By Judith Lindenberger

If you are looking for a job, writing a resume is one of the first steps you need to take. The goal of a resume is to get you in the door with prospective employers. And, you have about 30 seconds to grab the reader's attention. Here are some tricks of the trade for writing a winning resume.

1. Include an objective statement at the top of your resume, which states your employment goal, types of organizations you have experience working for, and lists several strengths.
   
   
2. Tell not only what you did but how well. For example: Created a new sales program, which resulted in a 25% in sales annually for 3 consecutive years.
   
   
3. Use action verbs like analyzed, created, developed, initiated, led, or researched. Imagine someone reading your resume quickly and think about the impression the words you choose will have on him or her.
   
   
4. Add information about your education, accomplishments, special knowledge, or honors at the beginning or end of the resume. If it is recent or impressive, place it at the beginning; otherwise, it goes at the end of the resume.
   
   
5. Include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address so that an employer can get in touch with you easily.
   
   
6. Put your name and page number on each page (in case pages get misplaced or out of order). Try to limit your resume to no more than two pages.
   
   
7. Make sure your resume is spell checked and that there are no grammatical errors.
   
   
8. Do not include a photograph or personal information.
   
   
9. Be honest about dates of employment and job titles.
   
   
10. Get feedback from several sources about how attractive and easy to read your resume is.

By Judith Lindenberger, Principal, The Lindenberger Group, LLC. The Lindenberger Group provides human resources consulting, career counseling, teambuilding, training and organization development for individuals and organizations.

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How to explain temp work on your resume (from the WSJ Career Journal):

How to explain temp work on a resume.
	By Deb Koen

Question: After I was laid off from my job, I signed up with a couple of temporary agencies for work in their accounts-payable departments. How should I explain temp work on my resume?
-- Stephanie, Boston

Stephanie: There are no absolute rules on this one. One positive option is to create a section on your resume under work experience called, "Accounts Payable Positions through ABC and XYZ Agencies (1999 - present)." You might choose to include an impressive one-liner referring to the variety and quality of experiences. Then, continue in this section by listing employers (companies) with a couple of bulleted items under each to highlight accomplishments. If you eventually have a list that is unwieldy, leave out the shortest term and least important assignments.