- Targeted
- Employers want to know exactly what you can do for them.
Whenever possible, target each résumé to each job. Vague and
general résumés that cover many possible job options will
not get noticed. While you may qualify for several different
positions, it's better to create a different résumé for each
job and incorporate only the information pertinent to that job
description. This will alleviate the tendency to crowd your
résumé with too much non-related information.
-
- Consistent
- This is
important when sending a paper version of your résumé to
employers. The look your résumé should be eye catching, not
distracting. Be consistent with spacing and margins, allow for
lots of white space and borders, and emphasize your important
points with font and text styles such as italics, capitals,
underlining, boldface, indentation, and bullets.
-
- Well Written
- Descriptive action verbs-such as established, implemented,
created, and steamlined-add power to your sentences. It is
crucial to start each sentence with an action verb (refer to
the list of action verbs in this toolkit).
-
- Concise
- Employers scan
résumés and decide in less than 30 seconds if they want to
look more closely at what you offer. Edit with care and delete
information that isn't relevant. If you are submitting a paper
version, one page résumés work best.
-
- Summarized Qualifications
- This is one of the most important parts of your résumé. The
"Job Objective" or "Summary of
Qualifications" section powerfully illustrates your top
selling points. Most job seekers exclude this information, but
this is an ideal way to get notice-fast. This is a section of
the America's Job Bank Résumé Builder.
- Self-Promoting
- Make
sure to show your accomplishments, skills and abilities.
Employers want to see proof you can do the job. Be sure to
demonstrate the results of your experience and how others
benefited from these results. You can effectively achieve this
by including evidence of your productivity by noting any cost
or time savings, and mentioning innovations, changes, or
actions that show you produced results.
-
- Accurate
- List your
skills, qualifications and experiences in as positive a manner
as possible-but do not exaggerate or misstate the truth. Be
sure your job responsibilities are adequately describe by your
job title, and indicate the true level of your abilities.
Exaggerating your skills will not do you any good!
-
- Abbreviation Free
- Avoid
abbreviated words on your résumé. It looks sloppy and many
abbreviations are not universally accepted.
-
- No Personal Stuff
- Including any personal data, such as age or height, is seen as
unprofessional. Employers must be careful not to violate any
discrimination laws, and most organizations prefer that you
don't include it.
-
- Grammatically Correct
- Do not trust your computer's spell check. Read every word and
have someone else read your résumé as well. This is the
single most important thing you can do once you have written
your résumé. Mistakes of any kind are extremely annoying to
employers and also the fastest way to get your résumé into
the reject pile. Spelling mistakes and typos suggest the poor
quality of work the can expect from you.
-
- Good Paper
- If you are
submitting a paper version of your résumé, use a computer
and print it on a laser printer to give it a sharp,
professional look. Conservative white, off white, light tan,
or light gray are generally acceptable colors. The darker the
color, the more difficult it is to read. Dark or creative
colors are acceptable only for artistic résumés,
particularly for candidates in graphic design areas. In this
case, the résumé becomes a vehicle for illustrating the
candidate's talent. Never send out a résumé that is
obviously a photocopy.
|
