Resume writer-Resume Advice
Resume Advice
SO, YOU WANT TO COMPOSE YOUR OWN RÉSUMÉ ...
We would love the opportunity to professionally prepare your resume package. But if, however, you decide to chance
composing your own resume, we feel obligated to pass on some advice that may give you a better chance at making
that final interview cut.
There is so much more that goes into the composition of a stellar, interview-winning resume than we can get into in the following sections, but we wish to at least guide you in the right direction if you decide to go it alone. Remember ... no one is going to call you say that a substandard resume cost you a chance at the position and you'll never know if it was your skill set or resume that is to blame, so be sure to give thought to each point below:
Determine your career direction before beginning your resume composition
Know Your Audience
Watch for information an employer DOESN'T want to know
Substance over Fluff
Short, precise sentences are a must
Chronological or functional resume ... which is right for you?
Make your header attractive
Action words are a must
Use keywords so your resume is searchable
Make the proper use of
white space and alignment
Include a Summary Section
Include all relevant certifications and training classes
Be sure to highlight major accomplishments
Have someone proofread your resume
Prepare an ASCII and PDF version of your resume
A cover letter is a must!
Use resume posting services as part of your career search arsenal
Determine your career direction before beginning your resume composition
One of the questions on our questionnaire addresses the type of position for which you are applying or career direction. This is an important part of your overall resume development strategy.
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Know Your Audience
Put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager who will review your resume submission. What will they be looking for as far as content and style? Remember ... you only have an average of 17-20 seconds to get your point across ... make certain you're speaking their language up front!
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Watch for information an employer DOESN'T want to know
There are questions that are illegal for an employer to ask during the interview/hiring process. If these same items are volunteered on your resume, it can remove you from hiring consideration. Although the information was not requested by the potential employer, they won't wish to put themselves in the position of defending the fact that they were aware of this information down the line. Perform some research regarding the latest changes in HR regulations as they relate to interviewing.
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Substance over Fluff
Some hiring managers see hundreds of resumes every day. They have seen it all, and trying to "fluff up" your resume with unnecessary and overly eloquent verbiage will only result in a tossed resume. You need to communicate within 20 seconds your major qualifications, so precision is the key.
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Short, precise sentences are a must
This could have easily fallen under the previous heading, but we felt it important to separate and highlight this
point. Resumes are not required to adhere to strict, standard
grammatical sentence structure. When you have to communicate your skills, qualifications and
accomplishments in one or two pages, space is usually at a premium. Eliminate all extraneous wording and focus on precision, successfully communicating each point as succinctly as possible.
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Chronological or functional resume ... which is right for you?
Whether your resume adheres to the chronological or functional format depends on several factors. If you are attempting to switch careers, have sizable gaps in your employment history, or show plenty of job changes within the past 10-15 years, you may be a candidate for a functional resume. Otherwise, the chronological format (or a combination format) is best.
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Make your header attractive
You want your resume to be noticed, so remember to make your header attractive, yet within the boundaries of industry expectations. Your name should be larger than the rest of the text and the font bold.
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Action words are a must
We cannot stress enough that you only have 17-20 seconds to impress the person reviewing your resume, so you must make an impact ... and FAST! Your resume should be packed with action words to grab the reviewer's attention. Remember, you are like a writer trying to grab your reader's attention early so he/she will keep reading. Make sure they are captivated.
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Use keywords so your resume is searchable
In the future, you may decide to scan your resume into a database or e-mail it to an employer who will scan it into theirs. Your resume won't be "searchable" if you don't load up on your particular industry/position's keywords. Qualified applicants often miss out on employment opportunities because this detail is ignored.
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Make the proper use of
white space and alignment
Your resume has to be easy on the eyes or Hiring Managers just won't read it. It has been proven to be easier on readers to provide the proper amount of
white space with your text, as well as making sure it is aligned properly. One trick to assist with proper alignment is to make use of tables and text boxes which are features in most word processors.
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Include a Summary Section
Again, we refer to that 17-20 seconds to impress. The Summary Section gives a potential employer a high-level overview of your career direction, skills and accomplishments. This can be utilized with or in lieu of an Objective.
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Include all relevant certifications and training classes
Sometimes it is easy to forget those little training classes your previous job sent you to attend, but they are an important part of your career profile. Be sure to include them all on your resume. If you have many certifications and training courses taken, give them their own section so they stand out for an employer.
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Be sure to highlight major accomplishments
Be certain to make all accomplishments stand out. If you decide to list achievements under each job title, be sure to use italics or bold font. If there are enough of them, they should have their own section. Also, be specific when detaining your achievements. If you improved line productivity, detail how and by what percentage.
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Have someone proofread your resume
You can review your document 10 times and notice nothing. Give the same document to an
associate and they spot spelling and grammatical errors within seconds. A second set of eyes are always necessary to ensure the document you send out is error-free. Spell-check will not find every error. If the wrong word is used, but
that word is still in the dictionary, it will be missed. Get as many people as you can to check your work before printing any final copies.
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Prepare
an ASCII and PDF version of your resume
This is a standard part of the Resume Clinic
Packages. ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Exchange) resumes are ideal for copying/pasting into an e-mail body or online submission when an attachment cannot be sent. It would be a shame to lose out on a great opportunity because your MS Word resume won't transfer well to an e-mail body. ASCII resumes are basically stripped-down versions of your resume without the formatting bells and whistles. The PDF version of your resume makes great e-mail attachments because even if the recipient does not have MS Word, they are likely to have access to the free Adobe Acrobat Reader and can view your resume. Additionally, it will have the added security of being
un-editable, unlike an MS Word submission.
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A cover letter is a must!
No resume should ever be mailed or dropped off without an accompanying cover letter. While your resume is an objective
portrayal of your experience, skills and accomplishments, the cover letter rounds it out as a subjective
communication of intangibles you bring to the table. It should, however, be not be overly long and wordy. Never, EVER, submit a resume without one.
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Use resume posting services as part of your career search arsenal
More and more employers are going to the Internet to find talent and you need to have a presence. Many companies out there offer profiles where you can submit your resume to multiple resume posting sites at once. This is where your searchable keywords go to work for you in your resume summary section.
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