Resume Word Check: Focused

Photo by zieck

It’s been a very busy week here with new resume clients and new projects but I thought I would take a moment and return to our series on resume words.

We covered Accountable on Monday, determining:

In a job search, accountability is critical.

You need to develop goals for your search, have your resume ready, and be prepared with a great cover letter. But if you just keep filling out online applications without any additional action on your part and expect people to call you, you will be disappointed. You need to handle an obstacles that keep you from interacting with the outside world and get out there.

Then on Tuesday, we talked about Analytical:

My conclusion, analytical is a good word to describe the problem-solving that many of us do in many different ways in many different professions. As you consider whether you are analytical, you can think of examples to use in your resume, in your interviews, and in landing your next role!

Today I thought we would take a quick look at one of the words Melissa Cooley uses in her projects and coaching as The Job Quest: Focused. I was talking to a new client yesterday and mentioned that we would discuss the word focused and his comment was: “That’s what I need!”

Many job seekers either start out a job search without focus or they fall into it as they use an untargeted resume to try to get the “ANY” job. Unfortunately, when we start a job search without focus, it takes twice as long to land a position as it would when you zoom in on your target. The picture is fuzzy, the employer doesn’t know what you are looking for or how you match their qualifications. Melissa tackles this in her post, Just say no to Spray and Pray!

Let’s see how focused was integrated in the resumes and cover letters of some of my clients:

• Community-focused, “every unit I managed has eventually ‘owned’ the town through donations, baskets, and fundraisers.”
• Orchestrated curriculum implementation, focusing on scope and sequence.
• This position is an extensively focused relationship building role in which I communicate with taxpayers, answer their questions, assist them with finding resources, and resolve their differences with each other and the government.
• Genuine, client-focused professional, with extensive account management experience in the relocation services industry.
• Practical, outcome-focused individual with an extensive background in quality control and delivery of customized products to end users.
• Selected as a facilitator to lead orientation groups of transfer students through 90 minute sessions focused on strengthening their sense of community by encouraging respectful dialogue and increasing awareness of individual differences, different cultures and different backgrounds.
• Compassionate, patient-focused newly-licensed Radiology Technologist, with three years of direct patient contact as a CT | Radiology Technologist Assistant in a hospital setting.

Focus seems even more important to my clients than analytical was with 1633 documents with the word focus in my resume storage files.

Do you need focus in your job search? Do you have focus in your career now? And do you focus on how to help others in their careers, remember as Melissa says:

Whether you are meeting new people or connecting with existing members of your network, you should be developing a rapport with them, finding out what matters to them and how you can add value to their lives with your unique skills. Don’t keep all the focus on you and your needs!

Any suggestions for another word to examine?