Focus, Focus, Focus...

Imagine your career path has taken you down a road that has involved the following positions: a cosmetologist, beautician, childcare assistant, and retail sales assistant, and you are targeting a role as merchandising manager. Some of the positions listed are totally irrelevant to your career goal and by listing all of the above without any focus or structure or relevance you will confuse the reader. Listing unrelated experience would only result in the reader bypassing your document, as you will need to reveal where your true expertise and potential lies and how you can directly contribute to the ongoing success of the business within the advertised role.

Your current role as retail sales assistant would have many transferable skills that would certainly be relevant to the marketing manager position. Ensure your job scope and accountabilities identify these, as well as pertinent achievements.

I would also recommend exploring your previous positions to see if you can identify various important skills relevant to the competencies required to perform the task of merchandising manager. Even though the positions themselves are not directly related, you may be able to pinpoint appropriate responsibilities and accomplishments that can add credibility to your submission. Relevant transferable skills that could be evidenced in your previous role may include:

~ Customer service relationship techniques to secure customer satisfaction, retention and repeat business, while also maintaining and growing client base.
~ Developing innovative product displays to capture customer attention and increase sales.
~ Monitoring, procuring and negotiating competitive pricing with vendors to minimize expenditure.
~ Staff recruitment, training and ongoing supervision.
~ Managing a shop-front.
~ Implementing innovative sales and marketing initiatives.
~ Performing market research to evaluate customer likes and dislikes as well as assessing your competitors.

Perhaps you have a number of achievements that you are truly proud of that you wish to include in your resume as well. Having achieved awards for three consecutive years in your local community Backgammon Club, hardly justifies you for that position as merchandising manager; nor will the certification in Ballroom Dancing validate your application for this role either. Those items may certainly seem like great achievements to you on a personal level, but think about it: will they really make an impact on the decision-maker? Will they really make you stand out as a top candidate? Remember to include only accomplishments or professional development courses directly related to the position. Continue to ask yourself; is it relevant? How

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