A great résumé is your first introduction to any recruiter or hiring manager. It should be a document that is descriptive and informative and which achieves a balance between too much and too little information.
More times than naught, if a question can’t be answered by looking at your résumé, the question will go unanswered.
The same is true about information overload; often times hiring managers will simply not be able to make it through a lengthy résumé that is full of tedious details.
10) Choose a readable font; forget the cursive or cartoonish nes. If you want to be taken seriously, have a résumé that reflects that desire.
9) Send your résumé in a Word document attached to an e-mail. There are very few offices that can easily manipulate or copy a PDF file. Never send a paper copy unless specifically asked for.
8) Do not use the word “I” in your résumé. It’s always implied that you are speaking in reference to yourself. Using “I” doesn’t personalize it more.
7) The notion that you need to keep your résumé to one page is a myth. If it takes 2 or 3 pages to accurately tell the story of your career; so be it. If you have pertinent experience; showcase it. The résumé should be a stand-alone document. A hiring manager should be able to pick it up and, without reading a cover letter, be able to understand what you’ve done and what you are qualified to do.
6) Tell the whole story from college (or high school) on; entering the appropriate dates for each tenure. Gaps lead to questions about what one is hiding
5) Wherever possible, quantify your experience. Instead of saying, “Increased store sales”, say, “Increased overall sales by 35% in a 12-month period”. Bring the information to life.
4) Bullet points are most effective as they are meant get people to want to know more. Make your bullet points enticing enough to make the hiring manager want to call you.
3) Don’t mention hobbies or association memberships unless they are somehow relative to the functionality of your position.
2) Make accomplishments count. Describe what you’ve accomplished, what you have done to make/save the company money. Instead of writing that you led a sales team, share what that team accomplished. It’s much more important than the job description.
1) The number 1 issue to be addressed in writing a résumé is PROOFREADING. There is nothing worse than a candidate being disqualified because of a misspelled word or a grammatical error. If you make a mistake like that, what does it say about your attention to detail? Zero mistakes on your résumé make it an employer-pleaser right off.
