Write 10-20 skill statements that prove you can do the job you are targeting in your objective (or at least prove that you can learn how to do the job quickly). Regardless of which resume format you are using; you will attract employers by describing the skills you have that will produce the results they need. Ultimately, the only thing that interests the employer is the results that you can produce. The following bulleted items are illustrations of skill statements that demonstrate quantified and specific results.
• -Launched quarterly evangelistic endeavors using activities such as “Neighbor Night,” which ministered to over 500 neighbors.
• -Restructured lesson plans and developed a parent participation strategy that resulted in a 79% success rate in a reading program for disadvantaged children.
• -Successfully spearheaded a Capitol Funds Campaign to retire mortgages totaling $400k on two buildings within a two-year period.
As you can see, each skill statement starts with a transferable skill name: launched, restructured, and restructured. These words connote action. The skill statement then describes how the transferable skill was used and, most importantly, what result was achieved. Please note that while it is not always possible to quantify results, strive to give at least a subjective description of the results you produced.
To analyze the skills that are going to be most important to focus on, use Indeed.com to research three to five jobs for the job title you are targeting. Identify the skills that are consistent within the job postings. These skills are the ones that you will need to emphasize in your resume. Besides the transferable skills (as noted above), also look for the knowledges a candidate needs and the personal skills (sometimes called “soft skills” such as diligent, hardworking, organized, outgoing, etc.) that the employer wants in the candidate who is hired.
Writing skill statements may take you two or more hours to complete. But keep in mind that the work that you do in writing your skill statements will help you not only to write a good resume, but will also be valuable in interviewing, where it is important that you are able to prove you have the skills that are important to the employer.
- Write a draft of your resume. Once you have written your skill statements, you are ready to begin a resume draft by placing those skills in the chosen format. For a chronological format, your skill statements will go into a section entitled “Work Experience” or “Professional Experience.” For a functional resume, you can also use the title “Professional Experience” or “Relevant Experience. Use past tense for previous activities, experiences or acquired skills. Use present tense to refer to ongoing or current activities.
If you are using a functional format you will also want to have a “Work History” section to provide the names of the companies for which you have worked, where they were located, the job titles you held, and the dates you worked at each company.
- Develop a “Highlights of Qualifications” or “Summary of Qualifications” section to begin your resume. The purpose of this section is to gain the employer’s attention by highlighting some of your key qualifications for the position. This section can include such things as: total number of years of relevant experience; key accomplishments; content skills that you have (for example computer knowledge); and personal skills (such as hardworking, honest, flexible, loyal, etc.). Here are three examples:
OBJECTIVE: Senior Pastor
HIGHLIGHTS OF QUALIFICATIONS
• -15 years’ experience founding and leading churches that are focused on bringing people to Christ, growing members as disciples and showing the love of Jesus to the community and world at large.
• -Excellent written and oral communication skills. Demonstrated ability to prepare and deliver compelling sermons and lessons that help individuals apply God’s Word in practical ways to their lives.
• -Proven organizational, leadership, and interpersonal skills; able to motivate and train staff members to excel in the use of their gifts as servant leaders. leadership, and
• -Strong ability to create compelling visions and goals for church growth and outreach.
• -Faithful, loyal, passionate, empathetic, warm, friendly and sold out to Jesus Christ.
JOB OBJECTIVE: Church Administrative Assistant
HIGHLIGHTS OF QUALIFICATIONS
• -Strong organization and planning skills.
• -Excellent record of dependability and reliability.
• -Effective telephone communication skills.
• -Experienced in the use of computer programs including Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop.
OBJECTIVE: Office Manager or Program Manager
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
• -Ten years of administrative and management experience. Responsibilities have included human resource functions such as training, hiring/firing, and employee supervision/evaluation; facilities management; scheduling, time cards, payroll; accounts receivable and accounts payable; purchasing and inventory control.
• -Fast learner, detail-oriented, able to prioritize effectively with little or no supervision. Enjoy working in busy environment with multiple task demands.
• -Creative and flexible in organizing and planning. Excellent monitoring and follow-up skills.
• -Strong people skills; highly effective in promoting a positive, productive work environment. Reputation for work excellence and high-quality service to customers/clients.
• -Computer skills include Microsoft Office; Quattro Pro; ACT; Staff Trak.
