This section offers guidance on how to write an effective resume.

Contact Information

The most important thing about a resume is to have your contact information available to the recruiter or hiring authority.

Place on the top of your resume the following information:

Name, address, phone number and email address.

Many automated resume tracking systems look for that information on the top of the resume.

Please make sure that you have a professional message on your answering machine.

While it is cute to have a funny message, it is more important that you sound professional.

Do not include personal information on your resume.

Objective

Including an objective may limit your chances of obtaining an interview because if your objective doesn't match the recruiter's needs at the time, you may miss out on a golden opportunity.

On the flip side, a career objective is useful in communicating that you are proactively managing your career. If a hiring authority is looking for someone exactly like you, you will have a better chance of being called on.

We suggest taking a broad approach:

Instead of writing a sentence like "Seeking a career opportunity as a loan underwriter...", try a simple title after your contact info, simply write " Loan Underwriter".

Summary statement

This is a mere summary. It should not be longer than 2-3 sentences.

Include your title and years of experience.

List special skills.

Talk about your work habits and style.

Example:

Loan Processor with over 10 years' experience with direct lender. Skills include dealing with customers, pre-underwriting and some funding skills. Bilingual in Spanish and English. Self-starter who approaches every project in a detailed, analytical manner.

Professional experience

List positions held for that past 10 years in reverse chronological order.

If you held more than one position within the same company, be sure to list all of them. This allows the hiring authority to see how you progressed.

The most important part is to Concentrate on the description of the position.

The description of the position should have two parts:

your responsibilities

your accomplishments

Responsibility-Accomplishment-Benefit

Use this format to organize your skills and sell your accomplishments to a hiring authority.

Responsibility:

The actual responsibilities.

Accomplishment:

The performance of responsibilities.

Benefit:

How your performance affected your employer.

Example: Loan Processor

Responsibilities: Processed loans from start to finish.

Accomplishment: Organized the loan processing dept according to the lenders' organizational structure to become transparent in the process.

Benefit: Increased funding by 50%.

Situation-Solution-Outcome

Consider this format to demonstrate your problem-solving capabilities:

Situation:

What situation was your company facing?

Solution:

What did you do to solve the problem?

Outcome:

What was the outcome?

Example: Senior Underwriter

Situation: Company wanted to grow FHA and VA loan business

Solution: Became a DE underwriter and implimented the plan

Outcome: Increased revenues in excess of $50 million

SSO Statement: Company wanted to grow non-government sector business. Implimented DE underwriting guidelines and increased revenue in excess of $100 million.

Miscellaneous Components

Below is a list of accomplishments that most interest employers.

Use them in your resume:

Increased revenues

Saved money

Increased efficiencies

Cut overhead

Improved sales

Improved workplace safety

Streamlined Purchasing

New products/new lines

Improved record keeping process

Improved productivity

Successful advertising campaign

Effective budgeting

Other Components

A good resume may also include the following components:

Education,

Professional training,

Affiliations/Appointments Licenses,

Technical skills and

Languages.

State in your resume how these items can benefit the company.