Resume Tips
A resumé is one’s own personal marketing tool. It is not an autobiography, but rather a concise purposeful document that sums up your experience, credentials, qualifications and skills as related to a specific position. Typically employers spend less than 15 seconds looking at a resumé before they decide if you should move forward. The following are some tips on how to make your resumé stand out, in a good way.
Key Content Components
Basics you should include in your resumé.
Contact Information
- Full name, mailing address, personal phone number and personal email address.
- Spell out abbreviations, i.e. Ave. should be written as Avenue.
- Do not use your work phone number/email address, rather list a professional sounding personal email address. Avoid using the silly and/or inappropriate email address you created when you were 13 years old. Create a new email address if you have to, it’s FREE!!
- Make sure your voicemail has a favorable greeting. Smile as you are recording your voicemail greeting you will sound a lot more pleasant.
Qualifications and Skills
- In 3-7 statements summarize what qualifies you for the position and what sets you apart from other applicants.
- Statements should be tailored to the position and should highlight what is to come in your resumé.
Experience
- List experiences in reverse chronological order, so most recent first.
- Include both paid and unpaid experiences if they are relevant to the position.
- List at least 5 statements of accomplishment for each position, but no more than 10.
- Stay within the past 10 years, unless you have experience relevant to the current job you are seeking that is just outside of the 10 year timeframe.
- Keep the focus on significant contributions, rather than standard responsibilities.
- Past experience should be referenced in the past tense, a current position should be referenced in the present tense.
Education, licensures and professional certifications
- List schools attended for at least one year in reverse chronological order.
- Provide the full name of the school, spell out abbreviations and acronyms.
- Indicate degree/credential earned, completion date month and year (or anticipated completion date month and year).
- Include relevant professional affiliations, licensures, etc. along with expiration date month and year (this can also be a separate section if you have a lot to list).
Formatting Tips
Your resumé should be visually pleasing to the eye.
Minimize empty space
- Set margins within ½ to 1 inch on all sides.
- If you are having difficulty finding the right balance between space and text or fitting everything onto one page, modify the font type or size.
- Bullet point statements are easier to read than complete paragraphs.
Length
- Stick to one page if you have less than 10 year’s professional experience in the field for which you are applying, and/or have completed up to the bachelor’s level of education.
- Two pages are acceptable if you have more than 10 years professional experience in the field for which you are applying; have completed a master’s level or higher degree; or are applying for an engineering type position for which you will need space to prove your technical knowledge.
Font
- Stick with a conservative, easy to read font that potential employers can read as well as software programs that scan for keywords.
- Use black type.
- Stay within 10-12 point for general body text, section headings can be slightly larger 12-14 point or bold.
- Use “safe” fonts such as Arial, Calibri, Century Old Style, Garamond, Georgia, and of course Times New Roman.
- Your name is generally the only opportunity to stray from the above tips, but don't get too crazy. Use a slightly larger, fun, but easy to read font.
Miscellaneous Tips
- Always, always, always check spelling and grammar. Get a second opinion from another set of eyes.
- Also make sure font and page formatting is consistent throughout the document.
- Write abbreviations and acronyms out.
- You may think a little embellishment never hurt anything, however do not lie on a resumé. Keep in mind a potential employer may ask you or a reference details about an item listed on your resumé.
- Be familiar with the information you included in your resumé.
- Do not over-share personal information on your resumé. Again, this is a concise document that sums up your professional experience, not your life story.
- Consider using some word phrases from the responsibilities listed in the job description. A word may stand out to a potential employer skimming resumés.
- If applying to multiple positions at once, make sure you tailor each resumé to each position.
- If submitting your resume electronically, save it as a PDF to preserve formatting.
Resume style will vary slightly depending on the organization, position and individual. The main goal of a resumé is to effectively communicate assets in writing to a potential employer. You may also want to research examples of resumé formats within your specific industry. Happy job hunting!