Your Resume: Seven Questions Your Resume Needs to Answer So You Get the Job

Your resume is your 20-second commercial on why an employer should hire you. Answer these seven questions to show the employer you can add value to his business or organization.

Writing Your Resume

Make your resume show that you are worth a second look. Give the employer the basic information he needs. Give him reason to want to hire you! The answers to these seven questions can do that.

1. Why should the employer hire you?

1. What are you good at doing?

1. What are three of your recent, relevant accomplishments?

1. What are three of your relevant work experiences that show you can do the job?

1. What qualifies you for this position?

1. What have you been doing the past year?

1. Who are you and how does an employer reach you?

Then, proofread it. Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. Make it easy to read. That's all. If an employer wants to know where you went to high school 40 years ago, he'll ask. If he wants to know every job you've had in the last 30 years, he'll ask. You don't need to include all that info. Really. Don't. Your resume gets a glance. A quick glance. Something has to stand out -- or you get nixed. If there's something compelling, it may get skimmed. If not, it gets stashed in a drawer, lost on a desk pile, or flipped into the trash. Read? It better pull in a potential employer. It better tell the potential employer why you are the one for the job. Really, even before that, that 20-second glance needs to tell the employer there's reason to take a second look. Based on the resumes I've been reading, this may come as a shock: The purpose of your resume is not to tell employers what you want. It's not to stroke your ego. It isn't supposed to be your life history. And, it isn't a place to play up your faults and lack of experience. It is not the place to share your desperation. The answer to question number one, about why the employer should hire you, should address his needs -- not yours. If you are applying for a job that has little or no competition, this is still the resume to use. It skips beating around the bush and gets to the nitty-gritty. When your resume immediately gives the employer the information he needs, it can result in an immediate job offer for working RVers.

Resume Tips for Getting the Interview that Gets the Job

Your resume is your 10-second chance to show that you have what it takes to meet the employer's needs. Use these resume tips to help you get the job interview. And, then, to get the job.

Resume Tips:

List your contact information, including your email address and cell phone number. Do not list your work phone number. I put this first on the list because so many people forget to include even a single means of contact.

Be accurate and truthful. Embellishing and exaggeration can be reasons for not hiring you. Lying on your resume may also be reason to fire you.

Edit your resume down to one or two pages. Use reverse chronological order. Put your current, most up to date information first. Work backward from there, as space permits.

List only relevant education, skills, and experience. Group years of similar experience into one listing.

Stick to simple. Use the same size and type of font throughout your resume. Ornate formatting, using a variety of fonts and font sizes, using colored inks, underlining, bolding, and using italics are distracting. They make your resume look as though you are trying to hide your lack of qualifications behind the fancy façade. Use a consistent format.

Use bullets for concise descriptions. More than two lines each is a paragraph.

List experience before education and employment history. The exception is if you lack relevant experience. Remember that experience includes your life, not just your work.

Keywords count. If posting to an online service, such as our website, using keywords the employers are looking for can help search engines locate your resume for employers.

Write your resume using a plain text word processing program. Using a resume template, and copying and pasting, will likely result in odd formatting that won't get read. When emailing your resume, paste it into the body of the email, unless the employer instructs otherwise.

Double-check your spelling and grammar. A spell check program may help, but it may also turn your "Winnebago" into a "windbag."

Standard resume writing advice says do not include photos. It's been said that photos and resumes are like oil and water -- they don't mix. However, you'll find that campground owners sometimes request photos of you and your RV. If you will be living in your RV on the business premises, asking for a photo of the RV may be justifiable. Providing a photo of yourself may open up discrimination issues.

The purpose of your resume is to help you get the job interview. These resume writing tips can help do that. Once you get the interview, use your personality to get the job.

What is the Campsite Value to Working RVers?

An RV site value isn't necessarily the posted rate. It might be to the IRS. But, there's more to deciding how many hours to work for a site than dividing the cost of the site by an hourly figure. Determining what the campsite is worth, and to whom, can be tricky. Here's help. If you are bartering -- trading your labor for a campsite -- the site has a value for tax purposes. Sources tend to agree that the value of the site is the fair market value. That's often defined as the regular or posted rate the campground owner charges customers for a similar site. It's logical that if you are working by the week -- trading so many hours of work a week for your RV site -- that the site value is what the RV park owner posts as the regular weekly rates. That may or may not be the site's true value to you. The real RV site value to you may be what you would have paid for rent if you didn't have that site. You may have chosen to stay at a much less expensive park. Or, you might have boondocked in the dessert. Or, parked your RV in a friend's driveway. In those instances, the site may have had little or no value to you. You may figure the value of the RV site is the amount you have left in your pocket (or bank account) that you wouldn’t have if you hadn't stayed there. In other words, how much money did you save on RV parking costs by doing the work-for-site trade? But other factors come into play. Take for example a campground in the Florida Keys that charges $3200 per month. That is the actual rate I found posted on a campground's website, when I did a search for "florida keys campground." That is the discounted monthly rate. Many RVers can't afford to pay that much in monthly rate. But, they'd love to spend a few months in the Keys. Working in exchange for a site can be an incredible deal at these high-end parks. You might not consider paying $1000 or $2000 per month for a campsite. But, if you'd like to stay at a particular resort with special amenities, you might be willing to do a work-for-your-site exchange. The trade could let you experience an RVing style that you otherwise wouldn't. That experience could be worth more than what you would have normally paid for a campground. Perhaps working for your campsite allows you to stay in the area where your grandchildren live. RV parks may be in high demand there, with full occupancy. If the RV site is part of your compensation package, you know you have the site for the entire season. And, you may be able to entertain your grandchildren on your days off, having them stay with you at the park, at no extra cost. Maybe you want to experience a state or national park for an extended time. Many of them restrict paying customers to a 10 to 14 day stay. One way to get around that limitation is to do volunteer work for your site. What is it worth to spend an entire season at Yellowstone? The RV site value could be more to you than the posted rate. In situations where working for your site allows you to do something you otherwise couldn't do, there may be no way to assign an exact monetary figure. On the other hand, the RV site value could be less. If you have a self-contained recreational vehicle, you may not need electricity or other utility hook-ups. Paid electricity may be part of the site's stated value. But, if you have a good sized solar system, you may never use the park's shore power. Cable TV may be included. But, if you don't watch television, that doesn't add campsite value to you. It's easy to look at simple formulas, but they don't take each person's needs into account. WiFi at no additional cost is highly valuable to some. If you have unlimited data with your cell phone, you may or may not use the park's WiFi. If you don't use the park's WiFi, that utility doesn't increase the RV site value to you. Another aspect to consider is this: Who benefits when you stay at the campground -- you or the campground owner? Does the job require you to live on site? If you are required to live at the park, the IRS may determine there is no monetary value to you. That technicality may or may not affect your perceived value of the RV site. Only you can determine what a campground site is worth to you. The RV site value may be the weekly, monthly, or seasonal rate the park charges. But, when deciding on how many -- if any -- hours of work you should trade for your site, consider other factors, as well.