Resumes:


Top 10 Tips

1. Make yourself look good: Show not only what you did, but how well you did it. Quantify it with numbers when appropriate. Show, clearly and succinctly, how you are smart, skilled, diligent, and mature.
2. Make it look good: Create a visually appealing resume. If it is cluttered, difficult to read, or just plain ugly, it will be thrown away as fast as it was picked up.
3. Make it interesting: It must capture the readers interest: show them what they want to see. General resumes can get lost in the crowd. Tailor the resume to each position you pursue. Highlight specific industry experience or training when it is relevant.
4. Use active language: Begin each sentence with an action verb and remember to use the proper tense -- present tense for your current job, past tense for past jobs.
5. Be concise: Best results are achieved with a one or two page resume. You want to get noticed, but you want to do that quickly.
6. Be bold: The resume is not the place to be humble. Brag about yourself. Don't be shy, but of course don't lie.
7. Don't get personal: It is not necessary to include personal information such as age, health, or marital status. It is also often illegal for employers to ask for such information.
8. Don't expect a job: Expect an interview. That is the goal, the purpose of writing the resume. Show how you are different from the other applicants: get noticed and get in the door for that interview.
9. Get real critiques: Ask friends to proofread your resume -- and tell them to be unmerciful. Yes, it may test your friendship, but this is really important. Spell-checking on the computer is not enough.
10. Avoid the same old stuff: Don't write things like: "Self-motivated, hands-on team player with a proven track record in blah blah blah ..." Just don't do it, okay?


Resumes: Top 5 Blunders

1. One Misspelled Word
All it takes is one, and your resume is thrown in the garbage can. So, take four steps to make sure this does not happen: First, use the spell checking feature of your word processing program. Second, read your resume backwards, word by word. Third, have a friend read your resume. Fourth, have a friend read your resume backwards, word by word.
2. To specify or not to specify
There are times to include a Job Objective and there are times not to do so. The problem is, there is no trustable concensus among people who give advice about resumes. In general, if you are young and new to the job market, a Job Objective can help. If you do include a Job Objective, do not waste space on the resume with a bland statement, such as: "A position with a progressive organization that will fully utilize my talents and skills." Instead, describe what you want clearly, yet be concise. It will show that you are focused. Also, don't quote a job description back to an employer. Personalize your document to help them distinguish you from all other applicants.
3. My measurements are ...
In the US, employers have no legal right to request personal information such as age, sex, race, religion, marital status, health, physical appearance, or personal habits. Don't include such information in your resume, including your social security number, past salary, or a photograph. An exception to these rules about privacy is often made for industries such as theater, law enforcement, and the military.
4. Am I inconsequential, or am I a God?
You are neither; you are unique, skilled, and valuable. Write a resume that shows this. Don't be shy, but don't lie. And don't exaggerate your experience. The misrepresentation will come back to haunt you in the interview or on the job.
5. I can't tell you enough about me ...
You only have so much space on the resume, so don't expect to include everything. Besides, employers only want highlights. Decide which items are most important from the point of view of the employer. Additional material may be covered in letters and interviews.



Resumes: Strategies

When you are writing your resume, be sure to think about the following two goals:

1. The reader will clearly understand your abilities.
2. Your abilities match the needs of the job for which you are applying.

Consider the hiring process from the employer's point of view. They have hundreds of resumes to deal with on a daily basis. They have little time to answer their basic questions:

* Might the person represented by this resume match our needs?
* Should I pass this resume on to someone else in the company?

Your job is to write the resume such that both questions are answered, yes, if that is indeed the case. In other words, your job is to write the resume such that, if the answer should be yes to both questions, the reader of the resume will be able to give these answers correctly and quickly.

There is a Time and a Place for Being Humble

Your resume is not the place to be humble. Pretend you are writing for someone close to you, someone who is proud of you, a person who would not think twice about bragging about you. They have the right idea: use it and be bold.

A Top-Level Check List

content

Put your name at the top, preferably in slightly larger and bold letters.
Only include entries that highlight a capability or an accomplishment.
Use consistent capitalization and punctuation.
Keep repeated words to a minimum.


organization

Put your best assets first: education, experience, or skills.
Make it easy to skim: use clear categories and indent the text.
Make the dates of employment easy to find and consistently formatted.
Put your name at the top of each page.


design


Minimize the number of fonts you use.
Use margins and line spacing to keep the page from looking too crowded.
Present the resume on one side of the sheet only, preferably on high-quality paper.

Send the Resume by Itself?

No! Whenever you get the chance, send the resume with a cover letter. Use the cover letter to:

* show your interest in the company or position
* summarize the most important aspects of your background
* tell the employer where and when you can be contacted for an interview





Resumes: Techniques

Beginning the Resume

Decide whether you should use a standard style or a creative style. If the target job is in theatre arts, graphic design, or advertising, an employer may use the resume as an example of your creative abilities. We have few words of advice about how to prepare creative style resumes. Your best bet is to get advice from veterans of these industries or to buy a specialized book on the subject. The standard style resume is focused on content, not appearance.

Begin with an outline that depends on your situation:

in the workforce

¤ contact information - give name, address, telephone, email
¤ summary - highlight capabilities
¤ experience - describe accomplishments and skills
¤ education - list degrees and further training
¤ activities - list affiliations, publications, licenses

in college

¤ contact information - give name, address, telephone, email
¤ objective - describe job
¤ education - list degrees and majors
¤ experience - describe diligence and maturity
¤ activities - list extracurricular and volunteer activities

Start filling in content for each part of the outline, using an example resume as a reference.

Some Writing Guidelines

* In the resume it is acceptable and customary to use incomplete sentences. The subject, you, is almost always implied.
* When a verb is used, the sentence usually requires a period. If there is no verb, it is referred to as a resume listing, and no period is used. When a bullet or dash is used to introduce a sentence or listing, you do not need to use capital letters at the beginning or punctuation at the end.
* Use active rather than passive language, especially with verbs:
passive: training seminars were organized for clear writing
active: organized seminars to train people to write clearly
* Spelling and grammar must be free of errors.
* Use reverse chronological order in the education section and in the experience section.
* Avoid the use of long paragraphs (more than 5 sentences). Separate paragraphs with blank lines. Use bullets to make it easier to read.
* If you did not have a formal title for a job, construct one that you think your supervisor would approve.






Resumes: Examples

Use our examples to spur your thinking about how you will prepare a resume that looks good and that makes you look good.

A College Student - An engineering student who wants to work for an Internet company.

A Young Professional - An engineer who wants to advance his career in Silicon Valley.

Remember to make your resume unique, though. A bland resume is a trashed resume. Be bold! Tell it like it is but tell it with confidence.