

You'll need to keep playing around with what content you want to include and to experiment with your style of writing about your profile.

Your aim is to produce a professional resume profile that makes lively, engaging reading about you - something that will make a real impact on whoever reads your profile.

The easiest way to get started is to brainstorm some of the resume key words that you want to include in your statement - play around with ideas first, then work on your grammar and descriptions.

Use a worksheet

Get some blank paper and use the following headings to help you to really explore all the elements of your personal brand:

• Your personality - write down at least three words which best describe your personality. For example outgoing, confident, pragmatic, energetic, proactive. Download this page "Personal Style Inventory Worksheet which will help you to identify some terms to describe your personality. If you have done a comprehensive personality assessment, use the results from that to get your key words.
• Describe your specialisation/s in a word or two - this is not necessarily the same as your existing job title. For example your job title might be Group Training Manager, but your area of functional expertise or specialisation could be described as being a corporate training and development specialist. Why the difference? Job titles tend to mean something within the organisation where you are employed, but can often be meaningless in the employment market place.
• Summarise the scope, breadth and depth of your experience; the geographic area/s that you have or presently work in
• Elaborate on the level of responsibility you've held in your career - size of the team/s you lead, your level in the hierarchy, size of budget
• Your strengths - what are your most employable strengths? Write down at least 6 of your key strengths.
• Briefly summarise your career path - where did you start, where did you go next and so on
• Make notes about what are you famous for so far in your career - what achievements or contributions have most significance for you?

Sell the benefit of employing you

The final heading on your worksheet relates to describing the potential contribution you can make.

Seriously consider - what contribution/s are you capable of making? How do you consider your strengths and other personal attributes will enable you to make to a future employer?

Describing the contribution you can make is pointing out to the reader the benefit to them of employing you.

It shows that you are focused on their needs and problems and are keen to be a part of the solution.

Depending on what type of work you do, and the organisations you are targeting in your job search think about some of the common need areas in organisations and your ability to influence these types of outcomes:

• Developing or increasing sales or market share
• Developing or increasing customer or client satisfaction
• Developing or improving reputation or image
• Delivering exceptional service
• Improving quality or safety standards
• Improving profitability
• Improving efficiency or productivity
• Consistently meeting deadlines, or working within budgets

Putting your career profile together

Now that you've done some serious reflection and examination of your past career you are ready to summarise this in a professional career profile statement.

There are many ways of constructing your career or professional profile. The most common options are :

(Click on the links below to jump ahead to section that are most interesting to you)

• A narrative consisting of one or more brief paragraphs. This might describe elements of your personality, key strengths, the breadth and depth of your relevant experience, and perhaps some key achievements.
• An introductory narrative sentence or two, followed by some dot points which describe your key skills
• A list of bullet points, each with an accompanying short narrative
• A concise list of bullet points alone

A narrative

Here are some examples of career profile narratives:

Example 1

Charismatic, energetic and results focused with extensive general management experience in a diverse range of fields including tour wholesaling, the conventions industry and the hospitality sector.

Adept at developing people, managing and maintaining strong client relationships, and sourcing sustainable and profitable new business.

Example 2

Highly organised and dedicated management professional with extensive background in client service and administration. Achieves service excellence by focusing the team on getting the little things right. Also excels in documenting work flows and developing user friendly operations manuals for the purposes of training staff and to assist in implementation of quality controls and continuous improvement initiatives.

While strongly task focused is also known as a people person. Has a highly engaging interpersonal style which enables the development of excellent working relationships with the team, and with both internal and external clients.

Introductory narrative with bullet points

Example 1

Public relations professional with over 10 years experience in the not for profit and community welfare sectors. Has a demonstrated track record of success in relation to:

• Developing and maintaining excellent relationships with print and electronic media.
• Business development and fundraising.
• Image development and brand repositioning.

Example 2

Specialist project manager in the Information and Communications Technology field. Significant experience in managing project teams in large scale government IT development projects. Areas of strength include:

• The ability to consistently deliver projects on time and within budget.
• Solid grasp of all aspects of process in relation to systems analysis and design.
• Outstanding people management skills.
• Has particular expertise in CRM, finance and logistics applications.

List of bullet points with accompanying narrative

Example 1

• Exceptional interpersonal skills - Is highly adept in situations where social mobility is required.
• Confident, poised and politically astute -  Able to effectively negotiate and deal with politicians, senior public servants and a range of other public officials.
• Well developed written communication skills - Has produced work for a variety of audiences including public and private sector clients, the higher education sector and academia, management and consumers.

Concise list of bullet points alone

Example 1

• Exceptional planning and organisational skills.
• Well developed interpersonal and written communication skills.
• Enjoys working either independently or in team situations.

Summary

Your career profile statement is perhaps one of the most important parts of your resume. It will be the first piece of information that you will be giving to the reader about you.

Be prepared therefore to spend the time to experiment and re-work your profile until the language you use leaps off the page at the reader!

Your profile is that important!

Other resume writing tips

Check out these links for other really useful resume writing hints and tips

• General resume writing guidelines
• Which headings to include in your resume
• How to write a career objective statement
• How to write a career or professional profile
• Recording career highlights and career accomplishments
• How to record your personal employment history