A professionally well-crafted resume is a must, whether you are an experienced professional, a business owner, or seeking a volunteer or entry level position. It is your calling card to your specific marketplace. It answers the question of who you are, where you've been and what you can contribute. It summarizes your professional life in a page or two at the very most.

Your resume may take various formats and styles depending on who you're addressing it to. But the major content components remain essentially the same. Whether you include a cover letter or not, this resume must be able to stand on its own, complete and reflective of your personality, experiences and achievements.

In this article, we will focus on the content requirements of resume writing for employers. Slight adjustments can be make to reflect your specific intended audience.

Page Heading

The heading of the resume should contain your name, address and contact information. This is so the reader can identify and reach you instantly.

Title

The title or headline summarizes your professional title and/or your professional statement. It is important that this title be well crafted, as it is the first impression your potential employer will have of you.

Career/Business Objectives

Your objectives should be brief, up to two sentences. It should give your potential employer a good idea of how you wish to move forward in your professional life.

Profile/Summary

A concise profile or a summary should discuss who you are and how your skills and experience best apply to the job you are interested in. It should contain a few well-written sentences that convey what you bring to the table in terms of the specific job. Use this section to attract the employer's attention, but don't go overboard in trying to be creative or cutesy here.

There are three things a well-written summary should address:

• Your experiences and skills as they relate to your desired job

• What you can uniquely bring to the organization

• Your professional goals

Professional Experience and Achievements

Your experience listing should include information on one to five jobs you've held, starting with your current or last job, and listing previous positions in chronological order. Alternatively, you can functionally organize this information by type of job as it relates to your application. This method is often used for professional specialists to highlight their functional expertise.

The listing should include:

• The date range of your employment

• The name of the companies or person(s) you have worked for, and location (full address of employment is not necessary)

• Your title and your main responsibilities, with emphasis on accomplishments applicable to the type of work you are seeking

Educational Background

Your educational background should include:

• College, graduate and post-graduate work

• Any courses or professional certifications that are relevant to your career development

Associations and Achievements

Achievements, volunteer positions, publications and interests should only be listed if they apply to your professional work experience. Some companies don't require this on the resume, but bring it up during the interview.

References

References should be listed if requested. Best practices suggest not to list generic statements about references being available upon request, as this is already understood.

Your resume, should not contain personal information that discloses ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status, age, living situations, or any other personal information that is not directly related to your career. It should be composed in the third person, present tense.

Use Action Keywords

Action words, or power words, are keywords (verbs) that add strength to your descriptions. When you submit your resume to your potential employer:

• Your application will be run through a computer software program, which searches for key terms they are looking for. If your resume contains relevant key words, your resume will be pulled aside for further review.

• A hiring manager or a human resources associate, receiving resumes, will scan through them quickly to pick out these key words.

Be Error Free

Make sure that your resume is error free. Double check your grammar and spelling. A resume containing errors, no matter how minimal, will give your potential employer an impression that you do not pay attention to detail, that you don' t take enough time to double check your work, and that you are a poor communicator.

A great resume will make you stand out from the crowd by showcasing your skills. Think of your resume as your sales pitch. You need to sell yourself in the best possible way. Invest some time and research into developing your resume. It will be well worth it.