Constructing a resume is one of the most difficult pieces of writing we do. How do we get started and figure out how to sum up our entire working history on one or two pages?
In a prior post we discussed how to research for the ideal job. In this post, we will review how to write your resume to get you the interview.
These 26 tips will give you the edge over other job applicants.
- Your contact information must be easily found at the top of your resume. Use a professional email address such as your name or your name and numbers, not luvthebeach@hotmail.com.
- In the past, your physical address was the most common way to contact you. However, today hiring managers will call or use email to reach you. Your resume can include your city and state, though street address is no longer required.
- Following your contact information is a short list of skills that corresponds to the employer’s job description. Two or three bullet points or sentences will boil down how you fit into the position. List your most important skills that match the job posting, as these points will catch the hiring manager’s interest.
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Always, always refer to the job posting when writing your resume. Match the key words and skills from the posting with your experience.
- Do not include a photo of yourself unless the job posting asks for one – you can give a link to your LinkedIn profile instead. Just remember to have a professional photo on your LinkedIn page, not one of your and your friends drinking on the beach. You may think adding a photo gives you an edge, but it could also lead to discrimination. Be judged on your skills and experience, not your haircut.
- Resumes are written in several different formats.
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- Chronological Resume – The Chronological resume leads off with your job history, beginning with your most recent position and listing remaining positions from least current. After your job history comes your education. As a new graduate, you can also lead off with your education and then list your job history, most recent first.
- Functional Resume – The Functional resume focuses on your skills and experience. This type of format is preferred if you are changing careers, you have a break in your job history, or you have several short-term jobs.
- Combination Resume – The Combination resume is the most common resume format. It begins with your skills and experience, your education, and then moving on to your employment history.
- Conduct thorough research on the company before you write your resume.
- Know the company’s mission statement and values and incorporate them into your resume.
- Thoroughly read through the company’s website and their About Us page for their mission statement.
- Look on LinkedIn for current employees; what skills do they possess, what type of person are they hiring?
- Tailor your work experience to match the job posting and information on the company’s About Us page.
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Showcase real examples of your successes in your job descriptions. Use showing verbs in your bullets such as advises, established, oversees, improved, trained, directed, etc.
- Use the correct tense throughout your resume
- If you still work at your current position, write in present tense.
- If you worked at a position in the past, write in the past tense.
- When working on the section for your education, include the name of the institution (no abbreviations for the school name such as UCLA for University of California, Los Angeles), your degree, major/minor, and your month and date of graduation. If you have not graduated, you can list an expected graduation date. Skip adding your high school education unless you have just graduated high school.
- Avoid adding “filler” information to your resume. If you have extra space at the bottom of your resume, don’t add skills such as basic computer knowledge and certainly don’t add hobbies, social or religious affiliations, and the infamous, “References Available Upon Request.” Adjust the margins, change the font or font size, or rewrite your information to fit into one or at most, two pages.
- You do want to keep a good amount of white space around your resume to not overwhelm the reader.
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Don’t lie or embellish on your resume – 96% of organizations will perform some type of background check on you either before or after an interview.
- Save your resume as your name plus the position you are applying for – ie: johnsmith – office manager.
- Stick with the standard fonts of Ariel, Times New Roman, Calibri, Georgia, or Garamond in 10, 11, or 12 font size. Fancy fonts are hard to read and may not transfer well when opened on another computer.
- Keep your format consistent throughout your resume. Match fonts, match indentation, match bullets – it shows you have attention to detail.
- If you mail your resume, print it on pure white paper, A4/80 gsm. A4 being the standard size of paper, 8.27″ by 11.7″, and 80 gsm (grams per square meter) refers to the quality of paper you should use. In other words, don’t use paper that is really lightweight, really heavy, or larger or smaller than the standard piece of typing paper.
- Save your resume in PDF and in Word format. Once saved, view the documents in major search engines such as Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, and Safari. Make sure your formatting is consistent and is visually pleasing across all viewing formats.
- Once completed, proofread several times over a course of a few days. Even better, have a friend or family member proofread your resume and compare it with the job posting you are applying for.
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