Using a career coach

The New Year is a hot time for job change so I've devoting the first few columns of 2008 to revisiting popular topics such as resume and cover letter writing, referees, interview tips and resignation letters. Today it's resumes. I must confess that with the volume of Ask Kate questions that flood in I don't have the time to be a resume doctor and re-write resumes. That's why I wrote the step-by-step guide; Resume writing - the basics, which you will find in the section "Job hunting advice" on CareerOne.com.au. However, I do look over the resumes I receive and offer tips. So here is one for everyone - I hate the "Career Objective" sections and so do many recruiters and employers. The usual line that runs under that heading goes something like: To use my talents and abilities to do produce outstanding outcomes for my employer. Sorry to sound harsh but it's blah, blah, blah. To ensure the reader keeps reading past your name and contact details use a list of Key Skills that directly addresses what is being sought in a job ad. That would include the key technical skills required to be a secretary, accountant, software developer or whatever plus a couple of the key attributes. For example for a secretary a technical skill would be the level of expertise with particular computer programs such as Advanced PowerPoint and an attribute would be "highly organised". A Career Overview could be used as an alternative. This is a paragraph giving the reader a taste of your technical skills, training and attributes wrapped in two or three sentences. This allows the reader to see in just seconds what you have to offer.