How to write a good resume

 Your resume has about 5 seconds to gain the attention of the reader.  You are one of many potential candidates reviewed by the employer or recruiter daily.  There are several things that you can do to improve your chances of being noticed and consequently interviewed, and hired.

At the top of your resume, after the contact data, start with career accomplishments.  Add numbers to support your success such as total units sold, bottom line growth, same store sales improvements, anything that gives financial credence to your work. Tell them what you accomplished with the opportunities you had in previous jobs.  Growth is vitally important to all franchisors. Leadership is what they want to hire.  

Forget about the word responsible.  Everyone is responsible on a resume.  Talk about accomplishments.  You should tailor your resume to reflect the skills that are required for the job you are seeking.  Tell the potential employer what they want to hear about your success.  Connect your life work with what they are looking for.  Give them a reason to meet you, to end their search and get back to business.

In describing your accomplishments, use action verbs, such as sold, increased, led, created, planned, designed, and improved.  franchisors want to see action.  What can you do for them the day you walk in the door? 

Management wants to hire people that are result oriented.  Stay away from job responsibility narratives on your resume, and highlight results, with increased sales, cost reductions, time saved.  Remember, nobody wants to read a job description on a resume. 

Make yourself stand out from the crowd.  Show, and explain where you made a positive difference for a franchise system.  Talk about strategies you developed.  Be specific.  Did you exceed systems plans?  Do franchisees follow your directions?  Can you draw up a successful strategy and pull the trigger? 

When you talk about skills, be certain to define them.  If management skills are involved, list how many people you supervised, did you train them, what were the results. Constantly update your resume so that it reflects the market place.  This information makes it easier for a franchisor to hire you.  Make them pick up the phone today!

Once you have the franchisor’s attention, and an interview is scheduled (phone or in person), never talk about your problems, family issues, economic pressures, what you need, or why your current franchisor is experiencing troubled times.    The franchisors are not interested, and many consider this to be a fault.  They want to know what you can do to alleviate the problems they are experiencing.  If you bring your baggage to the interview, you most likely will not get on board.  Always complete a full background analysis on the company, and carefully review the information provided by the recruiter, or hiring officer prior to interviews.  Solicit plenty of questions.  Remember to ask for the job during the interview, if you want to land it.