A good resume is more than a list of jobs and duties performed. Generally speaking, a good resume shows employers, as well as recruiters, that you can go beyond what's required of you to make a difference in the organization.

So, how do you create a resume that gets noticed? Let's start with the basics.

1. Contact Information
Unless your situation dictates it (and it most likely never will), you should never volunteer personal information such as age, ethnicity, religion, marital status and physical attributes on your resume. Put your current phone and/or fax number(s), your postal address, and your email address at the top of your resume, and leave it at that.For example:

GORDON C. PARKS
gcparks@anywhere.com
2100 W. James Avenue, Suite B-3 o Cleveland, Ohio 44000
Tel: (216) 555-0000 o Fax: (216) 555-0001 o Cellular: (216) 555-0002

2. Objective
Your objective statement should show employers that you know what you want and you know how to get it. This doesn't mean your objective should read something like, "I want a high-paying job in pharmaceutical sales, and I'm willing to do anything to get it!" (Even though that may be how you're feeling.) Rather, your objective should be targeted, professional, and free of personal pronouns (e.g., "I," "me") and other flowery details. You may even want to consider using a tagline instead of a complete sentence, as in the following example:

"Objective: Seeking a challenging career opportunity where I can utilize my extensive experience, skills and training as a Certified Property Manager with a successful Residential Management background in diverse markets."

Of course, your objective can be longer or shorter than this example. Ultimately it depends on your situation, your level of experience, and your desired position.

3. Summary of Skills
Use the summary statement to emphasize the most important qualities, achievements and abilities you have to offer an employer. Include professional characteristics that could help you later during the interview; for example, "team-oriented," "skilled at problem-solving," "committed to excellence." Then, during the interview, be prepared with anecdotes so you can elaborate on each of these statements. Here's an example:

An example might look like this.

• Hands-on experience in property management, marketing, residential leasing, and problem solving.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and reconciliation skills.
• Proven success in formulating and executing strategic initiatives to enhance profitability and return on investment, including:
  • Revitalizing poorly performing properties
  • Managing tenant relations for maximum retention
  • Coordinating build-outs to reduce build-out time
  • Administering computer systems, policies and procedures for efficient operations
• Multilingual: speak and write English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese fluently

4. Professional Experience
Go back 10-15 years, and list every position you've held in reverse chronological order. Even though age discrimination is illegal, many candidates with substantial experience worry about falling victim to it. So, if you've been in the field for more than 15 years, you can add a section titled "Prior Relevant Experience" and just refer to your additional important jobs without mentioning specific dates. Do not leave out any jobs; there is no better way to lose credibility and the chance for that great job when a hiring manager discovers discrepancies.

If you've held multiple positions within the same company, list every position-you'll want to show that you've progressed. Finally, concentrate on the description of each position-the meat and potatoes of this section-to show that you've gotten results and solved problems within the organization. For example:

     Dec. 2002 – Present
     ABC Properties
     Senior Business Manager/Corporate Sales Trainer

• Responsible for Operation & Supervision of Multi-Site apartment community management in Mixed-Use Development
• Implementation of aggressive Marketing plan to increase & maintain occupancy & NOI growth
• Current year NOI growth at 12% versus 2004
• Lease up of new development including all aspects from pre-leasing to 100% occupancy stabilization
• Sales & Customer Service, Hiring, Training & Team Building for growth & development
• Corporate Training classes for new & existing Team Members
• Budget Preparation, Development & Implementation, Financial reports, Variance reports, Reforecast, Accruals, P&L, AP & AR
• Delinquency maintained under 1%

5. Education
The education area of your resume should include the institution's name and location, along with your degree and the year you obtained it. Beyond that, you can include educational honors, seminars and certifications, and list achievements such as projects, awards, and grade-point averages. (A GPA of 3.0 or above is worth mentioning.)

6. Finishing Up
After you've finished the professional experience and education areas of your resume, you can add additional sections for additional pertinent information, such as professional honors, awards and affiliations.

While you might need to provide your recruiter with professional references, it's not necessary to include these on your resume-after all, if you're in the middle of a career search, it's pretty clear that you've developed some professional relationships along the way. However, if you do add a references section, make sure it says more than "References available upon request." Also, check with your references beforehand to make sure you can include them on your resume. You don't want anyone to be surprised when the recruiter calls.

You may also wish to include professional skills, such as languages spoken and proficiencies with computer software or hardware, in this section. Other possibilities include professional training, appointments and licenses. However, you should never include hobbies (e.g., "I like to read") or list personal interests (e.g., "music, books, art") anywhere on your resume.

7. Tips from our recruiters
Our recruiters have highlighted 10 of the career accomplishments that most interest Property Management employers. It's possible that you've accomplished some of these in your current job-think of how you might include them on your resume. Approach each one from the viewpoint the hiring manager: How can this past accomplishment benefit a potential employer?

1. Increased NOI
2. Increased occupancy rates
3. Maintained low delinquency rate
4. Employee Satisfaction
5. Improved Resident Satisfaction rate
6. Grew portfolio
7. Increased fee income business
8. Reduced operating expenses
9. Increased operating efficiency
10. Effective team building