Writing an Offering Statement for Your Resume

Summary:
An offering statement that says, "this is what I can do for you" helps you focus your job marketing plan on meeting your targeted employer's needs.

Mary Ann, eSight member, offers this recommendation about resume writing:

"Replace the typical 'objective' statement that begins pretty well every resume with an 'offering' statement. The former is 'me' oriented, and the latter is 'employer' oriented. An 'offering' statement is brief, reflecting well-selected accomplishments and skills of the job applicant, using action words. An employer is more interested in what an applicant has to offer than what the applicant's personal objectives are."

Mary Ann's observations coincide with what Nick Corcodilos, the headhunter, maintains. In Put a Free Sample in Your Resume, Nick writes:

"...Go back to your past accomplishments. What skills did you use? Make a list of those skills to help you think about them. How did each accomplishment help your company become more successful or profitable? It doesn't have to be a huge difference that you made, but it has to be a difference that contributed to the bottom line. Now take those skills and ask yourself, 'How would I apply them to solve the problems and meet the challenges of the companies I want to work for?'

"...It takes a lot of work to develop this kind of statement. You have to learn a lot about the company you are pursuing, including exactly what kind of specific help a particular manager needs."

Mary Ann's "offering statement" is what Nick calls a "value offered" statement.

A well-written offering statement is easy and quick to present and pass along to the right decision maker.

Here's an example of an "offering statement" that I developed for myself as an illustration in this particular article:

"I will enhance your company web site's usefulness as a marketing channel by developing it as a gathering place for those within your niche disability audience who seek opportunities to discuss issues which are important to them."

In this example, I'm marketing a service designed to meet a need for a specific person within a particular company -- a service that I can best provide. That person could be the marketing manager of a company which is trying to promote its particular line of adaptive technology for workplace situations through a static web site.

An offering statement is also like a summary statement for a business plan. Like an offering statement, a summary statement in a business plan often succinctly defines what value a proposed project has for potential investors. In an offering statement, you're briefly describing what value (specific benefits) you offer your potential supervisor.

Please note: You can often use your offering statement outside of your resume and portfolio. It can come in hand when you are updating your profile in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking situation.

Bookmark this article to: