This advisory article was prepared specifically for Japanese candidates seeking employment where the hiring personnel are American. However, the information may be useful to anyone preparing a resume.

Hiring personnel and interviewers need to know if you're the right person for the job. And they need to know fast. You can help them decide by including a Qualifications Summary on the first page of your resume.

Step 1:  Prepare a list of qualifications and skills

If you don’t have a comprehensive list of your qualifications, it’s time to create one. First, list each and every work-related skill and all the skills you have that may be valuable to potential employers. Don’t worry about form during this first step. Just get the ideas down. If you’re having trouble, ask a trusted colleague what they see as your strong points. Ask instructors and supervisors. Take a look at your job performance evaluations. Don’t forget skills you may have learned from part-time jobs and volunteer work.

When you have recorded every possible credential you can think of, it’s time to refine the list. Combine ideas where possible. To help eliminate repeats, organize the qualifications under headings like communications, management, technical, sales or computer. The headings you choose to help group your qualifications will depend on your experience and your field.

After you’ve completed refining and revising your list, you’re ready to prepare a qualifications summary. This section immediately follows your name and contact information on the resume. Several short bullet points, specific and targeted, will do the job.

Sometimes you prepare a resume to take to an interview or in response to a job advertisement. Then, it's easy to prepare a qualifications summary.

1. Review the identified job requirements.
2. Consider the job responsibilities and identify the skills required to perform them successfully.
3. Examine your list of qualifications.
4. Choose between five and seven qualifications that best match the job requirements and the skills needed to perform successfully on the job.
5. List the chosen qualifications in your summary concisely and clearly.

Your goal is to inform the reader as quickly as possible that you have the qualifications for the job and that your resume warrants further attention.

Here's an example: An Italy-based acoustic device supplier needed a product engineer for its Japan office. The hiring manager worked out of the company's Chicago office. The most important job requirements were:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering or equivalent work experience.
• One to two years related automotive experience.
• CAD knowledge and experience (CATIA, IDEAL).
• Self-directed in completing assignments in a dynamic environment.
• Working knowledge of basic electrical circuitry.
• English and Japanese language skills.

Looking at the job advertisement, we found the following responsibilities:

• Act as liaison between company and customer . . .
• Work with customers to facilitate . . .
• Project a positive and pro-active image to the customer.
• Visit customer plant(s) to ensure . . .

There were more, but almost every responsibility contained the word customer. Now, we had three items:

1. The identified job requirements.
2. The skills we discovered from the responsibilities.
3. Our candidate's qualifications.

Following is the Qualifications and Skills Summary that helped WIN's candidate land the job.

• Well developed customer relations skills
• Automotive industry experience
• Engineering education and additional coursework
• Certified CAD Operator; Auto-CAD, CATIA
• English language certificate
• Native Japanese language skills

Step 3:  Preparing a Qualifications Summary for an Ideal Job or Company

Preparing a qualifications summary for a more general target is possible; it just requires a little more work. Read ads for jobs that are similar to your ideal job. Read ads for your ideal job in geographic locations other than your own. Make a list of the most critical requirements and the skills needed to successfully perform the job. Then prepare your qualifications summary showing that you meet as many of those requirements as possible.

You might want to work for a specific company. Go to that company’s web site. If they have a career section, check out the jobs. Note the qualities they look for in their employees. Look at requirements for jobs similar to your ideal job. If the company philosophy states that they value teamwork and customer service, make sure at least one of your qualifications includes your experience or knowledge in those areas.

When you’re finished with your qualifications summary, put yourself in the place of the hiring manager. Look at your qualifications summary and ask yourself the following questions.

1. Does this candidate have the qualifications to perform this job?
2. Was it easy to find the credentials?
3. Do I want to learn more about this candidate?

If you can truthfully answer yes, then you have a good qualifications summary. If not, refine the summary until you can answer yes to the questions.

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