Matthew Warzel Featured in a Finance of America Article!

For those looking to reenter the workforce after some time in retirement, putting together a resume can sometimes seem daunting. How much experience do you show? How do you make your resume shine in a 20-something recruiter’s eyes when your work history is longer than their life history? What do you even say to explain why you want to return to work?

These resume tips for retirees from employment experts will help you attract a recruiter’s attention and put your valuable experience front and center.

My take:

Tips for Writing an Effective Resume

To write an effective resume, you need to understand that submission will first be reviewed by an applicant tracking system. Even some of the smallest companies use applicant tracking systems that scan resumes for keywords and phrases. Be cognizant of that when writing your resume.

Where do you find those special words and phrases? Right in the job posting. “The key to standing out among the competition,” says Matthew Warzel, president of the resume-writing firm MJW Careers LLC, is to have optimized keywords, quantifiable content, and a format or layout that adheres to ATS mandates.” And make sure the layout is logical. It should look like:

• Contact information with no physical address. Just name, email, phone, city, state.
• Summary section that emphasizes key skills, buzzwords, key contributions. Three to five sentences in one paragraph that captures the best of what you have to offer. (Your elevator pitch).
• Accomplishments section where you briefly mention specific accomplishments, e.g., increased sales by 20% in 10 months using XYZ method.
• Key skills section that lists your technical aptitude.
• Experience section where you can emphasize transferrable skills.
• Previous work history section where you can list jobs prior to 2010. Just list the job title, company, and location. No dates.
• Education with no graduation date, only degrees or certifications earned, city, and state.
• Professional certifications section, again, no dates. Just certifying body and certificate earned.
• Professional affiliations.
• Volunteerism section. This not only shows your community spirit, which is important in today’s recruiting world but also gives you a place to show other transferrable skills learned.