Resume ABCs
POWERFUL RESUME AS EASY AS A-B-C
Accomplishments: Although it’s important to sum up your experiences, you should do more than list your achievements. Explain what you did. For example, describe how you consistently meet deadlines, exceeded sales expectations and cut expenses.
Benefit: Research the company you’re applying to and tailor your resume to indicate the skills you can use to benefit its bottom line. In other words, tell them what you can do for the.
Coordination: Decide on a format and stick with it. Group your experiences in chronological order or based on certain job skills. Just be sure everything makes sense in relation to the rest of the document.
Decorations: Refrain from using clip art, borders, photos and other images on your resume. What you think may separate your resume from the rest of the pack may only add unnecessary clutter.
Everything: Create a resume that indicates only the most essential information. A resume should be as targeted and specific as possible. Include education and specific skills, directed to what you’re applying for.
Facts: Tell the truth. Make something up—even the smallest detail—and it could come back to haunt you.
Growth: Show how accomplishments from one job led to a promotion or a new job with a different company.
Hubris: The good old Greek word for pride. Boast about relevant accomplishments only. You may be proud of your title of co-captain on your high school basketball team, but you’re 38 years old. Move on.
Individualized: Don’t be afraid to change your resume for each job you’re applying for. If you have access to a computer and a printer, there’s no excuse for using a boilerplate resume. State the accomplishments that are relevant to each job.
Justify: There’s no need to explain gaps in employment on a resume. If questions come up during an interview there will be ample time to address any concerns about your situation.
Knack: If you have a special skill or talent, mention it on your resume. Companies are always looking for employees who can help out in more ways than one.
Letter: Keep your resume limited to one to three fonts, and keep the various sizes to a minimum.
Money: Avoid mentioning your salary history or expectations on your resume. If a help wanted ad requests salary history, include it in your cover letter.
Name: Always be formal. No nickname, no Johnny or Chuck. There’s plenty of time to make informal connections with new co-workers.
One page vs. two: If you’ve just graduated from college or have limited work experience, don’t try to stretch out your accomplishments to two pages. But for experienced workers, it’s more important to have a resume that goes beyond one page than to exclude important information.
Paper: Don’t go to a lot of trouble selecting different shades of paper. Use heavy white paper that is as formal as you can get.
Quick: Make sure your resume is a fast read. You’re not writing an epic novel about your life. Bullet points tell the story of your career in a reasonably short amount of time.
Readability: Use margins and spacing to keep the resume clean and distinctive. A resume should be pleasant to look at and easy to read.
Stains: Accidents happen, so if you don’t want to hand over a coffee-stained resume to the vice president of human resources, keep your resumes in a protective sleeve or folder.
Tacky: Stay away from jargon and shoptalk, unless it’s universal in the industry. Buzzwords like synergy and hackneyed phrases like “think outside of the box” are overused and lack real meaning.
Unsolicited: Think twice before sending unsolicited resumes—recruiters and hiring managers usually ignore resumes that are not tailored by the company and its needs. Don’t sent out blanket mailing to 100’s of people. Do research so you can offer yourself as a good match.
Voice: List your accomplishments with confidence, using language that you would use during an interview.
When: Timing is everything when sending out your resume. Don’t wait too long to create the perfect document. You still may be agonizing over TIMES ROMAN or HELVETICS fonts while the company you want to work for is scheduling second interviews.
Xerox: Make a few copies to bring to your interview. There’s a good chance your interviewer will need a copy to look at while he or she is discussing the job with you.
You: Keep your resume focused on how you helped achieve your company’s goals. Employers are less interested in the fact that you worked for a Fortune 500 company than they are in what you did to help make it one.
Zenith: Highlight the pinnacle of your professional career. Don’t feel obligated to list your jobs in chronological order. If you had a great deal of success at one job in particular, lead with it.