- Place your name, address, phone, e-mail and LinkedIn (with a customized URL) at the top of your resume. Use a phone number where you can be reached or where a message can be left. An employer may not call a second time. Keep the message on your voicemail brief and professional. Use a professional email address such as firstname.lastname@yahoo.com. If you currently only have a more casual email address such as soccermom@gmail.com, create a new email account for your job search. If you have a customized LinkedIn URL you can also include this beneath your email address.
- Place your educational information strategically. Generally, your education should be first under your “Highlights of Qualifications” section only if it is your most important qualification to date for the job for which you are applying or if possession of a requisite degree (or degrees) is a requirement for your job target. However, as your education recedes in time, it also recedes as a factor in your current qualifications.
In reverse chronological order, list the institutions you attended, their locations and dates of attendance or graduation. (If it has been more than 10 years since you received your last degree, you may not want to list dates.) It is not necessary for a college graduate to indicate the high school attended, unless there is some aspect of that experience that particularly supports your objective. Include degrees received, academic major(s) and/or areas of concentration. Job applicants with limited work experience may also want to mention such things as special academic honors, student activities, certificates, etc.
- Include other information only if it is relevant to your job target. Other factors that can be included are professional memberships, publications, special honors, qualifying licenses, interests, civic activities, etc. Remember, however, that you only want to include information that helps prove you can do the job. The resume is not a forum for telling your life story.
- When editing your resume, remember the following: there is no perfect format so choose the one that best represents you for your specific job target; there should be a reason for everything you include; after your objective, organize information in descending order of importance; use correct spelling (have someone proofread your final copy even if you are a good speller); do not abbreviate; avoid jargon, and, as a general rule, limit your resume to one or two pages.
- Make your resume visually appealing. Highlight key information by using boldfaced type or CAPITALIZING or underlining it. Bullets (large dots) are effective in drawing the employer’s attention and eye to competencies, accomplishments and/ or achievements. Use white space for eye appeal and easy reading.
- Check your resume for ATS Do’s and Don’ts. While you want your resume to look good, you also need to be aware of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). These days your resume may automatically land in the employer’s ATS. Your resume then has information scanned, “parsed” or pull out by the ATS. It then produces a digital candidate profile where the church staffing committee or recruiter can search the ATS by keyword and get a list of resumes that best match the qualification that the employer is seeking.
There are specific things you can do to help ensure that the ATS places your resume into the “yes” pile for the church staffing committee or recruiter as they search for the right candidates to interview.
• -Avoid abbreviations. Most ATSs aren’t programmed to recognize abbreviations like MDiv or DDiv. Instead, you will want to spell out abbreviations and then use the common acronym in parentheses. For example (MDiv) Master of Divinity.
• -Do not use lines, multiple columns or tables in your resume. While some ATSs can read lines and tables, there are others that can’t, so it is better to play it safe.
• -Avoid stars, diamonds, and check-boxes; instead, use standard bullets. (In Microsoft Word, the bullet options are found in the “Paragraph” section of the ribbon.) Standard bullets can actually help the ATS to read the information in your resume.
• -Use standard fonts like Arial, Cambria, Calibri, Verdana and Times New Roman. Your resume is not the place to use fancy fonts.
• -Check your grammar and spelling. Of course, you want to do this regardless, but it is important to know that an ATS will recognize spelling and grammar mistakes. Use the Word document spell and grammar check, but also carefully read your resume at least twice for mistakes.
- Get feedback from the right people. It is tempting to ask several people you know to give you feedback on your resume. In reality, this can confuse you and lead to an ineffective resume. There are really only three people that you should ask to review your resume: One, someone who knows how applicant tracking systems work. Two, someone who is a grammar and spelling expert. And three, a certified career counselor/resume expert who reviews and writes resumes for clients.
- Custom tailor your resume in 5 minutes or less for the jobs for which you are applying. A one size fits all resume will not be successful in landing you interviews. So, how do you custom tailor your resume? The best place to start is by analyzing the job description. Identify the transferable skills along with the content skills (knowledges) and personal skills (soft skills) that the church or ministry is seeking. Next, in your summary of qualifications, make changes so that your resume reflects that skills and knowledges that the church is seeking. A tool that you can use online for this analysis is jobscan.co.
- Are you feeling stuck writing your resume? Do you want to maximize the effectiveness of your resume for producing interviews? Consider hiring a career counselor to critique your resume or build a professional resume for you. Learn more and schedule a career services consultation.