The problem is you haven’t touched your resume for 10 years, and you’re feeling pretty insecure about your resume-writing skills.
Well, good news: your 10 years of advertising copywriting are going to get you through the night. Did you ever stop to think that you already know how to get an employer’s attention with words?
Writing a resume is very similar to writing an ad — a very long and detailed ad, but nevertheless an ad. Of course, the item that’s for sale is your brilliant talent for advertising, so why not put your skills on display?
If you think you’re good at writing catchy advertisements, read on to find out how you can apply that to your advertising resume.
1. Incorporate a Dynamic Variety of Action Verbs in Your Advertising Resume.
Nothing will scream inadequacy more than a lack of active verbs and interesting language on an advertising resume. Think of it this way: if you were hiring people to make you money with their smooth ways with words, why would you hire someone whose resume said, “Responsible for writing advertisement text.” Bo-ring!
Pretend you’re writing an ad and brainstorm some powerful verbs to use instead of falling into the same old resume-writing traps. Words like develop, analyze, manage, coordinate, oversee, and design are much stronger than your average words like do, bring, maintain, review, and use. The more active and colorful the verbs are, the better.
Also, remember that a huge part of an advertising professional’s job is to persuade the audience. Your number-one priority on a resume is no different. Use ear-pleasing terms and language that will prove to the employer that you’re the one to hire.
2. Urge Your Audience to Act Fast with Your Advertising Resume.
Every good advertisement, or advertising resume, should guide the audience to take some kind of action — usually to buy the product at hand, which in your case is you, the job seeker.
Clarity and convenience for the employer’s sake should be kept in mind when writing an advertising resume. You want to do everything in your power but hand the employer the telephone to call you for an interview.
Make sure that your name and contact information are clearly readable and easy to locate, or else you run the risk of the employer saying, “I can’t even find this person’s phone number to call for an interview! Forget this.” Employer tosses resume in the trash.
A phone number (preferably a cell phone number) and email address on your advertising resume are musts. Your address is not going to help you land the job because I guarantee the employer will not MapQuest your address and pay you a visit.
3. Visual Appeal Is Key on an Advertising Resume.
Another of an advertising professional’s greatest talents should be designing a visually interesting and relevant layout or image. Obviously you cannot include a glamour shot with your resume, so don’t get any ideas. Pictures are a serious no-no on resumes.
The design of the resume needs to be similar to that of an ad: concise, well thought out, and organized. When you look at an ad, it should be readable and easy to comprehend so you don’t have to stare at it for 10 minutes to get the point. The same applies to advertising resumes. An employer should be able to skim the page and get a strong feel for your experience and style. Remember: employers only look at resumes for about 30 seconds each before tossing them or keeping them, so milk your short moment in the spotlight!
Use simple yet stylish fonts and a font size that is at least 11-point — the employer should have no problem reading your resume no matter how old he or she is. Also, organize different sections using bolded headings with varied spacing. It’s also nice if you use bullets and other organization methods to break up the text. No one wants to get lost in one large 600-word paragraph that just keeps droning on.
