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Resume Writing Tips
Park University – Career Development Center, Mabee 714
As you update your resumes it is important to keep in mind that the visual appeal is as important as your
actual accomplishments.
Think of your resume as your marketing tool. Do NOT think of it as summary of your skills but as your
advertisement to create interest in and demand for…you. If you think of the resume as your
advertisement, then you start to see that poor formatting, typographical errors, and unclear and/or
uninspired experiences paint a pretty poor image of your overall brand.
There is no 100% right or wrong way to write a resume. Here are tips based on conversations from
hundreds of recruiters and hiring managers.
Tips for Resume Writing:
1.
Keep it simple, tidy and easy to read – when in doubt, opt for conservative
2. Maximum two (2) pages! …and one page is better
 1 page if you have been working less than five years in your profession
 2 pages only if you have been working more than five years in your profession
3. Write your resume as a simple word document – do not use templates
 The problem with templates is that they are very difficult to edit and update – so this is
mostly for your own sanity. It is also important to remember that template formats do not
always look the same on different computers
4. Use either normal or moderate margins – anything narrower looks sloppy and is difficult to read:
 Normal: 1” top, bottom, sides
 Moderate: 0.75” top, bottom, sides
5. Select a basic font: Times New Roman, Ariel, Cambria, or Calibri
 Use 18-22 for your name
 Size 11 is ideal for body—do not use smaller than 10, do not use larger than 12
6. Use bullets to highlight accomplishments
 Paragraph format is difficult to scan and unappealing to look at
7. Eliminate “the”, “a”, and “an” from your text
 It is the standard language of resumes to omit these
8. Use bold, italics or ALL CAPS to highlight company name or job description
 Underlining looks cluttered and unprofessional
9. Be consistent with punctuation and formatting
 If you use a period to end a bulleted line, then do so throughout the document
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
If you use bold, italics, or all caps to highlight the company name or your job title, use
the same throughout the document
10. Start all bulleted items with an action verb, but shy away from vague verbs like “participated”,
“assisted”, “worked on” which don’t say much about what you actually did
11. Be careful with tense
 Use present tense for current job and past tense for previous jobs
 Do not use the “-ing” form of the verb for current tense, ex. Use “create” rather than
“creating”, “lead” rather than “leading”
12. Make sure you are not just listing tasks but describing the value of the work you accomplished
 This is the most difficult and most important function of writing a resume!!
 For each of your listed responsibilities, ask yourself “Why was I asked to perform this
function? How did it benefit the team/department/company? If I had not done this, what
would the ramifications have been for the team/department/company?”
 Did the work save the company money, generate revenue, increase efficiency, reduce
turnover, extend the lifespan/usability of a system, enable the company to do something?
13. Use Objective Statements or Career Objectives statements very, very cautiously!
 When in doubt, omit this
 Consider the Objective Statement as your best opportunity to embarrass yourself and ruin
your entire resume –just as it sounds corny and self-absorbed to you when you are
writing, it sounds even cornier and more self-absorbed to the person reading it
 Do not include an Objective Statement on your general-purpose resume – they must be
very targeted to a specific job at a specific company
14. For the first year following earning a degree, you may choose to list education ahead of work
experience if you feel that it will be viewed as important. After one year, education moves below
work experience
15. Do not say “References Available Upon Request” on your resume – that is assumed
16. Do not include your references as part of your resume document – they should always be on a
completely separate document
17. When submitting a resume, cover letter, or list of references electronically, always name your
document in a manner which makes it easily identified by the recipient, for example:
 “lastname_firstname_resume” or “lastname_firstname_coverletter”
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or if you would like me to review your resume.
Career Development Center
Park University
Mabee 714
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