How does an employer come to the conclusion that an individual is worth his or her time?
The basic tool (if that is what it can be referred to as) that a hiring manager uses is the skills gauge.
What is that exactly?
Well, while a skills gauge isn’t an actual gauge, it is a measurement of how skilled an individual is, and how much he or she will be able to contribute to an organization.
Usually, it is the skills and not the experience part of a resume that impresses a hiring manager into calling an individual over for an interview.
As a bookselling professional, it is your duty to get it across to a hiring manager that you are worth every penny that he or she is going to spend on you. Putting all this in a resume is the easiest thing, especially if you concentrate more on your skills than anything else.
So, what type of skills will come into play where resume writing is concerned?
Unfortunately, there is no one correct answer to this. Your skills are dependent on the type of job that you have to undertake. The skills that you outline in your resume should be the ones that are most useful to the hiring manager.
The following list of skills particular to a bookseller position should give you an idea:
Sample Skills for Bookseller Resume
• Proficient in engaging customers in conversation to determine their specific reading requirements.
• Deep insight into the backgrounds and publications of popular contemporary and old-times writers.
• Highly skilled in offering advice and recommending books to customers, based on their individual interests.
• Talented in maintaining updated knowledge of current titles and their authors.
• Proven ability to deal with mail orders and book reservations, using the store’s database/ordering systems.
• Well-versed in researching book release dates and providing customers with updated information on re-releases and special editions.
• Competent at assisting customers in locating books within the store, and suggesting additional books and resources as part of an ongoing verbal marketing plan.
• Uniquely qualified to perform stock checking duties and handle books and resource materials inventory
• Proficient in creating and maintaining effective liaisons with schools and local libraries to determine available reading materials and ensure the implementation of a procurement schedule.
• Adept at creating window displays by aesthetically arranging books and reading materials.
• Skilled in operating cash registers and tills to process credit card and cash payments, and tendering accurate receipts and change.