When I worked at an employment resource center, I referred clients to this book almost every day. It's well organized and full of good resume examples that provide plenty of ideas for resume layout and content. It is one thing to understand, in theory, how to write a resume, but it's also extremely helpful to have several good resume samples on hand to give you inspiration for your own resume; you'll find that in this book.
I have found that often people really struggle to describe their skills and professional accomplishments when they are writing resumes. Either people minimize their skills and don't give themselves full credit for all of the experience they have acquired; they have done a job for so long, they have trouble thinking through all of the skills that just come naturally at this point; or they just have never taken the time to sit down and think through all of their marketable skills.
Whatever the reason, if you haven't written a lot of resumes, it can be challenging to remember all of the skills, and experience you have that can be used to write a "Damn Good Resume." The resume examples in Yana Parker's book can be used to provide plenty of inspiration for your own resume.
The Resume Catalog – 200 Damn Good Examples will provide you with good resume samples if you are looking for work in management, human resources, office administration, education, sales, finance, counseling, health or marketing. There is a section with technical and computer related resume examples, however, high tech industries have changed so profoundly in the past few years, I'd recommend using a very current, specialized resource for technical resume examples.
If your career goals don't fit within the list above, you can check out another book by Yana Parker, Blue Collar and Beyond – Resumes for Skilled Trades and Services. This book is also a great resource that I used with clients on a regular basis. It provides great resume samples, but in this book you'll find examples of resumes for people who work in the automotive industry, construction and maintenance, customer service, hotel, restaurant and food service, administrative positions, skilled trades and manufacturing.
These two books, The Resume Catalog – 200 Damn Good Examples and Blue Collar and Beyond – Resumes for Skilled Trades and Services are wonderful because they help you get down to resume writing quickly. You won't have to read endless pages to get the information you need. The resume examples quickly illustrate exactly what you need to know to get inspiration for your own resumes.
You can find great deals on these books at Half.com.
The Resume Catalog – 200 Damn Good Examples
Blue Collar & Beyond – Resumes for Skilled Trades and Services
