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Ten Suggestions On Creating a Quality Resume
Resumes are a necessity for almost every job on the planet -- accountant, teacher, CEO or municipal employee. But unless you carefully and objectively examine your resume before sending it out, recycling bins across America may be filling up with those ill-planned documents.
Before mailing your next resume, please consider the following suggestions below:
1. Appearances Count - Print your resume on quality stock paper. Check for typos, grammatical errors and coffee stains. Use the spellchecker feature on your word processor and ask a friend to review the resume to find mistakes you might have missed.
2. Does Size Matter? - If your career warrants a two-page resume, then go ahead and create a document that reflects the full range of your experience and accomplishments. It is not a good idea to reduce the type size to such a degree that your resume becomes difficult to read.
3. Truth or Consequences - Be accurate with dates or titles on your resume and do not hide the fact that you have been unemployed, that you switched jobs too frequently or that you held low-level positions. If a prospective employer conducts a background check and discovers that your resume is inaccurate, you can kiss the job good-bye.
4. State Your Case - If you are seeking a job in a field in which you have no prior experience, don't use the chronological format for your resume. By using a functional or skills-oriented format, you can present your relevant experience and skills up front.
5. Put Your Best Foot Forward - You must do more than simply copy the job description jargon from your company's HR manual. To show that you are more qualified than the competition for the positions you are seeking, you need to do more than simply list your job responsibilities. Present specific accomplishments and achievements: percentages increased, accounts expanded, awards won, etc.
6. No Excuses - It is inapposite to include the reasons you are no longer working at each job listed on your resume. The phrases "Company sold," "Boss was an idiot" and "Left to make more money" have no place on your resume.
7. What Have You Done Lately? - Hiring managers are most interested in your experience from the last 10 years, so focus on your most recent and most relevant career experience.
8. Target Your Audience - Apply only for those positions that fit your qualifications. Read about the opening and determine if you have the right credentials and save the wear and tear on your printer.
9. No Extra Papers, Please - When you send out your resume, include copies of transcripts, letters of recommendation or awards, only if you are specifically asked to do so. If you are called in for an interview, you may bring these extra materials along in your briefcase for show-and-tell.
10. Don't Get Personal - Personal information does not belong on a resume in the United States. Information on your marital status, age, race, family or hobbies should not be included.
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