When it comes to resume writing, there is a lot of conflicting advice. One area that people can often improve is how they set out their work history. While resume writing does not require you to be a Shakespeare, you do need to follow some simple guidelines if you want to be successful. When including your experience whether it be full time, part time, and internship or other experience, your method of resume writing should be logical. List all of your paid and unpaid work experience that is relevant to the position. You may also include experience that relates indirectly to the job (i.e. experience which helped you to develop leadership, public speaking, organization skills etc).

In your resume writing, you should describe your responsibilities on the job, being specific and using active verbs. You should always put these verbs in the past tense even though you may currently be performing these duties. Think of yourself as an employer who is hiring and 15 qualified applicants come for the position. Each applicant has the same basic educational and work history background. So how do you choose someone? The quality of their resume writing is a start. This can show your ability to communicate ideas in written format. These resume writing skills will be imperative if report writing or other similar skills are needed for the job. Your resume writing, whether accomplished or not as experienced need to show that you contributed more than expected in your past positions. Accomplishments are one thing that can set you apart from others, but your accomplishments must be quantified. Be specific about dates, time frames and outcomes. Regardless of the fact that you may not be the most qualified person for the job, sometimes the quality of your resume writing can determine whether or not you will get an interview.

I was born and raised in a small town in southeast Arkansas with a population of about 700. My parents were share-croppers. It was a hard life. We had no mechanical equipment. All of the power to needed to get the crops to market was provided by two old mules and us. My parents’ mantra to me and my other ten brothers and sisters was: “Get a good education so you can get a good job and make a good living.”

Well I earned a BA degree and joined the Air Force. After I was discharged, I found it difficult to find “good paying” work, however. The jobs I was able to land paid enough to put a roof over my head and allowed me to have a little “fun” but little else. Planning and saving for retirement were not priorities for me at that time.

When I finally began to focus a little on retirement in the late 1970′s, I was fortunate enough to begin carving out a career in the Public Sector as a school district administrator. I secured the services of a financial planner and set up a tax-deferred annuity. I was able to increase my income to six figures and was sailing along toward retirement. And then Life happened!

At age 62, I found myself suddenly thrown out of the district on my ear because the district massively over- spent its budget and had to eliminate nearly four hundred jobs, including mine, to just begin the long process of recovery. What would you do in that or a similar situation? I opted to retire rather than trek all over the country seeking another comparable six figure position. The shocker for me was the realization that even with my tax-deferred annuity that I had poured handsomely into, my total retirement income slid downward by nearly 20%! Obviously, I had not saved enough. I felt terribly. I felt like I had failed.

I later discovered that calculations of retirement income adequacy usually target 75%-8o% of pre-retirement income which is considered by many financial planners as adequate since the income needs of retirees are supposed to be lower than those of workers. The reasoning is households no longer need to save for retirement, taxes are supposedly lower, work- related expenses disappear, and the family size of retirees is generally smaller. Retirees are also expected to consume less (whatever that means). I was at 80% of my pre-retirement income, but that didn’t make me feel any better. All I could think about was I had worked nearly all of my adult life and now that I was retiring, I would have to live on less.

Remember, however, you do not have to live on less in retirement. No matter where you are right now financially, you can build and enjoy a retirement lifestyle that you desire. Peace.