For some job opening, employers receive hundreds and even 
thousands of resumes. When you are looking for a job, how can 
you best promote yourself?  How can you convince a prospective 
employer to pick-up the phone and call you for an interview?  

Sought-after career coach and author of the critically-acclaimed 
book, The Dark Before the Dawn: 70 Secrets to Self-discovery, 
Theresa Castro states that you should take into consideration 
that your resume is the first exposure a potential employer will 
have of you.  Given this, you shouldn’t take your resume lightly. 
Castro offers a list of ten tips that will assist you in creating 
a winning resume and increasing your chances of getting called 
for an interview.


1. Do address employment gaps briefly in the cover letter only 
if the gaps are a significant amount of time such as maternity 
leave. Use a functional resume to address gaps in employment or 
changes in field of interest.

2. Think from the perspective of your future employer.  What’s 
in it for them?  Why should this company call you?  Keep in mind 
that your resume is not the only resume that will be considered.

3. Recognize that your resume is your “sales person”.  This 
“sales person” must convince the prospective employer to pick 
up the phone and schedule an interview with you. If your “sales 
person” isn’t convincing enough then guess what … there won’t be 
any phone calls.  Thus, take the time to make your resume sell, 
sell, sell...yourself.

4. Ask a friend or co-worker about your accomplishments.  Some 
times, we don’t readily recognize or recall the many things that 
we have done.  

5. Make certain that your contact information is correct.  It 
would dreadful to think that an employer wanted to reach you but 
you mistakenly listed the wrong information.

6. Take advantage of internet technology and place your resume on 
various websites.  There are numerous websites such as Monster, 
Career Builder and HotJobs that allow you to find a job based on 
your particular interests.  In addition, there are websites that 
will list jobs that are specific to a particular industry. For 
example, Medzilla is a website that has job listings exclusively 
for the medical industry.

7. Demonstrate the key traits in your resume: leadership, 
communication, teamwork, decision making and problem solving. 
For leadership, how are you an innovator?  For communication, 
are you approachable?  Are you open-minded? Can you communicate 
effectively orally? In a written format?  In regard to teamwork, 
can you work with others? What examples of teamwork could you 
illustrate from the past?  As far as decision making is 
concerned, what have you done to play into the success of the 
companies for whom you have worked?  In regard to problem 
solving, when have you seen the big picture and created a 
change that had a positive and quantifiable outcome?

8. Each job listing has a particular list of required 
experiences.  If you possess these experiences, then make sure 
that you express this in your resume.  You can’t make any 
assumptions about what the potential employer knows about 
you or your work history.

9. Read your resume out loud.  By doing this, you will find 
missing words, grammatical errors or content that just doesn’t 
make sense.

10. Have at least three friends review your resume.  You are 
utilizing their assistance to ensure that you haven’t missed 
something or made an easy to fix mistake. 

(c) 2005, Theresa Castro

Theresa Castro, MBA is an executive career
coach and author of The Dark Before the
Dawn: 70 Secrets to Self-discovery.  Go
to http://www.DiscoverYourDreamJob.com 
to sign-up for a free 3 day mini-course.